Costs Mount for ITD Building
Did the Legislature make the right call in holding on to the State Street property?
On the final day of the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers broke an impasse over the former headquarters of the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) on State Street in Boise. Then–Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Winder, in one of his last debates before losing his primary, declared he would “die on the hill” of not unwinding the pending sale of the building and the property to a group of developers.
Winder lost that fight. Budget bills restricting the state from selling the property passed, and Gov. Brad Little—also skeptical of the plan—allowed them to become law without his signature, presumably not wanting to extend the session any further.
It was an unusual issue that didn’t follow straightforward ideological or factional lines. Alongside Winder and the governor, I recall Rep. Heather Scott opposing the unwinding, along with analysts at the Idaho Freedom Foundation. On the other side, arguing that the state should keep the property, were figures such as House Speaker Mike Moyle, then–Sen. Scott Herndon, and Sen. Kevin Cook.
The fate of the building first came to the forefront in January 2022, when flooding caused significant damage. Many state employees had already moved to the HP campus on Chinden Boulevard, and ITD staff set up a temporary office there following the flood. After putting it up for sale, the state reached an agreement in principle to sell the State Street property to developers for $51.3 million.
Members of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), led by Sen. Cook, balked at both the potential sale and ITD’s request for $56.3 million to relocate the entire department to the Chinden campus. Instead, the committee approved $32.5 million to renovate the building, adding another $9.6 million during the 2025 session.
Yesterday, Clark Corbin of the Idaho Capital Sun reported that the cost to rehabilitate and renovate the damaged building could reach $69.4 million—roughly 50% more than what has been appropriated so far.
Corbin also reported that the Idaho Transportation Board voted to move forward with a contract to remove hazardous materials, including asbestos, and develop a remodel plan. According to the board, the project could take two years to complete, after which ITD personnel could begin moving back into the building.
So, did the Legislature make the right call? Was Chuck Winder right after all? Or is this still a better long-term deal than selling the property? Situations like this involve many variables: upfront costs, opportunity costs, the capabilities of the existing campus, and the potential downsides of more high-density housing. Some conservatives argue that the state should own less property; others counter that it’s better to be patient and make prudent fiduciary decisions.
Real estate is a game of timing as well. One of the concerns I heard last year was that the potential value of the property had dropped since the peak of the market, and so holding on was the better option. Only time will tell if it was the right move.
As I said, this was an issue that fractured along unexpected lines. Both sides made cogent arguments during the debate, and all we can do now is watch how it unfolds. Still, the more the price tag climbs, the more it seems that taxpayers might have ended up with the short end of the stick. What do you think?