Provo MSA Development Thread

[delts145]

Got a dream? Utahn builds it

By Sara Israelsen
Deseret Morning News
LINDON — Despite national accolades from 2006, custom-home builder Paul Magleby isn't dwelling on that fact this year.

http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/3645335.jpg
photo by,Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News

Paul Magleby, whose construction company is based in Lindon, was recently named 2006 Custom Home Builder of the Year by a national association. He's too busy building dream homes for his distinguished Utah customers.
"It won't change me," Magleby said of the title 2006 Custom Home Builder of the Year, awarded by the National Association of Home Builders. "Once your rules are ingrained within, it's hard to change. The notoriety is not anything I've sought for or care much about, frankly."
The quiet, unassuming Magleby graduated from Brigham Young University's construction-management program in 1974, and a few years later had his own company. Now, Paul Magleby Construction, Inc. is known for building, remodeling and repairs but especially for custom homes.
"It's all unique," Magleby said. "It's become our slogan — You dream. We build. (I) love to create things. What we do is our art. The real joy is handing the client the key."
This year was the first time the Custom Home Builder of the Year has been awarded. The only other award from the national association is the annual remodeler of the year.
"This is quite a recognition, not only for Paul but for the caliber of builders in Utah," said Deann Huish, executive vice president of the Utah Valley Home Builders Association.
The award, given in late October through the Custom Builder Council within the NAHB was a complete surprise to Magleby.
"My respect for Paul is boundless," wrote friend and colleague Brad Simons in the application packet he filled out for Magleby.
Simons described Magle-
by's kindness and respectfulness toward clients and employees, exemplified in the financially tough years of 2003 and 2004, when Magleby refused to lay off any employees.
"You develop a lot more loyalty by treating people right and caring about them," Magleby said.
The company has 75 employees, including 25 workers in the Magleby mill making custom doors and cabinets for homes.
They're so different, one client even requested a salvaged small stained-glass dome from an old European building be installed. So builders put it in a bathroom with backlighting. Another client asked him to incorporate old iron railings from Europe. Magleby was happy to oblige.
"We want to create a customer for life," he said.
Ranging in price from $1 million to $15 million, many of Magleby's projects are second homes for wealthy folks in Wasatch and Summit counties. He also services the Park City and Deer Valley markets.
The custom home market in Utah is quite extensive, and of the 150 or so members of the Utah Valley association, two-thirds are custom home builders, Huish said.
However, Magleby isn't threatened by his competition.
"We're all peers in the industry," Magleby said. "No one builder could do all the work. My goal is to help all of us become better ... (so) we all become better as an industry."

Some of the Current Projects/Metro Wasatch/ Park City
http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/GCParkCity/GCPBig/gcpbig3.jpg
http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/GCParkCity/GCPBig/gcpbig4.jpg

http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/KOProvo/KOPBig/kopbig2.jpg

Orem
http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/NBOREM/NBOBig/nbobig1.jpg

Lindon Office
http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/PMLindon/PMLBig/pmlbig2.jpg
http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/PMLindon/PMLBig/pmlbig3.jpg

Provo
http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/RLProvo/RLPBig/rlpbig6.jpg

[SLC Projects]

Some of the Current Projects/Metro Wasatch/ Park City
http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/GCParkCity/GCPBig/gcpbig3.jpg
http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/GCParkCity/GCPBig/gcpbig4.jpg

[/IMG]

Wow, these are cool, i like this one the most.

[delts145]

Me too SLC, I also like the style of this Lindon office. It has all the old-world, craftsman-style appeal. I like anything with a genuine rustic feel to it. The thing is, we all know that 50 years from now this building is going to still hold its appeal.

http://www.maglebycompanies.com/IMAGES/Current/PMLindon/PMLBig/pmlbig2.jpg

[delts145]

Planners seek consensus on which corridors require the most study as the population grows
http://www.electgaryanderson.com/img/Gary,Fairways%20Spring%202006%20010.jpg

