SSL Mixed-income project to serve residents with disabilities
For decades South Salt Lake City’s southern boundary has been dominated by industrial uses. But thanks to the Meadowbrook TRAX Station at 3900 South, a new residential node has begun to develop near the station. That growth continues as construction has started on of one of the largest vacant parcels in the area.
Local nonprofit, the Columbus Community Center, is building the Hub of Opportunity, a 200,000 square-foot, mixed-use residential development that will provide a mix of residential and workforce development services for individuals with disabilities.
The project is directly east of the UTA parking lot that serves the Meadowbrook TRAX station and will consist of 16,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial and office space below four floors of residential. The commercial space will be used to help individuals with disabilities develop workforce skills.
The Hub will have 156 residential units, 110 of which will be income restricted. The remaining 46 units will be leased at market rate. Another 16 units will be reserved as live/work units as part of Columbus’ NextWork Hub that will provide vocational training space to young adults with autism to help them transition to community living and employment. Vocational training will focus on preparing participants for jobs in the state’s technology industry.
Columbus is celebrating 50 years of community-focused work and currently serves 420 individuals with disabilities in Salt Lake County through its vocational, residential and activity programs.
The organization has raised most of the project’s estimated $40 million price tag through a mix of financing, grants and donations. In October 2017, Columbus launched a major capital campaign to raise the last $2 million needed to complete the Hub project and is still seeking donations to meet their final goal.
The Hub will join another recent residential addition to the area surrounding the Meadowbrook Station. Last year, the second phase of the Via Apartments opened directly north of the Hub site. The five-story, Via Apartments Phase II added 58 units to the neighborhood, in addition to the first phases’ 80 unit that opened in 2016.
