A plan to add over 100 new, deeply affordable housing units gained city approval recently, as the plan would add the affordable units onto an existing building in the north Granary District.
During an April 23 meeting, members of the Salt Lake City Planning Commission approved a plan to add the affordable units to the existing Sunrise Metro apartment building, located at 580 S. 500 West. The new add-on development would be called Atkinson Stacks, and it would offer rents between 25%-30% AMI.
Commission members approved the planned development application with little discussion, as the item was listed on their consent agenda. Only one commission member, Amy Barry, voted against the development, though she didn’t explain during the meeting why she voted no.
The new Atkinson Stacks building would be located on the west side of the existing property, according to plans for the development in a city staff report. It would feature six stories and add 100 units to the complex.
As we reported in October, the existing building was constructed in 2007 with 100 units — all either studios or one bedroom apartments — and it will be remodeled as part of the project. 18 units would be added to the building as part of the overall project. Plans show all of the 118 new units between the two buildings would be one bedroom apartments.
In total, the development sits on roughly 2.7 acres of land and would total 218 units when finished. The total density would grow from 37 units per acre to 81 units per acre.
The development received $9 million in funds from the state, as well as LIHTC funds in 2023. The Housing Authority of Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake City-based Giv Communities are the developers.
The applicants had asked the planning commission to waive midblock walkway requirements, arguing walkways would not only dead-end into nearby warehouses, but also pose security risks for residents.
“The population that the project serves presents unique security challenges and it is critical to the safety of the residents that the site remain fenced and restricted to residents and authorized visitors only,” developers wrote in an application to Salt Lake City. “Even with the existing fences in place, security is an ongoing challenge at the site and results in frequent calls to SLPD. The unique site security requirements will continue decades into the future.”
Sunrise Metro is a deeply affordable, permanent supportive housing facility for people trying to transition out of homelessness, though an application filed with the city last fall says the building also has dedicated units, “for refugees and those with physical disabilities.” The complex also has on-site services and caseworkers who are based in the building. Atkinson Stacks would be more of the same.
Deeply affordable units like this are constantly in short supply in Salt Lake City. While affordable units, which typically mean units offered at 60%-70% AMI, are springing up throughout Salt Lake, new build deeply affordable units are much more rare.
According to Salt Lake City’s affordable housing dashboard, which was launched in January, only 127 deeply affordable units have been completed since July 2023, while another 115 are under construction and 188 are in the planning stage. If you add up those numbers, it’s less than a quarter of the city’s goal of creating 2,000 deeply affordable units by June 2028.
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