By Todd Hollingshead
The Salt Lake Tribune



PROVO - What do you get when you stick 70 city, county and state officials in a room for four hours to talk about roads?
In Utah County, where exploding growth is translating into clogged highways and arterial streets, you get a wish list - spanning one end of the county to the other.
This week's exercise, formally called the Utah County Transportation Summit, was put on by regional planners seeking consensus on which corridors need most to be studied.
"Salt Lake today [population-wise] is what Utah County will be in 30 years," said Andrew Jackson, a planner with Mountainland Association of Governments. "We need to make some preservation of those corridors now."
MAG officials recently finished four "quad studies" that resulted in proposed corridors for the western, northern, central and southern regions of Utah County.
Maps were scrutinized, scrapped and scribbled on by local and state officials during the summit, eventually displaying which corridors leaders want to pursue.
Major suggestions: Push a highway through Cedar Valley, create another east-west corridor from Lehi to Cedar Hills, branch a road south off Geneva Road to the Provo Municipal Airport and create some type of belt loop in the southern part of the county.
MAG Executive Director Darrell Cook said requests for proposals to study the suggested corridors should go out within the next two weeks.
"We made a lot of progress," Cook said. "That's what we were all after."
Cook said the central Utah County study, focusing on the area just east of Utah Lake, needs to be fast-tracked to keep up with Provo and Utah Department of Transportation environmental studies.
The summit revealed that central county leaders support efforts to enhance existing roads where possible and steer clear from wetlands.
"We were really trying to stay within a practical reality," Provo Mayor Lewis Billings said. "We need to stay away from environmental impediments."
With that in mind, city officials from Vineyard and Orem emphatically shot down any north-south corridor west of Geneva Road.
Vineyard Mayor Randy Farnworth said town officials adamantly oppose the five-lane road through the Geneva property, proposed to state officials last year by Geneva owner Anderson Development.
Instead, Vineyard and Orem leaders prefer a connector road in the northeastern part of Vineyard, linking the south end of the future Mountain View Corridor to Orem's 800 North.
As for the Mountain View Corridor - a highway planned to connect west Salt Lake County to northwest Utah County - mayors in the north don't want to wait around for it.
With a southern alignment flirting with wetlands near Utah Lake, that corridor appears headed for another legal battle with environmentalist groups.
Instead, leaders in northern Utah County, where populations are projected to nearly triple within 30 years, want planning officials to start cracking on Lehi's 1000 South east-west connector - while giving an eye to a possible north-south highway west of Eagle Mountain.
"All the north county mayors and cities, except for one, just signed off on encouragement for the freeway to go on through Cedar Valley," said Lehi Mayor Howard Johnson.
toddh@sltrib.com
Northern Utah County
* North-south highway through Cedar Valley, connecting Salt Lake County to Nephi
* Major expansion of Lehi's Main Street (SR 73)
* A road through 1000 South in Lehi, connecting west side (Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs) to I-15
* Major east-west corridor from Lehi to Cedar Hills, roughly along 9600 North
Central Utah County

* Expand Geneva Road to take more north-south capacity
* Connector road from Mountain View Corridor's south tip to 800 North in Orem
* Road off of Geneva south to Provo Municipal Airport
* Extend 1860 South in Provo west to airport
Southern Utah County
* Extend University Avenue south through Springville and Spanish Fork
* A corridor along the base of mountains, from Spanish Fork to Payson
* Road south from Provo airport, running straight south through county's west side, linking up with corridor along east side to create loop
* New drainage point for Mapleton to connect with I-15 drainage

[delts145]

Report shows Provo's need for office space will mean more tall buildings in 10 years
By Todd Hollingshead
The Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated: 01/16/2007 12:05:31 AM MST


PROVO - Two years ago, Provo erected the closest thing to a downtown skyscraper: the seven-story, 110,000-square-foot Wells Fargo Center.
Now, a new market analysis says the city should see eight more of them in the next 10 years.
California-based Economics Research Associates delivered a 90-page report last week stating Provo will need at least that much office space in the next decade to enhance downtown's revitalization.
“We're looking at Provo being much more of the historical office center of Utah County,” ERA senior vice president Steven Spickard said. “We don't think it's at all unlikely to get half of the future demand for office space [in the county].”
The ERA analysis is the final piece of the city's three-year research effort to produce a game plan for rejuvenating Provo's once-vibrant downtown.
City leaders have traveled to Pasadena, Calif., and Albuquerque, N.M., to observe similar makeover projects and commissioned a Dan Jones poll of downtown Provo residents as part of the movement.
Their vision: a vibrant, well-lit pedestrian environment brimming with eye-catching facades, enticing restaurants and bustling businesses.
Spickard, armed with the report, said that's possible if top guns follow some pointers.
“Provo has the only true traditional downtown district in Utah County,” Spickard said. “People crave authenticity. They want the real thing.”
The pointers: Don't try to compete with larger shopping centers such as University Mall, strengthen downtown anchors (Marriott Hotel, Wells Fargo Center, Performing Arts Center) and preserve the existing walking environ- ment.
Those tips came with this road map: Plant retail and dining establishments along Center Street and University Avenue, and concentrate high-density office space and housing on surrounding blocks.
Provo plans to incorporate the report into a strategic plan, while also offering it up as a database for interested developers.
“We've long felt that downtown Provo is on the cusp of some really tremendous growth and redevelopment,” said Paul Glauser, director of the city's Redevelopment Agency.
As for the downtown housing element - an important aspect in leaders' eyes - the analysis advocates sticking largely with rentals. It notes downtown Provo has a 29 percent homeownership rate.
Analysis projections show a conservative demand for at least 916 more multifamily rental units in the next 20 years. The state predicts Provo's population will top 136,000 by 2030, up from the current 115,000. As for food, Spickard said Provo could add one large “destination” restaurant downtown each year for the next 20 years.
“It would really be nice to see more restaurants west on Center Street, near the Performing Arts Center,” said Councilwoman Cindy Rich- ards.
toddh@sltrib.com
What Provo should do next

