The preliminary site plans for Cottage Court. Image courtesy Salt Lake City planning.

Salt Lake City’s for-sale housing stock is limited; not only in terms of supply and demand but the limited stock in the city is also older, requiring more upkeep than the typical Salt Lake County home.  These factors, especially the limited for-sale housing supply, led online real estate and rental marketplace, Zillow, to rank Salt Lake City as the worst metro area in the country for first-time homebuyers.

On Wednesday, the Salt Lake City Planning Commission approved two subdivision and planned development requests from developer Adam Nash, representing Growth Aid LLC and Land Developoment LLC.   The developers plan to build two for-sale housing developments near the southern border of Sugar House.  The projects, referred to as Cottage Court and the 27th Street project, are proposed for 3072-3129 S. 900 East and 868 E. 2700 South.  The developers describe the homes as “cottage homes” and the projects will add a combined total of 21 new for sale units to the Sugar House area.

The proposed lots for the 27th Street development. Image courtesy Sugar House Community Council.

The projects, referred to as Cottage Court and the 27th Street project, are proposed for 3072-3129 S. 900 East and 868 E. 2700 South.  The developers describe the homes as “cottage homes” and the projects will add a combined total of 21 new for sale units to the Sugar House area.

The largest of the two projects, Cottage Court, will include 16 new homes on 1.86-acres that currently includes four homes, three of which are vacant, and a vacant parcel.  The homes will be two stories each and around 3,400 square feet.  The developers will redistribute the five parcels into 16 parcels, each at around 5,000 square feet.

Hamlet Homes will be the builder for both projects and they expect the homes to start at around $375,000.

The project will include two sets of eight homes that will front a private street accessed from 900 East. The project will be built in two phases with eight homes built in each phase.

“We like this project,” said Judi Short, the land-use chair for the Sugar House Community Council.  “This is a novel way to add some new single-family housing which we certainly don’t have much of.”

Short noted that in general neighbor responses to the project were positive, and the most of the homes that would be replaced are blighted.   One resident requested that some of the vacant homes be demolished as soon as the project is approved so that they won’t attract vagrancy or illicit activity. While most comments were positive during the public hearing, several residents expressed concerns about parking, traffic and the smaller lot sizes.

The 27th Street project will be smaller with five proposed homes on 0.6 acres.  The l-shaped project area fronts both 2700 South and 900 East wrapping around a corner property at the 2700 South and 900 East intersection.  The project will have similar home and lot sizes as Cottage Court.  Both developments will feature three styles of homes; Glascow, Cameron and Maxwell.  The homes each include a two-car garage and three to four bedrooms.

During Wednesday’s commission meeting, the Planning Commission also voted to forward a favorable recommendation to City Council for a zoning amendment for both projects.  Both proposals are zoned R-1/7,000 (Single Family Residential).  The developers would like to rezone the parcels to R-1/5,000 (Single Family Residential).  The rezone would allow for smaller lots, the developers currently plan for an average lot size of 5,000 square feet.

Two other cottage-style developments are underway.  Construction has started on the Jefferson Walkway development, a seven-unit cottage home community in Central Ninth directly east of the 900 South TRAX station.

In the Liberty Wells neighborhood, construction has started on the Living Zenith development, a five-home net zero community on the 1100 South block of 400 East.

*This is an updated version of an archived post.

Sketch of the Maxwell home. Image courtesy Sugar House Community Council.

Sketch of the Cameron home. Image courtesy Sugar House Community Council.

Sketch of the Glascow home. Image courtesy Sugar House Community Council.