Urban infill development projects are never easy and are often controversial.  On the other hand, they can be a great way to revitalize a tired property and bring more people closer to our urban core.  As a strong believer in good urban infill, I wanted to share some before and after photos  of a residential project just coming to completion near my home.  

This site is located on Hill Road, just west of 21st Street, and originally consisted of 1 house on a large lot.    The original white house house was saved, remodeled, and a single car garage was added.  The next step was adding two new homes.  One home was added in the rear of the original house and one added in the front.

Although I could describe the many steps that it took to make this great little project happen, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  

The City of Boise wants to make sure things start happening in the 30th Street area, and they have hired me to help them out!  Because of my commercial real estate focus in downtown Boise and a few other attributes, I will be helping to get things going.  Have ideas, questions, comments, or anything else to do with the 30th Street area?  Give me a shout!  

Here's the email that went out to the Planning and Development Staff at the City of Boise from Derick O'Neill.

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve engaged Jay Story as the new 30th Street Project Coordinator and will begin his responsibilities immediately.

Jay has a Bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, a Master’s degree from Stanford University, and is the owner of Story Commercial, LLC. Through his work as a developer, commercial real estate broker and Planning & Zoning Commissioner, he is familiar with Boise City’s zoning code and will be a great asset to the 30th Street Project.   He won’t have an office in City Hall, but you’ll see him here frequently.

Jay will work collectively with the Capitol City Development Corporation (CCDC) through a joint Memorandum of Understanding between CCDC and the City of Boise which we hope to have approved in the next 30 days.  Jay will coordinate the 30th Street Area Revitalization project for the City and CCDC, utilize the 30th Street Master Plan as the guiding document for implementation, be a member of the 30th Street Revitalization Project Team, and act as an advocate and public spokesperson as appropriate for the project. 

Jay will propose redevelopment projects for the 30th Street area and be an ombudsman for developers and other area stakeholders working with the City. His additional responsibilities are listed below.

·         Develop the Team: Coordinate the 30th Street Revitalization team and encourage the development envisioned in the 30th Street Area plan.

·         Market The Change: Identify key marketing messages and coordinate with a branding and marketing agency to present branding concepts and materials to 30th Street Revitalization Team, CCDC and the City of Boise.

·         Identify Catalysts: Identify key infrastructure, zoning and ordinance changes needed to spur revitalization in the 30th Street area. Identify and develop possible rehabilitation/revitalization projects and high probability catalyst projects.

·         Engage the Community: Establish the 30th Street Revitalization Team Headquarters. Interview individuals and focus groups made up of stakeholders, property owners and others to identify key issues and roadblocks associated with implementing the 30th Street Plan.

·         Deliver Results: Develop a realistic schedule for the project that is properly resourced and with appropriate benchmarks and deadlines.

·         Eliminate Roadblocks: Prioritize and communicate issues to the 30th Street Revitalization Team and key stakeholders/property owners that need resolution and develop strategies to address those issues.

Do you ever wonder why leasing fees are paid at the front end of a lease?  Do your clients ever ask to pay you the leasing fee over time?  Good leasing efforts should be rewarded with good leasing fees, because it does offer the landlord a better investment...and better investments cost more money.  

I was recently involved in a real estate transaction where my client paid me $20,000 to represent them on purchasing some real estate, and I then saved them $470,000 in acquisition cost!  

Most buyers and tenants have a hard time paying for real estate services and sometimes think they can find themselves the best deal.  Well, sometimes you get what you pay for.  In a recent transaction, I was working with a client who wanted to acquire a piece of ground in a specific area to expand their business.  I sat with them to learn their business and figure out exactly what they needed.  They hired me to work on their behalf and paid for my services out of their own pocket.  Now why is this important?  With my client paying all my fees, I could focus solely on finding them the best deal.

After turning over numerous "stones" and doing the due diligence on properties that I thought may work, we finally found a property to pursue.  Due to the circumstances of the deal, we thought there may be some competition for the property, which my client really wanted.  We quickly convened a board meeting, and the board of directors authorized us to make a very high offer price.

While thinking about the deal and coming up with a plan, I was afraid my client may over pay for the property because they really wanted it.  I then devised a plan whereby we could obtain the property for substantially lower than authorized by the board if I was confident in my strategy and a few things fell into place.  Long story short, I saved them $470,000 on purchasing the property all because my client had the faith and forethought to hire a professional to look after their best interest.