What happened to that planned ‘Chinatown’ shopping mall on Boise’s West Bench? This.

Tenants recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic are trickling into the Idaho Asian Plaza, an international retail center originally touted in 2018 as Boise’s very own Chinatown.

The plaza, on the southwest corner of Cole and Ustick roads, was purchased by Utah-based China Town Plaza LLC five years ago, with plans of turning it into a center full of international shops and restaurants. Idaho Asian Plaza LLC, managed by Zhuang J. Lin of Salt Lake City, is the legal name of the business that has owned it since.

Skyrocketing construction costs and delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic sharply curtailed the plaza’s transformation, said property manager Celeste Davies in a phone interview with the Idaho Statesman from Utah.

Some tenants moved in before the pandemic hit, including the Idaho Capital Asian Market, a grocery store selling authentic Asian ingredients; Global Lounge, a nonprofit that hosts multicultural workshops, classes and events; and Viva Brazil, a Brazilian market.

Other units have sat vacant for years. But the goal of transformation persists, and new tenants are on the way, Davies said, including Taste of Nigeria African Cuisine, Peking Tokyo Asian Bistro and a vape shop. The owners are in negotiations for other units.

“There’s a lot of potential to become an international center,” she said.

Plaza slows to a crawl

Plaza development stalled when the pandemic hit in 2020, Davies said. There was a shortage of materials, a doubling or tripling of delivery times, and rising costs. Some tenants who were planning on moving in, like a Chinese tea house, couldn’t, she said.

Some tenants set up shop before the pandemic and weathered it.

Global Lounge: A meeting of cultures

The Boise nonprofit called Global Lounge opened in the plaza’s mall at 3085 N. Cole Road, Suite 201, in 2019, Donna Kovaleski, its executive director said by phone. The Lounge is a meeting point for Idahoans of cultures around the globe who don’t usually cross paths, she said — so the following years were tough.

“We’re a platform for bringing people together, which is the opposite of what COVID restrictions are all about,” she said.

Instead, the organization focused on revitalizing its suite by pursuing grants for new technology, she said. The Lounge was awarded funding for a TV to use while hosting classes and workshops. It purchased recording equipment for a music mentoring project hosted by the Boise band Afrosonics.

“It was kind of a crawl through COVID times,” Kovaleski said. “But now we’re on the other side of that.”

The Lounge started a weekly farm and art market in the Plaza parking lot in June, Kovaleski said. Small business owners and artists set up shop every Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. under two large canopies to sell goods and food. The city library branch in the plaza, at 7557 W. Ustick Road, has promoted library programs and cards there, said Rénee Addington, the branch manager, in an interview.

Boise’s African Community Development organization meets in the Lounge once a week, Kovaleski said. A Muslim women’s group uses the space for workout groups. The Lounge hosts a free community dinner open to the public on the third Tuesday of every month.

Asian Market: Food court coming

The Capital Asian Market, which opened in 2018 at 3107 N. Cole Road, wasn’t slowed down by the pandemic.

The market has grown to distribute ingredients to 40 restaurants around the Treasure Valley, said Dillon Luo, its owner, in an interview. It’s about to open a wholesale department for local restaurant owners to buy in bulk.

The market is in talks with the property owners to knock down a wall on the south side of the building, Luo said, expanding into a neighboring unit to create an additional 3,600 square feet for a food court and shelves for more goods.

The food court is expected to serve roasted duck, dumplings, dim sum and Asian baked goods. The store will be able to use the added shelf space to sell more ingredients for Malaysian and Indonesian dishes, Luo said, based on customer demand.

Luo said he expects to start construction this year and complete the expansion by summer 2024.

Brazilian market: A couple owns it

Viva Brazil, a Brazilian market, opened in the Plaza in November 2020 at 3075 N. Cole Road, said David Hunter, who owns the store with his wife, Geralda, in a phone call with the Statesman. The market saw a gradual increase in customers through 2021 that tapered off at the end of the year, he said. They delivered groceries to 10 customers throughout the pandemic.

Guaraná Antarctica, a Brazilian soda, is one of the most popular items in the store, along with Pao de Queijo — a type of cheese bread — and meat rolls called coxinha, David Hunter said. The coxinha is cooked fresh on the weekends and has sold out in less than an hour, Hunter said.

