Development near new Rexburg temple to include the Homestead Assisted Living facility
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REXBURG — A 16-acre business development taking shape near the North Rexburg exit off U.S. Highway 20 will be anchored by an assisted living facility, developers say.
Trellis Development has announced that 11 acres in the center of the White Owl Business Park — located west of the Walmart Supercenter at 1450 N. 2nd East and adjacent to the construction site for the Teton River Idaho Temple — will be home to a new Homestead Assisted Living location. Plans for the facility include a pool, pickleball courts, a walking trail, individual condos and more.
Scott Page, chief operating officer for Trellis, says working with the Homestead was an easy choice, as the facility’s owners share the development company’s ideals.
“They care a lot about how things look and feel,” Page says. “They put a lot of thought into the tenants that they have there, and in making them feel at home. It will be a really nice product.”
Page and the rest of the team at Trellis say developments and partnerships like this are why they do what they do. The work creates economic opportunities for their own children and future grandchildren, which is one of their driving forces.
Still, this particular development is quite different from what Trellis owner Bron Leatham set out to create when he bought the land adjacent to U.S. 20 about 9 years ago, long before the temple was announced. He originally planned a light industrial development.
“Once the temple was announced, we thought: OK, now that’s obviously not the best fit,” Leatham says.
Potential uses of the land now include office space and medical facilities, and they’ve been in talks with a hotel.
Leatham says one of Trellis’s goals is to help other local businesses grow and thrive. He follows a business plan that gives those companies an opportunity to own and benefit from the real estate they occupy.
“We design the building specifically to their needs and build a bigger building that will suit them, with some additional space that they can lease out so they can participate in all of it,” Leatham says. “So it’s creating wealth for them and their business.”
Page says this model works well because it allows growing businesses to do what they do best while leaving the design and construction logistics to the developers.
“It enables business owners to just be business owners instead of having to put a project together with an engineer and an architect,” Page says.
Thompson says the team intentionally works with mostly local businesses because they want to invest in homegrown, east Idaho businesses that improve their communities.
“Something we pride ourselves on is that 95% of all investors are local,” Thompson says.
Leatham, Page and Thompson were all born and raised in east Idaho, so they are each invested in the future of the area for their own families.
Thompson, a fourth-generation Rigby native, says he wanted to stay in the area after graduating from Brigham Young University-Idaho, but job opportunities were scarce.
“If I can help bring in some companies that give my son and my daughter an opportunity to stay here and have the career that they want, then I’m going to help develop it,” Thompson says. “I want my kids and my grandkids here. I was really blessed and lucky and found a path back, but for a lot of my friends, their path back is really difficult. That’s a big driver for me.”
Rexburg has seen huge growth since Ricks College became BYU-Idaho in 2001. According to Census.gov, Rexburg grew from about 17,000 people in 2001 to over 40,000 in 2024.
Leatham acknowledges that some in the area are not enthusiastic about the growth, but says Trellis is determined to help steer growth in a way that benefits the community.
“We want to have a significant impact on our community for good,” Leatham says. “I don’t think people should fear development when it’s done thoughtfully and when it’s done for the benefit of our community and our children.”
