A historic Salt Lake City building-turned office space has a new owner who might add new housing units nearby in the future.
The Salt Lake Hardware Building, located at 155 N. 400 West just northwest of Downtown, was recently sold to Dart Interests, a Texas-based real estate development company. KBS, the building’s previous owner, didn’t disclose the sales price to Building Salt Lake.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Hardware building is a class A space that totals over 210,000 square feet across five floors. In addition to office space, the building also includes a cafe. The building’s historic nature is iconic enough to lend itself to the greater surrounding area, which developers have recently dubbed the Hardware District.
During its ownership of the building, KBS invested over $9 million in capital improvements, including “enhancing tenant and common areas, amenities and building systems to support long‑term performance and positioning,” the company said in a news release.
The sale included two parcels — one consisting of the Hardware building and part of a surface parking lot, and the other consisting of another surface parking lot to the west that totals 2.45 acres. Combined, the parcels total 4.61 acres, and both lots are zoned as MU-11. The taxable valuation for the two parcels is $48,646,000, according to Salt Lake County tax records.
The interior of the Salt Lake Hardware Building. Image via KBS
In addition to the Hardware building, KBS played a large part in building out the Hardware District, an area that continues to see new projects pop up on either side of the North Temple FrontRunner train stop. The company developed the nearby Hardware Apartments to the north, which it later sold off-market.
“The Salt Lake Hardware Building offers a creative office environment with a distinctive tenant experience in downtown Salt Lake City,” Tim Helgeson, senior vice president at KBS and former investment manager of the Hardware building, said in a news release. “Our experience in the area as an active investor with three additional properties in the market, and our prior ground-up development and sale of a 453‑unit multifamily community adjacent to the property, reinforces continued value creation that’s supported by strong fundamentals.”
Helgeson later told BSL that after owning and managing the property for years, KBS decided it was the right time to sell.
“The property’s quality, location, and future development potential attracted a buyer aligned with its long‑term vision,” he told BSL. “This disposition reflects our disciplined investment approach, creating value through active management and capital investment, then positioning the asset for continued success under new ownership.”
KBS said the westernmost parcel could be the site as a mixed-use development, as the surface parking lot carries “future development potential for approximately 340 or more residential units.”
That unit count is similar to that of a project previously pitched for the site. At one point, developers sought to build an eight floor, 343-unit apartment complex that would also contain a parking garage totaling 804 stalls. Those plans never came to fruition. Helgeson said KBS sought to develop the multifamily project, but opted instead to focus on the Hardware building.
Jeremy Blickenstaff, senior vice president of Dart Interests, told BSL the office building’s cash flow and the redevelopment opportunity of the adjacent parcel were the leading reasons why Dart bought the property. However, Blickenstaff said there are no immediate plans to develop the parking lot into multifamily housing.
“This acquisition represents an opportunity to acquire a unique, well-leased historic office asset in downtown Salt Lake City with the added benefit of development potential,” Blickenstaff said. “KBS has been a thoughtful steward of the property, executing significant capital improvements and establishing a strong foundation for continued leasing and long‑term value creation.”
Following the sale, KBS still remains the owner of three properties in Salt Lake County, consisting of the 222 Main and Second + State buildings in Downtown, and the Millrock Park office complex in Holladay.
In addition to the Hardware building, Dart owns the former data center at 205 E. 200 South in Central City, which the company purchased in 2023. Following the sale, Dart planned to build a skyscraper due to the parcel’s D-1 zoning, according to previous Building Salt Lake reporting, though there have been no public efforts to develop the property amid a glut of new supply.
Blickenstaff told BSL that Dart is still working to develop that parcel, though plans are not set in stone. He also said Dart purchased a 14-acre site near Deer Valley East last year, and that site is currently in pre-development.
The Hardware building sale comes at an interesting time for Salt Lake City’s office market. While previously proposed office projects are largely on hold, there’s still demand for class A office space in prime locations, as that product’s vacancy rates are lower than the overall office vacancy rates along the Wasatch Front.
KBS cited a CBRE Q4 2025 report that found the area’s class A vacancy rates were around 14.1%, compared to the overall vacancy rate of 19.6%.
“Supply has continued to contract, with approximately 391,425 square feet of office space removed from inventory through conversions and demolitions,” KBS said. “With new development activity slowing and tenant demand remaining relatively steady, these dynamics are expected to support continued stabilization and positive absorption into 2026.”
The Salt Lake Hardware Building. Image via KBS
I love seeing historic buildings realize new life. If I were moving to Salt Lake City, I’d be looking for a place like this – one with lots of character – to live. Wish new building designers would take a page from the history books when it comes to architecture and building materials.