A city-hired consultant recommends Provo take these steps to boost downtown:
* 1. Huddle with stakeholders for strategic planning.
* 2. Hire a retail recruiter to implement a dining vision.
* 3. Solicit funding from Utah County for a Provo convention center.
* 4. Push for new hotels to locate near a convention center.
* 5. Develop clear policies for downtown development.
* 6. Expedite city procedures for new development.
* 7. Steer major office users to downtown.
* 8. Assist office users and potential anchors.
* 9. Work with the private sector to provide parking.
Source: Economics Research Associates

[kpexpress]

A tallest in Lehi???

Even if it's true ... I don't WANT it to happen! Downtown SLC has the highway infastructure to handle a downtown.... The Highland/Alpine Exit was originally designed to handle the occasional farmer's F-150.

I agree with you. I think that SLC has the freeway systems and light rail that makes the land values high enough that the states next tallest would only make sense to be built downtown. However, unfortunately downtown doesnt have 30 acres of developable space for a project of this magnitude.

I am tempted to say that projects like this are why we have the surburban sprawl that kills. This project really would not be possible if it weren't for the city of Lehi. They are the ones that will be build the reseviour for the city's needs.

[delts145]

Kpexpress,

Dammitt, give us some more juicy info. to keep us holding on until Friday or Saturday. Don't be a BIG TEASE!! :haha:

[rodan]

I agree with you. I think that SLC has the freeway systems and light rail that makes the land values high enough that the states next tallest would only make sense to be built downtown. However, unfortunately downtown doesnt have 30 acres of developable space for a project of this magnitude.

I am tempted to say that projects like this are why we have the surburban sprawl that kills. This project really would not be possible if it weren't for the city of Lehi. They are the ones that will be build the reseviour for the city's needs.

Please no. I don't want to see any of these developments in Lehi. I'd rather have them in slc of course but if it has to be Lehi I would rather not have them at all. Sorry guys but I'm just not a fan of that area.

[wrendog]

lol.. what's your huge beef with Lehi?

[rodan]

lol.. what's your huge beef with Lehi?


I don't know. I just feel envious, seems liek lehi is getting all of the interesting projects - IMflash, new tallest, ETC. I just wish something would actually happen not just be talked about in SLC.

Anything further then Sandy I don't like lol.

[SLC Projects]

Kpexpress,

Dammitt, give us some more juicy info. to keep us holding on until Friday or Saturday. Don't be a BIG TEASE!! :haha:

You and me both delts. This is driving me crazy. I wish it was friday already.

[delts145]

I don't know. I just feel envious, seems liek lehi is getting all of the interesting projects - IMflash, new tallest, ETC. I just wish something would actually happen not just be talked about in SLC.

Anything further then Sandy I don't like lol.

:haha: C'mon rodan, Don't forget downtown has a multi-billion dollar project now taking place. That is huge in any cities books,"So cheer up." Hey, I am very impatient to see downtown Salt Lake make the big projects happen. I think that this W hotel is serious stuff. You know, the last time downtown was at this level of hotel occupancy was when the Grand, the new Marriott Center, and the Monaco announced plans. I really do think we're due for that big 1000 plus room hotel for the Salt Palace.
Remember the old saying, "all roads lead to Rome." Well, in this case, "all light rail leads to downtown," and no cities ambitions are bigger than Salt Lake's(Approved,not proposed)when it comes to light and heavy commuter rail. This commuter system will only add to the downtown appeal which is already booming in new construction.

[SLC Projects]

Story about Downtown Provo on KSL.

Provo to get taller buildings.....




