COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — COEUR d'ALENE - North Idaho College has inched into the Military Drive neighborhood in preparation for growth by purchasing over seven properties since 2004 as reported by our news partner the Coeur d'Alene Press.
Another is in the works following unanimous board approval last week.
Situated off River Avenue, Military Drive properties have been bought by NIC for years, NIC Chief Communications and Government Relations Officer Laura Rumpler said. Already on the street are several college buildings, including facilities operations, the maintenance department, landscape services, security and human resources.
She explained that migrating into the area allows the college to create a safe, walkable, contiguous campus from Lake Coeur d’Alene to Northwest Boulevard.
“Securing the Military Drive properties allows the board of trustees and the college maximum flexibility in planning for future growth to meet the needs of students and our larger community,” she said.
Chris Martin, vice president of Finance and Business Affairs, told trustees last week that the homeowners of the most recent purchase reached out to NIC at the end of 2020 to see if the college was interested in acquiring the residence. Then, when they were ready to sell in early May, the individuals contacted NIC again.
“The neighborhood knows what our plans are. The word is out, and this time the homeowner actually contacted us directly,” Martin said. “We have made relationships across the neighborhood, so when a house comes up sometimes, we get the phone call first.”
There's no specific function designated for the building yet. Still, Martin said, the college prefers to grab the properties when they become available because “they don’t come up very often and the prices keep going up.”
The appraised value — and sale price — for the latest acquisition is $655,000, he said. Martin anticipates the sale to close within the next three weeks.
Funding for the purchase comes from a $1 million reserve fund set aside for capital acquisition by the board in 2017.
“Unfortunately, it was originally a million dollars for a couple of properties,” Trustee Todd Banducci said. “Now we’re going to get one with about a third of the kitty left. So property values worked against us clearly.”
Martin said he was pleased the owners were willing to sell at the appraised value considering Kootenai County’s unique housing market. However, he noted that appraised values have dramatically changed since NIC acquired a property in February 2020 for $345,000.
Scooping properties up while available is part of the college master plan for expansion, Rumpler said. The interest in growing NIC also led to the purchase of Rathdrum Prairie land in 2009, Trustee Christie Wood pointed out, which now houses the Parker Technical Education Center campus.
“We’re landlocked,” Wood said. “We always try to look 20 to 30 years ahead of what the demand for growth might be.”
In response to a question by Trustee Michael Barnes about the urgency of purchasing the new property, Trustee Ken Howard explained that several years ago the college updated its master planning efforts, which included expanding campus for future program needs.
At the time, Howard said, land surrounding NIC was the property of the Idaho Bureau of Land Management, the city of Coeur d’Alene, and the established Fort Grounds neighborhood — making Military Drive one of the few areas to turn to for land acquisition.
Martin said the institution owns almost half the Military Drive residential block, primarily due to the bulk purchase of five properties last year.
As many of the properties on Military Drive are residential, Martin said some continue to be leased to occupants. Four of NIC's holdings on the street lease between $1,250 and $1,600 a month — which Martin noted is dependent on market and range.
“The college works hard to be a good neighbor with the folks who live in the Fort Grounds and on Military Drive,” Rumpler said. “We’ve built solid relationships and are appreciative when homeowners who are considering selling their property think of us ... we will continue to work with Military Drive residents and property owners as they consider selling their property.”
The Coeur d'Alene Press is a KREM 2 news partner. For more from our news partner, click here.
