Remnants of the recession dot eastern Idaho

SUGAR CITY — Once hyped as a marker of the prosperity in the Upper Valley, the remains of the Toscano development sit rotting west of U.S. Highway 20.

To commuters and travelers the buildings are a visible reminder of the great recession the Upper Snake River Valley weathered — mostly with positive results.

Farther east in Teton County, golf legend Greg Norman signed on in 2006 to help design and build a golf course, Teton Rim Golf Club, part of the River Rim Ranch development. Photos on his web site show Norman standing, plans in hand, in the sagebrush with the Tetons as the backdrop.

Ground was broken and truckload after truckload of sand was hauled from Fremont County to help create and shape the course on the south side of Idaho Highway 33 along the rim of the Teton River canyon.

But now the would-be course is covered in meadow grass and crops, and most of the 5,300 acre development remains devoid of homes.

The half-built townhouses and golf course are examples of big dreams that became nightmares for investors when the economy, and especially the construction and real estate industries, went south in 2007 and 2008 both nationally and locally.

A phone survey of area communities shows most of the commercial developments that started in the glow of the boom years of early 2000s eventually were completed, though some went through a period where they were stalled.

“We were fortunately not impacted as much as some communities,” Idaho Falls Community Development Director Brad Kramer said of those recession years.

Through spokeswoman Kerry McCullough, Kramer said in the worst cases some developments may have had some utilities installed and then were delayed. But all such projects have been completed now or are in the process of being completed.

Planning and community development officials in other Upper Valley cities and counties echo those of Idaho Falls.

“If you had asked that about 10 years ago there were a few (stalled projects),”Bonneville County Planning Administrator Steve Serr said. “Even those have recovered now.”

In Teton County a few projects are visible reminders of dreams dashed. A steel skeleton of what was planned to be an industrial building sits south of the airport in Driggs. West out of Victor off Idaho Highway 31 an open foundation marks the location of what was to have been the Trail Creek Crossing.

In the Driggs area one housing and commercial project, 300 Main, was platted but not developed, and some commercial construction at Creekside Meadows was platted but not completed.

Construction of a hotel that was part of the original Huntsman Springs development apparently is still in the works though no ground has been broken. Huntsman Springs lays both inside and outside Driggs’ city limits and includes homes, a golf course and a clubhouse.

When it was first approved and construction begun in 2004, the River Rim Ranch development was touted as one of the biggest and best in the area, with home sites on the river above the Teton River and a golf course with an unsurpassed view of the Teton Mountains.

The first phase of River Rim was platted. Two communal buildings were built, as well as a few homes, a small pond and other landscaping. Golf course construction began, with an opening projected for 2010. Then in 2014, the bank-owned project amended its plans with Teton County to exclude the golf course from the project.

Teton County Planning Administrator Jason Boal said the county received an application earlier this month from River Rim to amend the plans to again include the course. A public hearing on that application is set May 10.

Sugar City’s Toscano project had nearly as much hype as River Rim at its inception.

With celebrity backing from San Francisco 49ers legend Steve Young, the project prompted the annexation of a large swath of property on the west side of U.S. 20 into Sugar City. Construction was started on townhouses in 2008, and much of the infrastructure was installed for a subdivision to the north. Fire hydrants remain visible in the field where foxes once denned near the highway.

“It’s currently owned by a lender and a contractor,” Sugar City Mayor Dave Ogden said. Ogden served on the city planning and zoning commission when the project was first proposed and watched it falter.

“It was just one of those things where the economy when south,” he said.

Because the deteriorating unfinished townhouses pose a safety hazard, the city is working with the contractor to get the buildings demolished.

But city officials haven’t lost hope that the part of town west of U.S. 20 will eventually be developed. Another unrelated development has been proposed to the north of the Toscano project and is in the process of gaining approvals.