Provo's Future May be Looking Up
January 16th, 2007 @ 3:30pm
Andrew Adams, KSL Newsradio

The idea of analysts hired by the city is that folks in the future will be looking up at a bunch of tall buildings when they're downtown.

Economics Research Associates of California tells the city it's going to have to grow upward to accommodate the demand for office and rental housing space. Analysts say it's not crazy talk to say Provo will command half of the future demand for office space in the entire county.

The city commissioned the report as part of its look into revitalizing its downtown.

[delts145]

http://www.uvsc.edu/images_homepage/campus_shot2.jpg

Funding advances for UVSC's transformation into a university

By Erin Stewart
Deseret Morning News
Utah Valley State College's transformation into a university got its first hearing today as the Senate Education Committee advanced legislation approving the first $3 million of an estimated $10 million to make UVSC into Utah Valley University.
That first bite of the pricetag was included in a laundry list of school-specific improvements totalling $10.5 million statewide. The bill, SB90, is sponsored by Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, to get additional funding for school programs and needs outside of higher education's budget requests.
The bill will now head to the full Senate for debate.
Although an official bill by Senate President John L. Valentine to make UVSC a four-year master's degree university has not been distributed yet, the $3 million is a "down-payment" on the needed funds to make the transformation through increased advising, new undergraduate degree programs and faculty.
"This is to say let's not move to university status on tuition. Let's move to university status on state appropriations," State Commissioner of Higher Education Rich Kendell said. "A major role change of this kind really ought to be a legislative issue."
All nine state universities and colleges would receive money for school programs through Hickman's bill, including $1.5 million for Dixie State College, the second highest allotment after UVSC.

[jedikermit]

Analysts say it's not crazy talk to say Provo will command half of the future demand for office space in the entire county.



That surprises me, given all of the growth in northern Utah County--the same report also recommends building more apartment buildings, townhouses, and condos, since such a huge part of Provo's population lives in rentals...it'd be nice to see Provo retain their position as leader of Utah County even with all of the other growth happening Down There.

[delts145]

http://www.nysun.com/images/logo_new.gif

:fingerscrossed: :fingerscrossed: :fingerscrossed: :fingerscrossed: :fingerscrossed: :fingerscrossed: :fingerscrossed: :fingerscrossed:

A Tale of Two Urban Plans
Architecture

By JAMES GARDNER
January 16, 2007

http://www.nysun.com/pics/46755_main_large.jpg

Frank Gehry's the Sails in Chelsea (right, photo credit: Konrad Fiedler), and his Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles (left, photo credit: Allan Barnes). In Los Angeles, architects and buildings have the necessary room to dream, James Gardner writes. There has always been robust competition between New York and Los Angeles. Or more precisely, between New Yorkers and ex-New Yorkers, since many Angelenos originated in the city which they now reject with all the fervor of a convert to a new creed. That being so, one might expect that, in regard to these two latitudinal antipodes of America, there would be energetic competition in the matter of architecture as well. And yet that is not the case. Among those New Yorkers who care about things architectural, the serious competition has been coming out of Chicago, rather than points farther west, for the past century or so. And though Los Angeles does possess architecture — it is, after all, a city — you don't have the impression that the majority of its citizens care greatly about their buildings, and surely these do not enter materially into any assessment of the Angelenos' municipal identity. Indeed, the argument could be made that venturing out West in the first place was in large measure a rejection of architecture, especially those big agglomerations of it that usually define a city.

In part this has to do with the respective origins of each city. New York, a few centuries older than Los Angeles, represents the organic evolution of a trading post that grew and grew until eventually it encompassed the whole of Manhattan and beyond. And though its progress above 14th Street was influenced by the central planning of a grid, promulgated back in 1811, there has always been something higgledy-piggledy about its development, with the all-powerful real estate market dictating its progress.

Los Angeles, by contrast, was scarcely on the map before 1900. What put it there was the movie business, and what caused it to expand exponentially was the automobile — as opposed to New York, whose growth was determined, after the Civil War, by elevated trains and then the subway.

But the nature of Los Angeles's expansion was entirely different from New York's. The conceptual premise of Los Angeles was the Garden City so dear to turnof-the-century urbanists like Ebenezer Howard and his disciple Lewis Mumford. In what would one day become better known as suburbia, the Garden City aspired to redeploy the urban population into a mass of green plots, each with enough lawn in front of it to give home-owners the feeling that they were in nature. That was in part the ideal of Robert Moses as well. This long-time commissioner of New York City's parks elevated the automobile to an almost sacramental status, conveying people from their green patches in suburbia to their office towers in Midtown. The result was, in varying degrees, a disaster.

