The Front 5 Building. Boise, Idaho. Project Type: Commercial/Industrial. Case No: C Year: 2005

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1 The Front 5 Building Boise, Idaho Project Type: Commercial/Industrial Case No: C Year: 2005 SUMMARY Located on the southern edge of downtown Boise, Idaho, the Front 5 Building contains 17,000 square feet (1,579 square meters) of office space in a former warehouse. As of December 2005, the development team is pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification for the structure, which has a number of environmentally friendly features, including the use of locally manufactured construction materials, recycled materials, an HVAC system that increases heating and cooling efficiency by 25 percent, a drip irrigation system for the landscaping, and finishes with low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Many of the green building techniques used in this project are new to the Boise market. FEATURES Green building Adaptive use Renovation of a 30-year-old building in an underdeveloped area near downtown Boise Former Warehouse

2 The Front 5 Building Boise, Idaho Project Type: Commercial/Industrial Subcategory: Office Building Volume 35 Number 20 October December 2005 Case Number: C PROJECT TYPE Located on the southern edge of downtown Boise, Idaho, the Front 5 Building contains 17,000 square feet (1,579 square meters) of office space in a former warehouse. As of December 2005, the development team is pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification for the structure, which has a number of environmentally friendly features, including the use of locally manufactured construction materials, recycled materials, an HVAC system that increases heating and cooling efficiency by 25 percent, a drip irrigation system for the landscaping, and finishes with low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Many of the green building techniques used in this project are new to the Boise market. LOCATION Central City SITE SIZE 0.77 acre/0.31 hectare LAND USES Office KEYWORDS/SPECIAL FEATURES Green building Adaptive use Renovation of a 30-year-old building in an underdeveloped area near downtown Boise Former Warehouse OWNER/DEVELOPER Front 5, LLC P.O. Box 2020 Boise, Idaho Fax: ARCHITECT Cole + Poe Architects 519 West Front Street Boise, Idaho Fax: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER Lochsa Engineering of Idaho 1311 West Jefferson Street Boise, Idaho Fax:

3 MECHANICAL ENGINEER Tikker Engineering 9384 West Overland Road Boise, Idaho Fax: ELECTRICAL ENGINEER e2co 545 North Benjamin Lane Boise, Idaho Fax: GENERAL CONTRACTOR Petra, Inc West Blackeagle Drive Boise, Idaho Fax: CONSULTANT Heery International 3201 Airport Way, Suite 280 Boise, Idaho Fax:

4 GENERAL DESCRIPTION Originally a warehouse, the Front 5 Building is now a one-story, 17,000-square-foot (1,579-square-meter) multitenant office project that incorporates numerous green design and mechanical features. Located just south of downtown Boise, the structure has many elements that are new to Idaho s real estate market. As of December 2005, the development team is pursuing LEED silver certification for the project. The transformation of this warehouse into office space brings several initial office tenants into a transitional pedestrian-friendly area between downtown and an adjacent residential area. The Front 5 Building was developed by Oaas Laney LLC, a six-person development firm founded in 1998 that also invests in startup firms. The project was designed by Cole + Poe Architects, an 18-person architecture firm founded in 1995 that focuses on green development. Both businesses are based in Boise. SITE AND DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND When Oaas Laney acquired the property for the Front 5 Building, two long-vacant warehouses stood on the site. The first building, constructed in the 1970s, is located at the front of the property along Front Street, and was renovated to become the existing Front 5 Building. The other structure a 15,000-square-foot (1,393-square-meter) building that was erected during the 1950s and was located at the back of the site was demolished due to irreparable structural deficiencies. Construction began in September 2004 and was completed in February Although the firm had originally considered doing a much larger mixed-use development on the site, Oaas Laney decided instead to modify the original plan and develop a smaller-scale office project to meet the existing market demand for office space in the Front Street corridor. After attending design workshops for downtown, conducted by the Capitol City Development Corporation (CCDC) the nonprofit urban renewal authority for the city of Boise Oaas Laney engaged Cole + Poe Architects to design the reuse of the existing building. Cole + Poe, in turn, encouraged Oaas Laney to incorporate LEED concepts into the design, citing that it would help to lay the groundwork for future green projects. As mentioned previously, the site is located at the southern edge of downtown Boise, at the southwest corner of Front and Fifth streets between Front and Broad streets. Front Street is a major one-way thoroughfare with five lanes of traffic. Serving as a transition zone between the downtown core and a nearby residential neighborhood, this area contains a variety of low- to mid-rise structures, including retail/service buildings, offices, and housing. Wanting the project to fit in with the context of the neighborhood and work with plans calling for pedestrian-friendly exposure on Broad Street, the development team determined that a small multitenant office building was the most appropriate use for the site. FINANCING Key Bank provided the Front 5 developers with both the construction loan and a long-term loan for the finished project. The latter is a seven-year loan that will require the property to be refinanced with new terms at that time. The lender exercised a 50 percent preleasing requirement with Windermere, a real estate marketing firm that occupies half of the building, as well as the architect and developer, which together occupy an additional 25 percent. The developer estimates that the additional costs for green measures run anywhere from 3 to 10 percent; however, it is confident that many of these costs can be recovered over time through improved energy efficiency and durability. Further, the short-term return on investment is less than that for typical office buildings. The developer attributes this to the increased costs of green construction materials as well as to the additional engineering and testing required of the environmentally friendly mechanical system. The increased costs and lack of comparable green office developments in Boise presented challenges for both the lender and appraiser. Neither was familiar with the differences inherent in green development that affect construction costs, lease rates, and operating costs. In order to reconcile these differences and launch the project, Key Bank required a 40 percent equity investment from the project s five equity partners. Erik Oaas and Steve Laney, the owners of Oaas Laney, are the majority investors, and Cole + Poe Architects is a minority investor, as are two additional silent investors who do not occupy space in the Front 5 Building. Oaas Laney owns the structure adjacent to the site on the west, a 22,000-square-foot (2,044-square-meter) warehouse property occupied by a telecommunications switching operation with a long-term lease. This building was also financed as part of the Front 5 development, and its consistent cash flow increased the project s overall net operating income, thereby reducing overall risk to the lender. The only public funding came from the CCDC, which reimbursed the developer over a five-year period in the amount of $65,000 for streetscape improvements along Front and Broad streets. These improvements included historic streetlights, sidewalks, and paving. PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION

5 A one-story structure with additional loft space, the Front 5 Building occupies the northern half of its site, along Front Street. The parking lot is located adjacent to the building with an entrance on Broad Street. The structure also shares a common wall with the building located to the west of the site. At a future date, Oaas Laney plans to redevelop the entire site to accommodate market demand. While the windowless warehouse was being retrofitted to function as an office, lighting was a major priority. The original structure had to be reinforced to accommodate its new uses and additional windows. Several truck doors were retrofitted with oversized windows and additional windows of similar size (approximately nine feet by nine feet/2.7 meters by 2.7 meters) were placed in both the front and back facades at regular intervals, along with slightly smaller windows on the east-facing facade. Clerestory windows that line the building work with numerous skylights to maximize the amount of natural light entering the offices. The building is split from front to back by a central corridor, with offices located on either side. There is 16,540 square feet (1,537 square meters) of rentable space, approximately 12,700 square feet (1,179 square meters) of which is on the main floor. Lofted areas in each tenant space make up the remainder. The present building layout comprises three tenant spaces. Windermere occupies the south side of the structure and the north side is divided evenly between Cole + Poe and another tenant, Adecco. Oaas Laney occupies the loft portion overlooking the Cole + Poe and Adecco spaces. The surface parking lot at the rear of the property contains 24 parking spaces. A surface parking lot across Broad Street to the south of the site provides additional required parking. Surrounding streets, with the exception of Front Street, also have numerous on-street parking spaces. ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY FEATURES The developer and architect believe the long-term benefits of green design will include reduced energy costs, improved health of employees, and decreased dependence on fossil fuels. Therefore, a variety of environmentally friendly methods and materials were utilized in the construction of the Front 5 Building. First and foremost, renovating the structure as opposed to constructing a new one eliminated substantial materials costs. In addition, the Front 5 Building reused materials from the warehouse that were removed from the site. These strategies cut upfront expenses and provided short-term benefits by decreasing the need for materials. Approximately 20 percent of construction materials were manufactured locally (within a 500-mile [800-kilometer] radius of Boise), and about 25 percent were recycled materials most notably, wood beams salvaged from the adjacent demolished building. These 60-year-old beams were used in the framing of the loft spaces in each office. As mentioned earlier, the Front 5 Building maximizes natural lighting through the use of large windows, clerestory windows, and skylights. This is one of the two most significant green features of the structure, as it considerably reduces lighting expenditures. It is not known exactly how much energy increased daylighting has saved compared with the lighting used in other office properties, but the developer believes the long-term energy savings will be dramatic. The other important, and most complex, green feature of the Front 5 Building is its HVAC and mechanical system. In accordance with LEED indoor air quality standards, the HVAC system was specially engineered to increase heating and cooling efficiency by 25 percent, and features a carbon-dioxide monitoring system that delivers an estimated 20 percent more fresh outside air than comparable standard HVAC systems. Moreover, the HVAC system was fully commissioned after construction was complete. The system was sealed off during construction to reduce the accumulation of dust and particles. This process ensures improved air quality when the building is occupied and the system is in use. Another way in which the development team worked to improve indoor air quality was with the use of low-voc-emitting paints, sealants, adhesives, and carpeting. Medite, an environmentally friendly, formaldehyde-free fiberboard, is used for partitions and on walls in the main corridor. Carpeting and insulation consist of recycled materials, and countertops were made from Richlite, a material manufactured with paper and wood byproducts. The building s floor the original concrete surface was ground down, polished, and stained, creating an aggregate appearance. In an effort to decrease dependence on cars, the Front 5 Building was designed and sited to promote the use of alternative transportation. The building has on-site bicycle parking and a changing and showering facility, encouraging employees to ride their bikes to work. The site s location at the edge of downtown Boise also enables the building s occupants to walk to numerous restaurants, stores, and government offices. Moreover, several local bus routes run within a quarter mile of the site. Most of the green features were not dependent on each other in order to be implemented in the project, giving the developer the ability to pick and choose which ones worked best for the Front 5 Building. This technique also provided some flexibility for changing plans. For example, Oaas Laney originally wanted to use waterless urinals; however, the state plumbing code had not approved them at that time. Other green features include the following:

6 Capped exterior lighting with limited lumens to decrease light pollution, and trees that shade paved areas to reduce heat islands. A roof that uses a high-albedo, light-colored surface that reflects sunlight and lessens heat absorption, improving energy efficiency. Landscaping that is irrigated by a drip system, which uses less water than a traditional sprinkler system, and a swale located in the front of the building, which helps absorb rainwater, reducing runoff from the site. MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT Developer, owner, and tenant Oaas Laney also manages and leases the Front 5 Building, with a contract to a third party for cleaning and maintenance. Oaas Laney required very little direct marketing to attract tenants. With the developer and architect occupying a fourth of the space, it was necessary to get only two additional tenants. Both of the additional tenants Windermere and Adecco learned of the project through word of mouth. Windermere signed a lease early in the development process, meeting the bank's aforementioned 50 percent preleasing requirement, while Adecco, the final tenant, signed its lease in late An informal survey suggests that the tenants are happy with the building and its green features, noting daylighting and improved air quality as the most important factors. The developer believes that tenant satisfaction will be the best marketing tool for the property. Current lease rates are in line with those for office space in the rest of downtown Boise, but the developer believes that over time the enhanced work environment of green developments like the Front 5 Building will generate rent premiums. EXPERIENCE GAINED The developer and architect strongly believe there is a substantial future market for green buildings; and while such structures may not produce an instant payback, they consider them to be very good long-term investments. Since green design is, for the most part, new to the Boise area, the Front 5 Building provided the development team with exposure to a wide array of new building materials and mechanical systems, as well as issues pertaining to financing green development. The developer and architect expect the lessons learned from the Front 5 Building to be applied to future development. Some issues encountered during the development of the Front 5 Building, such as the state regulation prohibiting the use of waterless urinals, cannot be changed without legislative action. The developer can better control other issues, such as the added costs of green development. For future projects, Oaas Laney will demand from contractors and architects a better sense of these added costs at the outset. The additional costs mentioned above are partly due to materials, as well as to additional engineering for the HVAC systems. Improved knowledge among all parties, from engineers to lenders and appraisers, will reduce some of those costs in future green projects. The ongoing challenge with green development will be to find the appropriate balance between cost-effectiveness of materials and time, understanding and perhaps changing government regulations, and instilling an overall sense of environmental responsibility among the development team and buyers/tenants.