He said he expects traffic to the store to increase once more tenants move into the plaza.

Diaspora museum: Raising money

The Idaho Museum of International Diaspora opened an administrative office in the mall in fall 2019, in suite 203, which it used before the pandemic to plan for the cultural museum it plans to build, said Palina Louangketh, its executive director, in a call with the Statesman. The plaza was an ideal location because it’s a multicultural center, she said.

The museum, which could be as large as 200,000 square feet, is expected to educate visitors about the cultural heritage of Idahoans and Native Americans, as well as the cultures of immigrants who have migrated to the state.

Once the pandemic struck, however, the organization transitioned to remote work, Louangketh said. The museum now uses the office to collect mail and shares it with Indo Idaho Inc., a nonprofit that aims to preserve Indonesian culture in Idaho.

The museum is fundraising for its project and hopes to raise up to $2 million to purchase land downtown. Louangketh said she hopes to break ground in 2025.

Beauty salon, martial arts studio

Sunshine Beauty Salon opened in the mall in suite 113 in 2019 and offers haircuts, perms and coloring, said Fawn Nguyen, its owner.

Soul Self Defense, a martial arts studio, opened in suites 204 and 206 in March 2022, said Jessica McBride, its co-owner.

Longtime tenants wonder what’s up

Though the Asian and Brazilian markets are open, and tenants have taken up residence in the mall, the plaza still looks partially deserted on the outside.

Temporary canvas business signs hang over empty units bordering the south and east sides of the parking lot, the view inside blocked by paper taped to the windows. The same signs have been hanging over vacant businesses in the plaza for years, said Addington, the library branch manager, and Gary Lillard, an insurance agent at an Allstate office in the plaza, at 3175 N. Cole Road.

Addington said she was excited about the plaza’s Chinatown concept.

“Seeing more businesses in this area that are thriving would be great,” she said.

Sarah Cecil, assistant branch manager at the Washington Federal Bank branch in the plaza, at 3197 N. Cole Road, said in an interview that it’s been sad to see units sit empty.

“Multiple cultures in this little plaza would be cool,” she said.

McBride, the co-owner of Soul Self Defense, said she’s raised concerns about weeds on the property and many units sitting empty, but the owners have been responsive. New restaurants coming in should help business, she said.

Jonathan Melby, president of the West Bench Neighborhood Association, within which the plaza sits, said the association is interested in supporting any amenities in the neighborhood that are easily accessed on foot or by bike. He’s bought food from multiple booths at the weekly farm and art market, he said.

Coming: Taste of Nigeria

Leke Abimbola, who owns and operates Taste of Nigeria African Cuisine with his wife, Zainab, said the business has been in talks since 2019 about moving into the Plaza.

The couple has been operating the business as a food truck in Boise since 2008. The Abimbolas wanted to first test the water in town to make sure they could establish the customer base to support a storefront, Leke Abimbola said by phone.

“People need to taste the food and know it,” he said.

But when the couple decided to explore setting up shop in the plaza, construction costs to convert a unit there to a restaurant were too high. The price hasn’t come down, Abimbola said, but with personal loans and a COVID-19 relief grant from the city of Boise, the restaurant is now moving forward in the plaza. After signing a lease in February 2022, Taste of Nigeria hopes to open in 3031 N. Cole Road by the end of this year, he said.

Abimbola said the restaurant will help customers learn more about Nigerian culture and create more culinary diversity in the community.

“Gone are the days where people only eat fries and a hamburger,” he said.

Coming: 2 restaurants & a vape shop

Peking Tokyo Asian Bistro, a restaurant serving Japanese food and sushi, at 3027 N. Cole Road, is expected to open by September, Davies said.

Vape Shop of Idaho, at 3149 N. Cole Road, is expected to open by November.

A hot pot restaurant operated by Utah-based Ombu Grill, at 3109 N. Cole Road, is expected to open by the end of the year.

New Asian grocery store debuts in West Boise. Among its offerings: exotic blue crabs

Work starts on Asian supermarket at Boise’s new Chinatown mall

Lined up side by side, 3 new restaurants to bring ‘interactive’ sizzle to Boise dining

How downtown Boise, ‘one of the finest’ in U.S., was nearly bulldozed for a shopping mall