Americor Plans for New Building, up to 800 Jobs in Meridian

The second building’s main tenant will be Americor, a California-based financial tech firm that plans to create 500 to 800 jobs in Meridian.

At the groundbreaking, Tommy Ahlquist, CEO of BVA and formerly a developer with Gardner Company, said he tried purchasing the site about 15 years ago because of its potential — it’s centrally located in the Treasure Valley, easy to access and not too far from the airport.

The city annexed the site in 1995 and approved a 700,000-square-foot retail center, but nothing came of the application. Then in 2018, Idaho Central Credit Union acquired the land from Idaho Elks Rehab. BVA entered an agreement with ICCU to purchase 46 acres and develop the site and the credit union’s new campus.

“This site will quickly become a central hub for business and entertainment in this growing community that we have all come to love,” Ahlquist said in a press release sent out before the groundbreaking.

When finished, Eagle View Landing will have almost 1 million square feet of commercial and residential space, he said.

Construction on the first building started in May. It will have five stories, totaling 125,000 square feet, and will house ICCU’s call center, training area and back office support. There won’t be a credit union branch at the site.

Construction on the first two buildings is slated to wrap up next fall, with plans for a third building in the works.

More tenants will be announced as the site develops, BVA executive assistant Lance Sayers said.

“Good companies come with good companies,” he said on Tuesday.

Americor’s Treasure Valley branch is the company’s first outside of California, according to David Ochoa, vice president of client services. Founded in 2008, Americor employs roughly 600 people in Irvine and specializes in debt settlement and consolidation and financial lending.

The company moved into a temporary northwest Boise location two months ago. It has 25 to 30 local employees with plans to bring staffing up to 80 in the near future. Finding local talent hasn’t been a problem so far, Ochoa said.

Americor will take up two of the three floors in its building at Eagle View Landing. The company chose the site because of the “vibrant growth of the region, strong economics, and the wonderful community,” CEO Benny Ganatra said in a press release.

NEXT STEPS

By early next year, BVA plans to begin construction on commercial and retail buildings and a large, outdoor entertainment area. Company officials have confirmed they’re working to bring a “golf entertainment facility” to the site, but haven’t named a tenant, BoiseDev.com reported in January; Dallas-based Topgolf is the leading company for these types of facilities.

There won’t be any movement on the last 7 acres of the site until the office, commercial, retail and entertainment areas have been finalized, Sayers said.

Residents in the low-density Rolling Hill Subdivision to the east have raised concerns about development encroaching on their quiet way of life. BVA purchased 1005 S. Rolling Hills Drive, a parcel near the end of the subdivision, on April 15 to use solely as an emergency access for Eagle View Landing, the Meridian Press previously reported. The access would only be used by the fire officials during a fire, Ahlquist said in an April interview, noting he hopes it will never need to be used at all.

Meanwhile, The Farmstead has found a new home. In January, the local farmers who run the business said they’re moving the maze and fall festival to a 178-acre farm at 2500 S. Eagle Road in Kuna.