March 11–Boise — Obie Development Partners announced Tuesday that it submitted an application to the city of Boise for a seven-story, 104-room hotel.

The company, founded by former Eugene, Ore., Mayor Brian Obie, hopes to break ground late this summer and finish construction by the end of 2016. The project is expected to cost $25 million.

This is the second time in five days that a company has announced plans for a Downtown hotel. Last week, local developer and hotelier Jared Smith announced that he will build a 10-story, 180-room hotel just north of the Obie project on the southeast corner of Capitol and Broad Street.

Obie’s hotel would be called The Inn at 500 Capitol, according to a news release from Boise public relations firm Red Sky.

This would be Obie’s second hotel project, Red Sky spokeswoman Amanda Watson said. The first, located in Eugene, is called Inn at the 5th. The company focuses on “creating boutique, thoughtful and community-oriented developments with strong attention to detail and the complete guest experience,” according to Red Sky’s news release.

The Boise hotel would stretch east along the south side of Myrtle east of Capitol. It would include art and landscaping along Myrtle Street, valet parking, a second-floor outdoor gathering space, a fine-dining restaurant on the ground floor and prominent balconies attached to rooms, according to the news release.

It’s unclear how much the rooms would cost per night, or where guests’ cars would be parked.

Boise architecture firm CSHQA is helping Obie design the hotel.

Obie picked Boise from a list of “dozens of markets,” according to the news release. Key factors in that decision include the fact that Boise is a capital city and has a major university, headquarters for big companies, an urban population and commerce, a “dynamic” Downtown, and “increasing demand for a boutique hotel option,” according to the release.

Sven Berg: 377-6275