Ogden City officials took a step toward preserving one of the city’s many art deco buildings and working with a Salt Lake City-based affordable housing developer to convert it into housing and space for artists.
The Ogden City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday night to approve the purchase of an aging building that used to house the U.S. Forest Service. Built in the 1930s, the Forest Service building is 53,000 square feet across four floors. The building sits squarely within the Nine Rails Creative District, which was created in 2018 to be Ogden’s epicenter of arts and culture.
The Giv Group, based in Salt Lake City, is the developer behind the proposal, according to Sarah Meess, Ogden’s Economic Development Director. Giv has developed a number of other properties in Ogden, including the Imagine Jefferson development, which is directly to the north of the Forest Service building.
Meess told the council the accepted proposal would develop the building as a mixed-use property with roughly 40-50 housing units for households at 65% of area median income — which would roughly be $50,000 for a one-person household, Meess said.
She added the proposal would include a perpetual housing fund model, which would allow for some of the rent funds to go back to residents, allowing residents to build wealth while renting their units. Meess said the housing units would be geared toward artists and creatives, keeping in line with the Nine Rails master plan.
The proposal would also call for creative studio space on the ground level and a potential for performing art space in the building.
Meess said the city is looking at paying for the building using tax increment financing, estimating the increased property value would add $3.1 million in new tax increment to support the project.
Meess said that for the city to ensure it doesn’t go into the red on the deal, the city must sell the property to a developer for roughly $1 million.
“I do want to say how excited we are about this project,” Meess said. “It’s a really important historic building, it sits at a pretty strategic location and we think this is just a fantastic opportunity to make sure we have a good outcome for the building.”
After the 5-2 vote to authorize the purchase of the building, Council Member Bart Blair, who voted no on the project, said he believes the purchase is more of a want than a need for the city. Though he said he’s not against preserving historic buildings, he worries there are too many things that could go wrong with the project.
Council Member Richard Hyer, the other no vote, said he shared Blair’s concerns, adding his worries over parking and seismic issues that will need to be addressed during the renovation.
With the vote, Ogden now has until Dec. 16 to accept the GSA offering price of $3.6 million and put down 10% of the total. Closing could happen sometime between January and April once the sale goes through congressional review, according to Meess’ presentation.
After that, it will take at least a year before a development agreement would be finalized with Giv Group and brought before the city council for approval.
Chris Parker, director of the Giv Group, told the City Council that he plans to apply for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to help fund the project, which also has to factor into the timeline. In the meantime, Giv Group would manage the property under a cost-free lease from the city.
The Forest Service building was designed by Leslie Hodgson, who is credited with designing a number of the art deco buildings around the city, including the Ogden Municipal Building, Peery’s Egyptian Theater and Ogden High School — which has served as a filming location for a number of TV series and movies in part due to its architectural appeal.
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