A pair of upcoming multifamily projects in South Salt Lake will receive tax increment funds in exchange for adding affordable housing units to the city.
Last week, the South Salt Lake City Council, acting as the city’s Redevelopment Agency, unanimously approved tax increment participation agreements for two projects — the Utopia apartments at 123 W. Utopia Ave. and aQui2194, located at 2194 S. West Temple.
Utopia would total 187 rental units, with 12.5% of the units (23 units) being affordable to those making at or below 80% AMI, according to a presentation from city staff to the RDA board. The building would also include 4,300 square feet of retail and 219 structured parking stalls.
The aQui building would consist of 48 studio apartments, and half the units would be affordable at 80% AMI. It would be built on just .19 acres, with much of the Utopia structure surrounding it on the northern and western sides.
Plans for the buildings have been in the works for some time, according to Jonathan Weidenhamer, the city’s economic development director, who briefed the RDA on the proposals prior to their vote.
“We’ve been showing these slides to you for the better part of two years,” he told the board last week. “It really wraps up more than 10 or 15 years of planning to get this downtown going.”
Weidenhamer said the city issued its HTRZ bonds last December, which put $19.5 million into city coffers. He said state statute allows for the RDA to repurpose up to 80% of the property tax increment over a 15 year period, as the HTRZ bonds are secured by future property tax increment growth.
Weidenhamer said developers must meet baseline requirements to be eligible for funds, as those requirements include having at least 12.5% of units be affordable and having at least 20% of the ground floor be activated. Projects must also have at least three HTRZ “enhancements” — like public art, enhanced design enhancements, public amenities or other features — to be eligible for funds. If a project adds more enhancements, it can be eligible for more tax increment funds.
“It’s when you start to pile on the (enhancements), where you can start to be eligible for up to that 100% of the 80%,” Weidenhamer said.
A rendering of aQui2194 from the northeast side. Image via Blackbox Design Studios
The agreements outline just how much money each project could receive from the RDA and would ultimately have to pay back. Utopia could be given up to $1,017,733, and aQui could be given up to $500,475, the agreement documents say. Both agreements will be in effect for 15 years. In total, the Utopia project is slated to cost around $70 million, and the aQui project is estimated to cost around $11 million, the RDA documents say.
Weidenhamer said these two projects are a part of the seven total projects the city bonded against. Other such projects include the One Burton building, the nearby Bowers Residences and the Market Center development. The two other projects are still in the works.
Bryce Baker, a co-founder and partner at dbURBAN, which has a hand in developing both buildings, briefly spoke to the RDA board and said he was thankful for all the work done by city staff and the board.
“I know staff has done an amazing amount of work to get it to this point, and we’ve come through, we’ve talked about zone changes, and plans, and site plans, and vacations, and a whole bunch of things to make sure that these two projects can go forward,” Baker told the board.
City council members didn’t offer up questions or comments to staff or developers prior to their unanimous votes on both ordinances.
Both projects would be located closest to the TRAX Central Pointe station, which enables them to be eligible for HTRZ funds. Central Pointe is a stop for numerous UTA TRAX lines, including the Blue, Red and Green lines, as well as the S-Line streetcar. The approvals are the latest step in South Salt Lake’s long, winding road toward building some semblance of a downtown or city center.
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