Housing appears to be on the way for a long-time Nampa commercial district.
The Nampa Planning and Zoning Commission approved two conditional use permits to allow the construction of housing in The Sugar District, formerly the Nampa Gateway Center, off of Stamm Ln. and N. Clearview Ave., in Nampa. One permit allows the construction of 284 apartment homes in eleven mostly three-story buildings, while the other allows the construction of 77 townhomes, according to the staff report for the application.
Geoff Wardle, representing Gardner Company, the applicant, told the Nampa Planning and Zoning Commission at its meeting on March 24 that it is the right time to add housing to the commercial area.
“We believe that in light of the changes that have happened in the retail market and office and other things, to truly capture the vision of community mixed-use in your comp plan, (the district) needs a robust residential element,” Wardle said.
The application marks the third for The Sugar District in the previous year. In October 2025, Gardner Company applied to modify its development agreement to remove a cap on the amount of square footage dedicated to retail in the district, which in turn allowed for future residential construction at the site. Then, in February, the company received approval to demolish the Edwards Cinema, which closed in 2022. Gardner Company Managing Partner David Wali told BoiseDev in February that the former theater site could serve as a future site for apartments and townhomes, and that market conditions were looking increasingly favorable to build housing on the site.
Apartments, townhomes, amenities
Wardle said that the proposals are similar to two submitted and approved by the planning and zoning commission in 2022 that the developer subsequently chose not to build.
That year, Gardner Company applied for a conditional use permit to build 77 homes on the east side of the complex, followed by an application in the fall to build two, four-story apartment buildings near the former Macy’s building, Wardle said. The company didn’t proceed with either application “due to a variety of economic considerations,” he said.
Plans for the townhomes were once again proposed by Gardner Company, with 77 homes planned on the east side of the property. The homes would range from 1,125-1,355 sq. ft.; 65% would have three bedrooms, and 35% would have two bedrooms, according to the staff report.
The other 284 apartments would be housed in ten three-story buildings and one four-story building, Wardle said.
The four-story building would occupy part of the footprint of the former theater site and would house some amenities for residents of both the apartments and the townhomes, he said.
Amenities include a clubroom, pool and spa, fitness center, and coworking spaces, according to the staff report. Wardle said they are also planning a dog park area at the site.
The three-story apartment buildings will have garages, while the townhomes will have “enclosed, individual garages,” Wardle said.
‘A vibrant community’
Members of the public who testified at the hearing said they felt concerned about the potential for additional traffic from the project onto the already congested Stamm Ln. and nearby Garrity Blvd., as well as the potential loss of parking for commercial patrons visiting The Sugar District.
But Wardle said Gardner Company, by virtue of owning and managing the entire district area, is keeping the interests of its commercial tenants in mind while proposing the new housing.
“I would posit that our comprehensive plan that’s been adopted here in Nampa calls for a vibrant community, and a vibrant community is not fulfilled by large surface parking lots, which get used occasionally,” Wardle said. “It’s fulfilled by people who can walk from their apartment after they get home from their job to play pickleball, or who don’t have to make that extra trip out to do the things that we do on a normal basis.”
Commissioners expressed some concerns about congestion in the area and parking in the development, but generally agreed that the site makes sense for multifamily residential.
“If we’re going to build housing, let’s build it right next to the freeway, right next to other services,” Commissioner Drew Morgan said.
The members of the commission participating in the hearing unanimously approved the plans. Commissioner Matt Garner recused himself, saying that his employer has a vested interest in the proceedings. Bret Miller, the chair, was absent.
Why couldn’t they reopen the theater?
Commissioner Jeff Kirkman said that he frequently receives questions from the public about why the theater couldn’t be reopened.
Wardle said that the company that built the movie theater entered into a management agreement with a theater operator. When that agreement came to an end during the COVID-19 pandemic, the operator “exercised their right under that contract to remove all of the equipment, destroy the screens, and take anything that another movie theater operator could (use) because that’s what the agreement was,” Wardle said.
“So everybody goes, ‘so why don’t you just put another theater in there?’” Wardle said. “Because we couldn’t, we would have had to have made that big investment.”
Gardner Company pursued other potential users, including churches, artistic groups, and businesses, but to no avail, Wardle said.
Wali, the Gardner Company managing partner, previously told BoiseDev that the theater’s layout made it difficult for adaptive reuse.
