Update on several downtown adjacent affordable housing projects underway
Despite the current housing crisis, several hundred affordable units are well underway in and around downtown Salt Lake City. Four projects are under construction that will add 600 affordable units to the city.
Those projects, the 600 Lofts, Moda at Granary Place, the Bodhi and North Fourth will all be completed by next year with the 600 Lofts already leasing to new tenants. The affordable units underway account for about 20 percent of units under construction in and/or within two blocks of the Downtown Business District.
According to a recent report by Apartment List, an online rental marketplace, rents in Salt Lake City have increased 1.8 percent over the past month and are up 4.3 percent since July 2016. In comparison, rents in nationally increased 0.5 percent over the past month and 2.9 percent over the past year. In general, incomes aren’t catching up to rising rents as rents. With a high demand for housing and a strong job market, it will most be several years before the supply matches the demand.
The four downtown adjacent affordable housing developments are all with two blocks of a TRAX station and will predominantly rent to individuals earning between 40 and 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).
City officials estimate that there is a gap of 7500 affordable units in the city, nearly identical to a number of residential units recently completed or in development city-wide.
600 Lofts: The 600 Lofts project is mostly complete with the building’s east wing already open to tenants. The six-story Lofts, on the 600 South block of State State, consist of 274 residential units and will be workforce housing, reserved for residents earning around 60 percent AMI. The project is just over a block from the Courthouse TRAX station.
North Fourth: The first phase of the North Fourth Apartments, on the 300 North block of 500 West, is nearly framed out. The first phase consists of a six-story building with 112 one and two-bedroom apartments, 81 of which will be income restricted units that will include a mix of units available for residents earning between 25 and 50 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). The project is directly west of the 4th West and Hardware District development, the largest market-rate residential project underway in Salt Lake City. The North Fourth is just over a block away from from the North Temple/Guadalupe TRAX and FrontRunner Stations.
The Bodhi: The Bodhi is just under 50 percent framed out. The project, on the 700 West block of South Temple, will be five stories with 80 residential units, 20 of which will be market rate with the remaining 60 units reserved as affordable units. Of those sixty units, five units will be reserved for the chronically homeless, nine units will go to persons diagnosed with mental illness and nine will go to individuals with a mobility disability. The remaining units will be reserved for individuals or families earning at or below 50 percent of the Area Median Income. The Bodhi is within two blocks from the North Temple/Guadalupe TRAX station and the Jackson/Euclid Station.
The Moda at Granary Place: Like the Bodhi, the Moda at Granary Place is about 50 percent framed out. The five-story building at the intersection of 300 West and 700 South will consist of 134 residential units with a mix of 20 studios, 70 one bedroom units and 44 two bedroom units. All units will be reserved for residents earning up to 60 percent of the Area Median Income (currently set at $30,350 for a household of one and $34,680 for a two-person household).