Nevertheless, the consequence of this two-track evolution was that the defining architectural fact of New York was the building, in a multiplicity of vertical forms, while that of Los Angeles was the private home, a largely horizontal affair. And a further consequence was that, whereas New York, and especially Manhattan, is perhaps the most pedestrian friendly urban center in the world, few cities are as antagonistic to the pedestrian as Los Angeles. Locomotion there is so much the province of the automobile that mass transit scarcely exists.

The architectural style of Los Angeles is largely determined by such circumstances. Lateral expansion on the mainland, as opposed to vertical expansion on an island, results in an air of greater freedom from regulations and from citizen groups. Whereas everything in New York is regulated to the hilt, in ways that are often fatal to imaginative architecture, in Los Angeles structures and architects have room to breathe and dream. It is no accident that Frank Gehry — the most famous of Los Angeles's architects — could build his warped titanium Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. This enormity, which served as the template for his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, would have been unimaginable in New York, where Mr. Gehry's one completed structure to date, the Sails, on 18th Street and 11th Avenue, is a far tamer and inferior product.

Half a mile south of the Sails stands Richard Meier's one completed project in New York, three residential towers on Perry and Charles streets. Though well turned out, they are far less bold and imaginative than his Getty Museum, even though that very different project is itself far from perfect. It would seem then that there is a kind of gravitational drag that weighs down on architects in New York that is not present in Los Angeles.

This is especially true as regards the private home, a building typology with little or no relevance to New York City. Here again, Mr. Gehry is a representative example, above all in one of his early works, the deconstuctivist house he built for himself out of chicken wire, corrugated aluminum, and cinder blocks that first earned him the international reputation he enjoys today. For such an architectural act, there is no equivalent and there can never be an equivalent, in the city of New York.

[delts145]

:tup: :tup: kpexpress, These recent Gehry projects would definately be stunners as you drive by on I-15.

From The Wall Street Journal



In the past decade, Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp has amassed a sprawling Internet and retail empire that includes Ticketmaster, television shopping network HSN, online dating service Match.com and search engine Ask Jeeves Inc.

Now Mr. Diller is working on another project that will bring together the half-dozen Manhattan offices of his companies in a $100 million, 10-story glass tower in an unconventional part of Manhattan made up of warehouses and light industrial buildings.

http://homes.wsj.com/images/propertyreports/20060113-silver1.jpg
An architectural model for the $100 million glass building that will house the Manhattan offices of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp conglomerate.

Designed by noted architect Frank Gehry, the geometric façade has eight skyward arcs of glass that will mimic wind-whipped sails of boats making their way along the Hudson River, just across the West Side Highway. Besides reflecting both men's love of sailing, the design of the building in the West Chelsea neighborhood incorporates Mr. Diller's admission that IAC is forming itself without a compass for guidance. "We're making it up as we go along in the interactive [commerce] area, and because of the nature of interactive revenue, there are few rules," Mr. Diller says.

Mr. Diller has put more planning into the IAC building, signing a 75-year lease in 2003 for the 29,380-square-foot site -- a former truck garage on the West Side Highway between 18th and 19th streets.

The building uses low-iron glass that removes its normal greenish tinge -- and makes the glass clearer. People working inside the building will have a clear view of the river and the city. At night, the lights of the building will make the walls seem transparent.

The lobby will attempt to dramatize images of the company's more than 50 brands on a floor-to-ceiling interactive screen running the length of the building. The images will be visible to pedestrians and to passing cars through a transparent horizontal band.

The location is part of the fast-growing West Chelsea area, along a disused railroad, known as the High Line, that the city is starting to transform into an above-ground park. CSX Corp. donated the 22-block rail line, which stretches along 10th Avenue from 14th to 30th streets, to the city in November, and the project is expected to begin this year as contractors remove the rails and build stairs and elevators.

The first phase of landscaping, planting and building pathways is scheduled to be completed by 2008. Already, the plans have attracted a frenzy of new development. The Dia Art Foundation, which drew many galleries to the area, is moving to a new building that will include a direct entrance to the park. In addition, some 5,500 mostly high-end apartments are being planned for the area, with noted designers such as Jean Nouvel and Robert A.M. Stern Architects.

Mr. Diller says he hopes the IAC headquarters will further spur development in the area, where some 200 art galleries mingle with car washes, taxi garages and trendy clubs. "It is an embryonic neighborhood...where we could be a participant instead of just tacking onto the Rockefellers' legacy," says Mr. Diller, referring to the family that helped shape much of New York City's midtown. "It'll be a wondrous environment to live, to work, to play."

