First Step House wants to build additional deeply affordable units in Central City

by Jacob Scholl | Feb 24, 2026

A project that seeks to bring deeply affordable housing options to Central City is back after the nonprofit developer reworked the plan to lean on the city’s density incentives to add more units.

First Step House, a local nonprofit that provides residential treatment for people facing addiction and mental health issues, is looking to use bonus city incentives to build a 50-unit, deeply affordable housing facility at 273 E. 800 South, according to an application submitted to Salt Lake City last week.

The site of First Step House’s proposed development at the corner of 300 East and 800 South.

The land is currently zoned as RMF-45 and totals .64 acres, bringing the development’s density to 77.76 units per acre. The site used to be home to an office for Disabled American Veterans, though the office building has since been torn down.

Plans indicate all units would be offered to people earning at or below 30% AMI, which categorizes the units as deeply affordable housing. In Salt Lake City, a single-person household making 30% AMI would make $25,800 annually. While other developers have added units that are affordable at between 60-100 percent AMI, First Step’s project would be one of relatively few to target the lowest income level.

To add more units, First Step House wants to use incentives from the city to increase the building density and reduce the required number of parking spaces, as the plans call for 20 off-street parking spaces. The building would be around a block away from the 9 Line Trail and the UTA bus route that has stops along 900 South.

The project would consist of 50 one-bedroom units that span four floors. A total of 44 units would consist of 500 square feet, though the project also includes three slightly larger units with 510 square feet and three Accessible units that are 530 square feet. The development would also have 14 bicycle parking spaces.

First Step House first submitted plans to the city in 2024. The nonprofit sought to rezone the land to RMF-45, and the City Council approved that request last April.

However, what’s new is the unit count. First Step had previously asked for permission to build 34 units. The updated plans show the building’s footprint is larger, and additional space for units was created by shifting stairwells and eliminating a conference room and storage rooms.

The first floor would contain offices and common space for residents, along with six units. Floors two and three would each have 15 units, and the top floor would have 14 units, according to the plans.

Considering the recently approved rezone and the development’s deeply affordable unit count, it’s likely the incentives will be approved. Salt Lake City continues to fall short of its goal of building 2,000 deeply affordable units by June 2028, though the First Step House’s plan hopes to chip away at that mark.

Construction on the First Step House project is slated to start in late 2026 or early 2027, according to materials submitted to Salt Lake City.

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