Sandy’s city center is developing a mid-rise cluster
Utah’s emerging tech boom has brought companies like Adobe to Utah but the boom has also helped local companies grow. The company inContact, a provider of cloud contact center software, has been in Utah since its inception in the 1990s.
As Utah’s tech economy has grown, so has inContact, the company has acquired smaller firms and has grown large enough to need a new corporate headquarters.
That company is moving from offices in Midvale to new headquarters located in Sandy as part of the Cairns, a 20-year master plan for Sandy’s downtown. The 1100 acre city center plan area is bounded by 9000 South to 11400 South between Interstate 15 and UTA light rail to the east. The plan calls for high-density housing, retail and office space surrounding City Hall, a reconfiguration of the suburban style, South Towne Center mall and transit enhancements that connect the area to the nearby TRAX and FrontRunner stations.
As with the city’s previous plans for its downtown, the Cairns plan allows for higher density, but so far development has mostly consisted of mid-rise buildings topping out at five or six floors.
The new inContact headquarters, continues this pattern with two five-story towers and a 1,000 stall parking garage on the northern border of the Cairns plan area, at 75 West Towne Ridge Parkway.
The first tower is nearly finished, with some workers already moving to the new building. A ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for June for the 127,000 square foot tower. According to the company, more than 700 employees will work in the first tower. The second tower has 121,000 square feet of rentable space and will open later this year. The company will occupy two floors of the second tower and will lease the remaining space.
According to Daniel Lloyd the corporate general counsel for inContact. The company considered downtown Salt Lake and Lehi when deciding where to relocate. The company selected the Sandy site because it was in the center of where most employees live and was close to both downtown Salt Lake and the growing tech center in Lehi.
When finished, the new headquarters will feature a third-floor rooftop plaza connecting both towers, a two-story lobby with a coffee bar, a full-service gym and an on-site health clinic for employees.
Sandy city debuted the Cairns last year with the groundbreaking of its signature project, the Prestige, a large mixed-use project across the street from City Hall on the southwest corner of Centennial Parkway and Sego Lily Drive.
While renderings show residential towers surpassing 20 floors. The developers of the Prestige went before the Sandy City Planning Commission last July to get approval to build a 12-story mixed-use residential tower. The first phase building will consist of 93 for sale condominiums with a rooftop common area and four ground-floor units that will be reserved for future commercial space.
When built out, the Prestige will consist of around 650 residential units spread out in four mixed-use residential towers between six and 25-stories tall. The phase one tower will be 153 feet tall, 13 feet more than the 140 foot limit in the Central Business District. The master plan allows for the 25-story heights if the project meets the plan’s guidelines.
Apart from the inContact headquarters, several other large projects are actively under construction. Construction is well underway at the Park at City Center, a proposed 330-unit apartment building directly north of Sandy City Hall. The project will include a mix of one and two-bedroom market-rate apartments, a parking structure with 616 parking stalls and common areas including a swimming pool.
Across the street from the Park at City Center, construction is underway on the new Hale Center Theater. The new theater will accommodate nearly twice as many patrons as the current theater in West Valley.
