First new retail building in a decade set for Bown Crossing

Westmark Credit Union will open a branch on Boises southeast side, and the last empty retail lot at the Marketplace at Bown Crossing will be the site of a breakfast and lunch establishment called Toast Bistro.

Both projects involve Idaho Falls-based Westmark and broker Jeffrey Hall at Northwest Commercial Advisors in Meridian.

Westmark had owned the .54-acre Bown Crossing parcel since 2006, but the credit union finally abandoned plans to build a Bown Crossing branch, Westmark Chief Operating Officer Gil Birdsong said. An investor Hall represents bought that parcel in September.

Another investor group Hall represents acquired the former Home Federal Savings building at Parkcenter Boulevard and Apple Street in March. Westmark bought the 4,50-square-foot bank building for $1.35 million, with the sale closing Sept. 29.

However, a Westmark branch will not open on Parkcenter until likely early 2019. Birdsong said it will take that long to assemble a staff for that branch.

Westmark bought the Bown Crossing lot before the population had grown rapidly on the southeast side of Boise,...