POCATELLO — A local developer has begun work on a massive 500-unit housing project on the city's east bench that will link East Center Street to Vista Drive and then eventually link the new neighborhood over to Beth Street in the Monte Vista Drive area.

Bill Isley is currently working on completing the project he says has been possible since the 1970s when a large water tank was installed at the top of East Center Street, high enough to properly provide water pressure to further develop the east bench.

"The people that owned this land at the top of East Center Street never developed an inch of the area," Isley said. "This area has water, sewer, power and access roads, but it's never been developed."

Isley and his partners purchased the 275-acre area to develop it into residential housing.

The project that Isley has named High Terrace is split up into multiple subdivisions that each include several phases. Notwithstanding the current volatile housing market throughout the country, and particularly in Pocatello, Isley's goal is to add another 500 housing units in the form of single-family homes and multi-dwelling townhouses over the next five to 15 years.

While Isley is putting in the work to develop the area, he has partnered with local Realtor Steve Gallafent of RE/MAX to market and sell the new properties.

Isley is currently in the first phase of the project, which includes building over 30 housing units at the top of Vista Drive. There will be daylight and walkout basement homes on one side of the street and single-story, split-entry homes on the opposite side of the street.

Vista Drive is located off of East Center Street near the Cafe Tuscano restaurant, a business Isley owns with other partners. Isley was responsible for the commercial development on East Center Street near Cafe Tuscano including several hotels, restaurants and a bank building as well as the two residential neighborhoods known as Tuscany Hills and Hidden Valley.

"We are working on adding another hotel by Cafe Tuscano that will bring 600 hotel rooms," Isley said. "The six newest hotels in Pocatello will all be located in this area."

Within the High Terrace development are numerous sub-projects. One development known as East Side Surprise is a five-phase project that will connect Beth Street to East Center Street and will include about 150 new housing units. The East Side Surprise project has been master-planned but is not ready for development yet, Isley said.

Another part of the High Terrace project includes the addition of townhouses in what Isley is calling Elevation 5,000. The first phase of this project has been approved and Isley said he will begin work on the housing units there in spring 2023. Elevation 5,000 will begin atop Vista Drive and work south along East Center Street. "We call it Elevation

5,000 because it sits right above the 5,000foot elevation mark," Isley said.

In total, Elevation 5,000 will add about 225 housing units to the east bench, Isley said. One major obstacle to the project — insanely high interest rates.

"Nobody is buying new houses because the interest rates are up to 7 percent from 2 percent in just a year," Isley said. "The cost of goods has doubled in price. So what used to be a $400,000 house is now a $700,000 house and the interest rate used to be 2 to 2.5 percent. Payments have doubled or tripled."

Isley said he anticipates listing the houses currently under construction on Vista Drive at about $475,000, noting that about a year ago the price would have been about $375,000.

"The views that people will get up here are unlike any in the region," Isley said. "The homes will be right at the top of a mountain. The difference up here from other places is that up here it will be a 360-degree view."

Isley believes his High Terrace project will definitely put a dent in the current housing shortage in the Gate City area, but not necessarily immediately considering the estimated final buildout construction date is possibly 15 years out and the instability in the housing market could bring added delays.

"It certainly will help, but by itself it's not going to be nearly enough," Isley said. "I just have a gut feeling that this slowdown is going to affect us but not as bad as other places. Many of the people coming here are coming from coastal locations like California, Oregon and Washington and have enough to buy outright so they aren't going to be affected by the high interest rates for loans."

Not only will the massive High Terrace Project add much needed homes to the area, but it will also provide some overdue connectivity to the city's east bench, Isley said.

"After we finish this first phase, that's when we'll go ahead and gravel the road on through so it'll be open for emergency vehicles," Isley said. "The city has wanted to connect Center Street over to the Monte Vista area for years because if there is a fire up on the east bench and you take the wrong access road, you have to go all the way back down the hill and back up again."

Isley and Gallafent are excited for what the future holds and look forward to completing a project Isley says is more than 50 years in the making.

"This project really should have been completed in 2000," Isley said. "To finish out a development that is much needed for the city and started in the 1970s will be huge for our area."