Expected to open by March 2007, the IAC building is Mr. Gehry's first in New York City. Like his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the IAC headquarters is as much a sculptural venture as an architectural one.

"It's not going to be that bombastic. Its façade is very sensuous, almost feminine," Mr. Gehry says of the building. "I'm a very pragmatic architect, but people think I'm not because of the shapes."

The skeleton of the 200,000-square-foot building already rises above the walls of the construction site, ringed by a white banner displaying the logos of IAC's many companies.

Working within zoning requirements that floors above 75 feet be set back from the lower part of the building, the Los Angeles-based Gehry Partners, LLP created a terrace on top of the lower five "sails." Behind the three upper "sails," the building's atrium runs between the sixth and seventh floors. Pathways separate the free-standing structure from neighboring buildings to reveal its entire shape.

The building's diagonal walls, tilted columns and irregular spaces allow for various configurations and open-plan offices. Joseph Rose, the former city planning commission chairman who is now a partner of Georgetown Co., the developers overseeing the construction, says other contractors who notice the tilted structures have called his office, saying his contractors aren't "pouring your concrete straight."

Although there is obvious risk in developing a building three avenues and four streets away from the nearest subway line, developers say the occupancy cost of the space will be similar to what IAC was paying for its midtown offices.

IAC says it has already fixed environmental problems on the site, which long ago had been used to store gas. Real-estate experts point out that companies assume additional risks when they own rather than lease their office space. Owning ties up capital and limits flexibility in the future if IAC expands more than expected or contracts. Mr. Diller has said he will initially move more than 300 workers into the building, but it has room for 500.

Mr. Diller has obtained $80 million in tax-free Liberty Bonds to help finance the project. Those were set up to help New York recover from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the IAC project is one of the few non-downtown office buildings to receive them.

The new headquarters is meant to give some physical coherence to IAC, whose Manhattan employees are dispersed throughout five floors of a tower next to Carnegie Hall -- its current main office -- and five other locations. "We don't want to have to make appointments to see each other," says Jason Stewart, IAC's chief administrative officer who is overseeing the project. Mr. Gehry designed the Sunset Boulevard building where IAC consolidated its West Hollywood operations last summer.

The move to physically join the various Manhattan offices of IAC is being reinforced in-house. In December, Mr. Diller created the position of president to oversee operations throughout the conglomerate, which earned $700 million on revenue of $5.3 billion in the 12 months through last September. Filling the position is Doug Lebda, founder of IAC's fast-growing loan exchange LendingTree.

Freed up to concentrate on strategy, Mr. Diller is focused on Ask Jeeves, the search engine IAC purchased for $1.85 billion in stock in March. Charged with coordinating the online presence of the disparate companies, Ask Jeeves has already centralized sales in a single Manhattan office and improved online links to the other IAC sites.

The building is expected to give Mr. Diller a place on the Manhattan architectural map of buildings that stand for the corporations that built them -- like the Seagram Building, Lever House and Phillip Johnson's AT&T Building, now the Sony Building. But how it stacks up against these trophies will be up to architecture critics to decide.

"Historically, corporations have looked to superstar architects to give them cachet and to advertise their business with signature buildings," says Mark Cottle, assistant professor at Georgia Tech College of Architecture. "There are times when it can backfire when that building doesn't relate to what's there now but instead to a new collection of look-at-me buildings by global architects."

[BuiLDing GuRL]

Is this Thanksgiving Point project suppose to be a secret? Is the announcment taking place AT Thanksgiving Point? Has anyone heard about it on the TV? I've tried looking for info and haven't been able to find any. Thanksgiving Point said they didn't know anything about it but that there was going to be something across the highway from them and that this might be it. Now, I know that PR managers sometimes say they don't know anything when they do, I'm just curious. The news stations didn't seem to know anything either. Anymore info on this would be appreciated by all I'm sure.

[delts145]

BuiLDingGuRL, this is the post from Viperlord that started the conversation regarding Gehry. The Vision behind the Gehry project is Brandt Andersen of G Code Ventures. Kpexpress, gave us the heads up on the pending development. So, I would imagine it would be best to contact the office of Brandt Andersen,or send a PM to Kpexpress.


http://www.nba.com/dleague/utah/index.html



NEW YORK, December 2, 2006 – The NBA Development League (D-League) has awarded an expansion team to Orem, Utah, for the 2007-08 season, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced today. The team will play at the McKay Event Center.

