More density coming to 400 South corridor
Salt Lake City has an abundance of surface parking lots in and near downtown Salt Lake City. But at least along 400 South, surface parking lots are slowly being replaced with development. Demolition crews are removing two small surface parking lots, along with a former office building, at the corner of 400 South and Denver Street in preparation for construction of the five-story apartment building.
The apartments, called Seasons at Denver Street, will include 92 residential units and two floors of partially underground parking. Now that construction work has started on the Seasons at Denver Street, there are now four large residential developments under construction between 300 and 600 East and 400 and 500 South. Like Seasons at Denver Street the other developments: Encore Apartments (being built across the street), Newhouse Apartments and Seasons at Library Square replaced light residential or office areas with surface parking, with higher density developments that include parking structures.
The Seasons at Denver with consist of 68 one-bedroom units and 28 two-bedroom units. Amenities will include a business center, fitness center, theater, hot tub and sun deck.
Developers want to maximize lot space. Apart from consolidating the office building lot with the two parking structures, developers also requested and received an exception to the rear year setback requirement of 25 feet. With a rear yard setback at 5 feet and that the project will build right up to the sidewalk, the Seasons at Denver Street will be a visually dense project on a popular block that includes the nearly always busy cafe, Coffee Break.
Although the project will include a parking stall for every unit, the development scored very well on the city’s Transit Station Area Development Review Process, required for all new development built near transit stations and favors urban, walkable developments.
The development score comes from a point based scale with the highest value points given to projects that:
- Are pre-certified as LEED Platinum.
- A zero-energy building (energy provided on site).
- Preserve a historical structure.
- Provide the majority of parking in an above grade or underground parking structure or wraps a parking structure with habitable space (basically the parking structure is behind the building).
Projects will also be rewarded if they increase lot density, offer mixed-uses, offer a mix of market rate and income restricted residential units, are ADA accessible, provide a community service or will replace a surface parking lot.
Parking at Seasons at Denver Street will not be visible from the street level and the business and fitness centers, theater and leasing office will be placed on the ground floor to activate street energy.
