Nampa City Council signed off on a land swap with the Nampa Development Corporation last month that trades nearly two acres of downtown property for roughly 1.5 acres elsewhere in the city, setting the stage for a redevelopment project near Lloyd Square that could include apartments, retail, offices and new public gathering space.
The council approved the exchange at its October 19 meeting, according to BoiseDev. Under the deal, the city handed over about 1.895 acres in the downtown core to the Nampa Development Corp., and received roughly 1.448 acres near the Hugh Nichols Public Safety Building in return, as reported by Idaho Business Review. Nampa Communications Director Amy Bowman said the city does not have any specific plans yet for the parcels it received, per the same BoiseDev account.
Mitch Minnette, chair of the Nampa Development Corporation, framed the exchange as a way to clear room for what comes next downtown. He said the land swap moves pieces of the puzzle around to create a blank slate in Nampa for future growth, according to KBOI.
What a Draft Proposal Envisions for the Block
A draft request for proposals for the project, known as the Lloyd Square Block, outlines at least 134 market-rate apartments, 18,000 square feet of retail space, 30,000 square feet of public amenity space and 295 parking stalls, the BoiseDev report notes. Those figures come from a draft document rather than a finalized development plan, and the agency has not yet selected a developer to build it.
Nampa Economic Development Director Steve Jenkins called the swap a critical step toward redeveloping the block and bringing market-rate housing, public gathering spaces, retail and office space to the city's downtown area, the same BoiseDev report states. The project description echoes language used by Idaho Business Review, which reported that the proposed block could include market-rate housing, public gathering spaces, retail and offices.
Jenkins also told KBOI that capturing the area's history was important to tying it to whatever gets built downtown, and said the city is working with planners and the Nampa Development Corporation to preserve that history during the project.
Timeline for a Developer Selection
The Nampa Development Corp. expects to issue a request for proposals in the coming months and to select a developer in early 2027, according to the Idaho Business Review account. KBOI reported that the agency hopes to send out its request for proposals within the next month and select a development partner by early 2027. The agency also plans to continue meeting with restaurant and business owners, community members and nonprofit leaders before that request goes out, per BoiseDev.
Nampa Mayor Darl Bruner said the city wants downtown Nampa to be a place where people and businesses want to spend time, according to KBOI. He also said the city wants to make sure future generations and younger residents are not priced out of the area.
How the Project Fits Downtown's Broader Plans
The proposed block sits near Lloyd Square, a downtown park that was converted from a parking lot in 2016, according to Nampa Parks and Recreation. The site was historically home to the old Lloyd Lumber Company lumber yard, and two of the original lumber yard buildings still stand and are used today for reservations and events, the parks department notes.
City materials describe the Nampa Development Corporation's broader goal as the continued revitalization of downtown Nampa, including support for the Main Street Program and the Library Square Project, according to the City of Nampa. The city says completion of the Hugh Nichols Public Safety Building was key to opening up a downtown block for public and private development, and that the Library Square project includes a public parking structure and a public plaza. Those projects are cited by the city as examples of the kind of redevelopment and public-space amenities now planned for the Lloyd Square Block.