“The D-League continues to provide the NBA and its teams the opportunity to cultivate talent, test new ideas and give young roster players a means to improve through game competition,” said Stern. “That commitment, coupled with delivering the game of basketball in an affordable, fun and family-oriented atmosphere, has more investors seeking to bring the D-League to their communities.

“Our minor league has a proven track record of developing talent both on and off the court, a trend we expect to continue,” said Stern. “Since the D-League’s inaugural season in 2001-02, more than 100 players, coaches, referees, athletic trainers and front-office personnel have moved to NBA teams or the league office.”

The team is owned and operated by Brandt Andersen, Founder and CEO of G Code Ventures. Over the past several years Andersen, 29, has been investing and working on cutting-edge creative projects and businesses. In 1999, while attending Brigham Young University, Andersen founded uSight, a leading provider of software products and services for small businesses. In 2004 uSight was named the second-fastest growing privately held company in America by INC Magazine. Andersen was the youngest CEO to make the list. In 2004, he sold a portion of the company to Kansas City based NMR Inc.

Andersen is currently the general partner and owner of two large real estate development projects, The Lakes at Sleepy Ridge surrounds the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course, a Dye Family Course, in Orem, Utah. He is also the general partner and owner of a real estate project for which he has employed the services of world-renowned architect Frank Gehry of Frank O Gehry and Associates. When completed, this Gehry collaboration in Lehi, Utah promises to become an architectural icon of the Western United States and marks the first time Gehry has agreed to work on a project in Utah.

Andersen graduated from BYU with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications. He resides with his wife and two children in Provo, Utah. He has received multiple awards for entrepreneurship and continues to be a sought-after speaker.

"We are really excited to bring an NBA Development League Team to Utah County. This is a great place to live and work, and a community that loves basketball,” said Andersen. “Our goal is to provide the ultimate entertainment experience for our community. We can hardly wait for the opening tip."

The NBA Development League currently includes the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (N.M.), Anaheim Arsenal (Calif.), Arkansas RimRockers (Little Rock), Austin Toros (Texas), Bakersfield Jam (Calif.), Colorado 14ers (Broomfield), Dakota Wizards (Bismarck, N.D.), Fort Worth Flyers (Texas), Idaho Stampede (Boise), Los Angeles D-Fenders (Calif.), Sioux Falls Skyforce (S.D.) and Tulsa 66ers (Okla.).

“Brandt Andersen is the kind of entrepreneurial, passionate owner that is a perfect fit for the D-League,” said NBA D-League President Phil Evans. “The Utah County area is a market appreciative of quality basketball and entertainment options. We couldn’t be more excited about partnering with Brandt to deliver both for years to come.”

[wrendog]

my research found me this:

"Brandt is also the general partner and owner of a real estate project for which he has employed the services of world-renowned architect Frank Gehry of Frank O Gehry and Associates. When completed, this Gehry collaboration in Lehi, Utah promises to become an architectural icon of the Western United States and marks the first time Frank Gehry has agreed to work on a project in the State. The project will include a wakeboard lake, high-end lifestyle shopping and restaurants, as well as a five star hotel and residential community."

the first part is the same as the NBA article, the last sentence is what Kpexpress has been telling us..

[SLC Projects]

http://homes.wsj.com/images/propertyreports/20060113-silver1.jpg


Wow that just shows how big New york is that even just a Warehouse is taller then most buildings here in salt lake. :haha:

[SLC Projects]

Is this Thanksgiving Point project suppose to be a secret? Is the announcment taking place AT Thanksgiving Point? Has anyone heard about it on the TV? I've tried looking for info and haven't been able to find any. Thanksgiving Point said they didn't know anything about it but that there was going to be something across the highway from them and that this might be it. Now, I know that PR managers sometimes say they don't know anything when they do, I'm just curious. The news stations didn't seem to know anything either. Anymore info on this would be appreciated by all I'm sure.

You and me both BuiLDing GuRL. Can't wait til friday.

[kpexpress]

You and me both BuiLDing GuRL. Can't wait til friday.

The meeting/announcement is definately a "closed-door" meeting. Heard if from the grape vine Gehry wants a limited amount of people there with him for the joint announcement. SO EVERYONE JUST CHILL, DON'T TRY TO FIND OUT WHERE IT IS AND WHEN CAUSE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GO. JUST DROP IT.


Good news is, Brandt wants me to drop all the possible details to all my Arch/Urban Guru Forumers when the news hits.

I will be there on Friday and be back to report.

