Former Glendale car wash site could become 24-unit apartment building

by Jacob Scholl | Jan 6, 2026

The former site of a car wash in Glendale near Redwood Road could become home to a new apartment building under a plan released this week.

Developers recently submitted a design review to Salt Lake City in the hopes of building The Stax — a 24-unit, four-floor apartment building located at 1665 W. California Avenue. The car wash that used to be located on the site has since been demolished. The potential apartment building would be located just off Redwood Road.

In total, the 24-unit project would be built on a .396 acre plot of land, giving the development a density of 60.6 units per acre, according to a project narrative submitted to Salt Lake City.

The plans submitted show each floor would have six units, two stairwells and no elevators. Units would range from 305 to 350 square feet, and most units would have balcony space. All units would include an in-unit washer and dryer. The project would also include a total of 24 parking stalls, with one parking stall per unit.

The Stax would be built out of wood, and the exterior would include a combination of stucco, horizontal cement board siding, brick and metal paneling, according to the project narrative.

Similar plans for the site were previously submitted to the Salt Lake City Planning Commission and approved in January 2024. The project’s 45-foot height was allowed in the previous zoning, Commercial Corridor (CC), but it required approval from the planning commission via a design review.

With the city’s mixed-use zoning code overhaul, the land is now zoned as MU-5, which allows buildings up to 55 feet. While the height is no longer an issue, the new design review asks for a reduced setback.

Developers are seeking to have the required 10 foot setback adjacent to residential homes reduced to seven feet, according to a project description sent to the city. The application is also requesting an exception regarding the parking lot’s landscaping. Developers wrote that both exceptions are needed in order to build the units and have the required amount of parking.

The design review application must get approval from the Salt Lake City Planning Commission to move forward, though it’s not clear when that could happen.