7 PROJECT DATA LAND USE INFORMATION Site area (acres/hectares): 0.77/0.31 Gross building area (square feet/square meters): 17,164/1,595 Net rentable area (square feet/square meters): 16,540/1,535 Number of parking spaces: Surface: 20 on site Structured: 0 LAND USE PLAN Use Area (Gross Square Feet/Square Meters) Buildings 13,800/1,282 Paved areas (including surface parking) 12,700/1,180 Landscaping/open space 7,000/650 Total 33,500/3,112 OFFICE INFORMATION Percentage of NRA occupied: 75 Number of tenants: 3 Average tenant size (square feet/square meters): 5,000/465 Largest tenant size (square feet/square meters): 9,000/836 Rental range per month (per square foot/square meter): $15 $50/$ $ Average length of lease: 5 10 years Typical terms of lease: 7 years Office Tenant Size (Square Feet/Square Meters) Under 5,000/465 2 Between 5,000 and 10,000/465 and Total 3 Number of Tenants DEVELOPMENT COST INFORMATION Site Acquisition Cost: $2,300,000 Site Improvement Costs: $225,000 Excavation and grading: $37,000 Paving/curbs/sidewalks: $68,000 Landscaping/irrigation: $100,000 Fees/general conditions: $20,000 Construction Costs: $1,768,000 Superstructure and finishes: $1,100,000 HVAC: $69,000 Electrical: $165,000 Plumbing/sprinklers: $55,000 Fees/general conditions: $331,000 Graphics/specialties: $48,000 Soft Costs: $360,000 Architecture/engineering: $99,000 Project management: $89,000 Leasing/marketing: $23,000 Legal/marketing: $24,000 Taxes/insurance: $30,000 Construction interest fees: $26,000 Financial fees: $69,000 Additional Costs Associated with Green Building Features : $47,000 for mechanical systems commissioning, mechanical design, installation of mechanical systems, recycling accommodations within tenant areas and building. Total Development Costs: $4,700,000 Annual Operating Expenses: $203,000 Taxes: $30,000 Insurance: $33,000 Repair and maintenance: $20,000 Janitorial: $15,000 Utilities: $55,000 Legal: $20,000 Management: $30,000 Operating Costs (per Square Foot/Square Meter): $12.27/$ DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

8 Construction started: June 2004 Sales/leasing started: June 2004 Project completed: December 2004 DRIVING DIRECTIONS From Boise Airport: Follow the signs for the airport exit on West Airport Way, and take it heading east for half a mile (0.8 kilometer) to Vista Avenue. Turn left on Vista Avenue and follow it 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers) to Capitol Boulevard. Turn left on Capitol (which quickly bends to the right, revealing a view of the state capitol building), and proceed almost one mile (1.6 kilometers) to Broad Street one block past Myrtle Street. Turn right on Broad Street, taking it two blocks east. Before reaching Fifth Street, the parking lot for the Front 5 Building is on the left, at the corner of Fifth and Broad streets. Driving time: Approximately ten minutes in nonpeak traffic. Sam Newberg, report author Jason Scully, editor, Development Case Studies David James Rose, copy editor Joanne Nanez, online production manager This Development Case Study is intended as a resource for subscribers in improving the quality of future projects. Data contained herein were made available by the project's development team and constitute a report on, not an endorsement of, the project by ULI the Urban Land Institute. Copyright 2005 by ULI the Urban Land Institute 1025 Thomas Jefferson Street, N.W., Suite 500 West, Washington D.C

9 A vacant warehouse renovated according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green construction standards, the Front 5 Building is a 17,000-square-foot (1,579-square-meter) office building near downtown Boise, Idaho.

10 The Front 5 Building derives its name from its location at the corner of Fifth and Front streets, which is in an area that serves as a transition zone between downtown and a nearby residential neighborhood.

11 "Before." Converting this 30-year-old warehouse into an office building required adding windows to a space lacking them; truck doors were retrofitted with oversized windows, and additional windows and skylights were installed to maximize the amount of natural light entering the structure.

12 "After." Lofts take advantage of the high ceilings in this one-story structure and provide space for the project's developer, Oaas Laney.

13 "Before." Two long-vacant warehouses originally stood on the site; however, Oaas Laney had to demolish one due to structural deficiencies

14 "After." The site of the demolished warehouse now serves as a parking lot and many of its building materials were reused in the Front 5 renovation.

15 The Front 5 Building site plan.