A new housing development in the Guadalupe neighborhood on Salt Lake City’s west side would use a unique mix of housing types to offer affordable ownership options.
The development would rely on a blend of missing middle housing types and philanthropy to achieve a rare feat: the homes will be sold at prices for those earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI).
The project, at 529 W. 400 N., is unlike any other development put forward in Salt Lake City in recent memory and may not have a comparison.
“This project looks to rebuild affordable ownership opportunities in a neighborhood that used to be defined by them while adding multi-family level density in a way that responds to the materiality and scale of its surroundings,” Chris Parker, head of the Perpetual Housing Fund, told us.
The project would include 23 for-sale townhomes and condos and is being proposed by the Perpetual Housing Fund and Architecture Belgique.
All homes will be deed restricted so that they’re affordable at no more than 80 percent AMI, or about $65,550 per year for a couple.
“Through a combination of private and public funding, these homes will be available to purchase far below market price,” the developers wrote. “This unique development allows for lower income residents to have a chance to build equity in a home, that they would scarcely be able to do otherwise, in this challenging housing market.”
The developers said they’re attempting to keep construction costs in check by maximizing the buildings’ footprint and including as many units as possible. Nine surface parking spots would be provided and screened from the street by the housing.
The developers also said they chose to forgo the amenities that are often included in modern apartment projects. Amenities were instead included in adjacent properties developed by the private developer GIV Group, which is also managed by Parker.
“Perpetual Housing Fund values the quality and neighborhood feeling within the communities they develop, and strive to build up the vibe,” the developers wrote. “This comes through in quality of materials and design of Project Open 3, knowing the importance of having a beautiful home and how that creates a feeling of pride in ownership, and sense of belonging to a place.”
The project will act as a kind of proof of concept for the Perpetual Housing Fund as it seeks to achieve the allusive task of helping renters who face unprecedented affordability barriers begin earning wealth through housing.
More on Project Open 3
Project Open 3 would include a mix of missing middle housing, which refers to a scale of housing types between large multifamily housing and single-family detached homes.
Some of the homes would include unit mixes that are largely unavailable by other developments, which are very commonly rental projects.
A set of starter home “Skinny Towns” would offer four- and six-bedroom homes in townhomes that are just 13.5 feet wide. Belgique, a Building Salt Lake advertiser, designed the townhomes to taper the scale down to meet the form of the surrounding neighborhood.
“When architecturally grouped, they present far softer density to the surrounding neighborhood than their actual unit count would indicate,” Parker said.
The project would include a group of stacked, three-bedroom condos. That would include live/work units at street-level.
“This construction type has been a developer standby for decades, but rarely in a form occupants can own,” Parker said.
The development would be capped on the other end by a unique fourplex that offers a chance for house-hacking, or offsetting the cost of housing by renting out other rooms or units within a home or building.
“Built within a common townhome footprint, this 4-plex looks to demonstrate naturally occurring affordability that can be built and financed with common single family lending sources,” Parker said.
A resident could choose to live in a three-bedroom unit while renting out three smaller one-bedroom units within the building, offsetting a significant part of the cost of buying the fourplex while still living in a family-sized home.
A buyer could alternatively choose to live in one of the smaller, one-bedroom units in the fourplex while offsetting all of their mortgage costs by renting out the three-bedroom and remaining one-bedroom units.
Alternatively, the fourplex could be sold off as condos.
“These three prototypes were made possible via a Salt Lake County grant, a Salt Lake City construction loan, and a partial land donation from Giv Development,” Parker said.
The project was recently submitted as a transit station area application for development. The developers have indicated they scored high enough on the city’s TSA scoring sheet to pass administrative review and move toward permitting in short order.
More on the Perpetual Housing Fund
The entity is controlled by a nonprofit that develops housing in a way that allows tenants to generate equity where they live.
PHF achieves that by building rental properties and using the money from cashflow, refinancing or through a building sale and allocating the money to families within the units.
It also builds single-family attached buildings and sells the units at actual cost, a level that is below market-rate.
Project Open 3 will fall into the latter bucket, as the units will be for-sale.
“These initiatives are made possible by a unique, mission-driven set of equity partners that have invested for impact over maximized profit,” Parker said. “PHF’s current key stakeholders are Salt Lake City, Intermountain Health, and Zions Bank.”
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