A South Salt Lake project that would create a mixed-use hub with hundreds of housing units along the TRAX S-Line is moving forward.
The South Salt Lake Planning Commission voted unanimously last week to forward a recommendation of approval to the city council that would rezone two parcels from Downtown (DT) to Housing and Transit (HT) overlay as part of the future home of the Market Center development.
The proposed Market Center site sits on 5.52 acres would be located at 2280 S. State Street. Currently, the block is mostly vacant, aside from a handful of businesses on its southwest corner, including Chappell Brewing. The project is being developed by Blaser Ventures, authors of the award-winning Post District with an increasing presence in south Downtown and the Granary. Blaser Ventures is also a Building Salt Lake advertiser.
Plans for Market Center call for four structures making up a total of 478 housing units — all of which would be designated as affordable housing at 60% AMI, according to a staff report. The development would have a mix of studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments.
The tallest structure would consist of six stories and 255 dwelling units, plus nearly 500 parking spaces, ground floor retail space and public rooftop amenities. Two other buildings would be five stories tall — one would feature 138 dwelling units and 8,000 square feet of retail space, while the other would include no retail space and 85 dwelling units. The fourth building would only be a single story offering 7,600 square feet of retail space.
In total, the development would include nearly 20,000 square feet of retail space between three of the four buildings in the development.
In June, the planning commission gave a positive recommendation toward creating the HT overlay district, which was made to allow the Market Center development to move forward. The overlay district requires a minimum five-acre development area, requires a minimum 50 units per acre and requires the average building height for the overall development be over 50 feet.
The district also requires a development agreement with the city, which would ensure affordable housing agreements would be in place for years to come. In return, developers would be able to get HTRZ funds from the city to aid the development.
Pieter Berger, a principal at MVE + Partners, a Los Angeles-based architectural firm working on the project with Blaser, told commissioners during the June meeting that the development will have interblock walkways and that ground floor retail space similar to the Post House buildings in Salt Lake City, according to meeting minutes.
In addition to creating a walkable development, the Market Center project is also located just feet from the South Salt Lake station for UTA S-Line streetcar, which runs between the Central Pointe station in South Salt Lake to the Fairmont Station in Sugar House.
With the planning commission’s positive cosign on the project, the Market Center development will now be sent to the South Salt Lake City Council for final approval.
South Salt Lake has largely been in need of a revitalized downtown for years, and the Market Center project would be a building block in that direction. The city recently celebrated the opening of the One Burton apartment complex — a 180-unit, market rate development that is also in close proximity to the S-Line.
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