Will the multi-story building going up on the southeast corner of Eagle Road and Franklin Road in Meridian ever be completed? Has this become Meridian's version of the Boise Tower?- D.C., Eagle
Boise has the long-stalled Boise Tower - but as DC notes, this six story building at Eagle and Franklin has stood as an empty shell for nearly six months.
The Meridian office building is part of the Portico at Meridian project, which includes a pair of medical towers, a Buffalo Wild Wings, pharmacy and more. Crews began work on this building last year - but in November, workers grabbed their tools and equipment and hit the road - leaving an open-air steel structure towering over the nearby RC Willey at one of Idaho's busiest intersections.
"We pushed the pause button because our ACHD fees were three times what we thought they were," Sherry Schoen with developer Gardner Alhquist said. "We were hitting the winter months and we were going to have to winterize it."
Instead, Gardner Alhquist spent the first part of this year negotiating with the Ada County Highway District to bring down those fees.
But the clatter of construction will soon begin again. Schoen says the project is currently being rebid to take advantage of lower construction costs. That should be wrapped up any day - and construction could begin again next month.
If all goes well, the building will open by 2010.
