This new development hot spot will be home to highway addition, homes, restaurants

Rachel Spacek
Updated ·2 min read

Less than five miles north of Meridian’s most popular development hub at Ten Mile and Franklin Roads, another development hot spot is blossoming.

The growth centers around the Costco location at Chinden Boulevard and Ten Mile Road. Along with the wholesale store, a Walmart, hospital and hundreds of homes are all recent additions to Meridian’s growing northwest region.

Aside from a handful of commercial developments, the growth in Meridian’s northern city limits is largely residential and primarily single-family homes.

Northwest Meridian’s first Costco is an anchor for the large development hot spot.
Northwest Meridian’s first Costco is an anchor for the large development hot spot.

That contrasts with Ten Mile and Franklin, where developers lately are applying to build apartments and commercial buildings.

Hubble Homes is building a 380-home subdivision south of Chinden Boulevard and east of McDermott Road. The subdivision, called Prescott Ridge, includes 320 single-family homes and 63 town houses. The subdivision will to be built over the next two or three years, the Idaho Statesman previously reported.

Another developer, Tony Tseng, of Accomplice LLC, is building 114 homes near the Orchard Park development, a mixed-use project with businesses and housing located at the corner of Chinden Boulevard and Linder Road. The subdivision, called Sagarra, will include single-family homes, town houses and apartments, the Statesman reported.

Northwest Meridian is starting out as a hot spot for mostly residential growth, but city planners expect more commercial property will follow.
Northwest Meridian is starting out as a hot spot for mostly residential growth, but city planners expect more commercial property will follow.

Orchard Park, formerly known as Linder Village, will soon be home to a variety of new restaurants, including Biscuit & Hogs, a Utah-based brunch restaurant with a location on Overland Road in Meridian.

Highway extension likely to spur more growth

Caleb Hood, Meridian planning division manager, said he expects development to continue in north Meridian as the Idaho 16 highway extension is built.

In 2021, the Idaho Transportation Board approved funding for the Idaho 16 extension from U.S. 20/26 (Chinden Boulevard) to Interstate 84, and Meridian planners are already seeing the area become a development hot spot.

A couple miles up the road from Ten Mile and Interstate 84 is another hot spot for development along the popular road.
A couple miles up the road from Ten Mile and Interstate 84 is another hot spot for development along the popular road.

“When state highway 16 connects with 84, that’s going to really open up a lot of those lands even further in northwest Meridian for more development,” Hood said in a phone interview.

He expects that development will begin as homes and gradually evolve into businesses and office buildings.

“Generally you need the rooftops before you build the commercial,” Hood said. “You’re just not going to build your Starbucks in the middle of nowhere, you want the homes that can support it.”

The timeline for development is unclear, Hood said. It depends on how quickly the highway extension is built.

Phase 2 of the Idaho Transportation’s Highway 16 extension project will extend the highway from U.S. 20/26 (Chinden Boulevard) to Interstate 84. When the project is completed the department expect it will service 60,000 motorists per day.
Phase 2 of the Idaho Transportation’s Highway 16 extension project will extend the highway from U.S. 20/26 (Chinden Boulevard) to Interstate 84. When the project is completed the department expect it will service 60,000 motorists per day.

The Idaho Transportation Department has begun construction on the highway, according to its website. It is currently designing the final phase of the project, which would expand the I-84 interchange and finish the signalized interchanges at Franklin Road, Ustick Road and Chinden Boulevard. The highway project also includes adding overpasses at Cherry Lane and McMillan Road.

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