A project years in the making is crystalizing on the eastern bench of Salt Lake County and could bring hundreds of units and hotel rooms near the mouth of Big and Little Cottonwood canyons.
A planned development on 21.5 acres that would add hundreds of housing units and roughly 60,000 square feet of commercial space in Cottonwood Heights could start construction as early as this year.
The project, known as the Wasatch Rock Redevelopment, is located at 6995 S. Wasatch Blvd. The development is the site of a gravel pit, and it’s located just to the south of the Interstate 215 bend and the overpass that extends over Big Cottonwood Road. The project is also a short distance to the north of Big Cottonwood Canyon.
It was initially approved by the Cottonwood Heights City Council in 2021 after two years of planning and discussion. The plan is largely set in stone, though a handful of details have not yet been finalized. The Wasatch Rock proposal would turn a former gravel pit into the following:
- A seven-story apartment building with 300 units
- Four one-story retail or commercial pad sites
- Two three-story mixed-use commercial pad sites
- A five-story hotel with up to 140 rooms
- A condominium building with an undetermined number of units
The condo building location and use are approved, but other parameters of that building, like the number of floors and number of units, have yet to be finalized and voted on, according to the minutes from a Cottonwood Heights Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 8.
During that meeting, Mike Johnson, the city’s community and economic development director, outlined each phase of the development’s building process. The first phase is to construct the seven-story apartment complex before moving onto building four of the commercial pads. Next, the hotel would be built, followed by the remaining two commercial sites. The condo would be the final phase.
Johnson said the project’s developer, Rockworth Companies, wants to start construction on the apartment complex this year. He added there’s no timeline available for when the full project could be finished.
Serra Nemelka, a development associate with Rockworth Companies, told the planning commission that Rockworth plans to apply for building permits on the apartment complex, phase one of the project, in the coming months.
Nemelka said the condo building is projected to be 12 stories tall, with three levels for parking and nine levels for residential units. She added that the total number of condo units has not been spelled out, and the number would be determined based on the market. Though the maximum height allowed for the condo is up to 300 feet, Nemelka said Rockworth is planning on keeping the condo building well below that height.
The condominium is the main aspect of the project that’s still up in the air, as city staff was still assembling a technical analysis and staff report for the building, Johnson said during the Jan. 8 meeting. He said the full staff report, along with a staff recommendation, could be presented during a planning commission meeting in February.
After the planning commission makes a recommendation on the condo building, Johnson said it will then go to the city’s Architectural Review Commission for review. After that, the final step is to the city council for approval.
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