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Ken Howell, who has made a name for himself in Boise by redeveloping several downtown landmarks, including the Union Block, has purchased the Idanha Hotel for conversion to apartments.
Howell plans to restore and renovate the Idanha, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, by replacing its 100-plus small rooms with 51 apartments of various sizes.
Commercial uses on the basement and ground levels, including Peter Schott's upscale restaurant, will remain, he said, and Schott's may be expanded.
Built in 1901, the six-story, turreted hostelry at 10th and Main streets is little changed from the appearance and character it exhibited when guests included such early-20th-century notables as Theodore Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow and William E. Borah.
Howell, who had been negotiating on the 50,000-square-foot building since last fall, on June 30 closed a deal to purchase it from the Maharishi Vedic University -- an entity affiliated with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, onetime spiritual adviser to The Beatles -- which owned it for four years.
"I am thrilled at the prospect of restoring this landmark," Howell said after long and detailed negotiations. "This is a very important building to me and I think to a lot of Boiseans, and its got a lot of Boise's history within it."
He estimated renovation costs at a minimum of $2.5 million and said the process would take about a year, with completion envisioned for late 2000 --assuming the project gets under way by late autumn this year.
Work to be done includes replacement of plumbing, wiring and HVAC systems, repairs to the roof and windows, and structural reinforcement with steel beams to meet seismic requirements, Howell...