[SLC Projects]

The meeting/announcement is definately a "closed-door" meeting. Heard if from the grape vine Gehry wants a limited amount of people there with him for the joint announcement. SO EVERYONE JUST CHILL, DON'T TRY TO FIND OUT WHERE IT IS AND WHEN CAUSE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GO. JUST DROP IT.


Good news is, Brandt wants me to drop all the possible details to all my Arch/Urban Guru Forumers when the news hits.

I will be there on Friday and be back to report.


Fair is fair, And we will be waiting for your report. :tup:

[wrendog]

The meeting/announcement is definately a "closed-door" meeting. Heard if from the grape vine Gehry wants a limited amount of people there with him for the joint announcement. SO EVERYONE JUST CHILL, DON'T TRY TO FIND OUT WHERE IT IS AND WHEN CAUSE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO GO. JUST DROP IT.


Good news is, Brandt wants me to drop all the possible details to all my Arch/Urban Guru Forumers when the news hits.

I will be there on Friday and be back to report.

so when do you think it will be broken to the public? can't wait to hear the plans..

[delts145]

People, this is HUGE!!!!!!!!! I can't begin to tell you what I think this will do for the entire Wasatch Front. We talk and talk about whether we will get a Neiman's soon or a W hotel downtown. This is the kind of a project that will put the Wasatch in to a major, "Upscale Spotlight." In Los Angeles, Gehry's Disney Hall has helped to generate a huge rennaisance machine downtown. THIS IS ALMOST AS EXCITING AS THE CITY CREEK CENTER!!!!!!!!!!!

:banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride: :banaride:


GRACE LEONG - Daily Herald
Cabela's may have placed Lehi on the map for outdoor enthusiasts, but a project designed by America's architect du jour Frank Gehry could place the city on the world stage.

To be announced Friday, the mixed-use project -- which includes high-end shopping and restaurants, a wakeboard lake, a five-star hotel and convention center, and a residential community -- is the brain child of Brandt Andersen, the 29-year-old majority owner of the NBA Development League for Utah and software entrepreneur.

The project will be located on Andersen's 85-acre property on the east side of Interstate 15 south of Point of the Mountain and north of Cabela's and the proposed Terrace at Traverse Mountain lifestyle center in Lehi. It will be unveiled in its entirety on Jan. 31.

"This is Gehry's first project in Utah," Andersen told the Daily Herald on Wednesday. "If you look at Gehry's projects across the world and the projects he's now working on, he's arguably one of the most creative minds of our time, a complete genius. He designs not around what he loves. He designs with the environment, the surrounding atmosphere and historical features in mind."

The creative mind behind the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, and The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Gehry challenges conventional definitions of space and structure in aesthetics and architecture. In 1989, Gehry was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, deemed the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for architecture, said Bill Miller, a professor of architecture with the University of Utah.

Some critics describe Gehry as a master of deconstructivism -- the post-modern movement his work appears to personify but which he disavows any association with, according to Wikipedia.

Pending city approval, construction is scheduled to begin this summer. When completed, the project is expected to generate between 500 and 1,000 new jobs, Andersen said.

"With Thanksgiving Point, Cabela's and now a Gehry-designed development, this is making Lehi a major focus of activity that no one, 15 years ago, could have imagined," said Miller.

"It's like having the Salt Lake Public Library designed by Moshe Safdie," he said. "Doing great architectural work doesn't always have to be in Los Angeles or New York. Small towns are places where you can do interesting buildings. And in this case, this is an interesting project by a forward-thinking developer and a world-renowned architect."

Miller declined to speculate on how the mixed-use project will look.

"But it'll be like Frank Gehry meets Park City log and stone. It won't look like a very large Park City house, but will be more iconic and have a wider range of expression," he said. "Gehry designed housing complexes in Los Angeles early in his career and also designed the Santa Monica Place, a shopping mall. This project will bring his range of experiences together."

Gehry's style is very idiosyncratic and personal, Miller said. "He has developed a direction of architectural expression that yields these unique power forms that are very expressive sculpturally. He's concerned with surfaces, technology and uses a lot of metal because of the sinuous surfaces he creates."

"Utah is not well known for its architectural stature. Gehry will, with our help, create something that will stand as an architectural icon for our state," Andersen said.

In 1999, Andersen founded uSight, a Provo developer of e-Commerce software for small businesses. In 2004, the company was ranked the nation's second-fastest growing privately held company by Inc. Magazine, and a part of uSight was later sold to Kansas City-based NMR Inc. Andersen also was the youngest CEO to make the Inc. list. A Brigham Young University communications graduate, he is the general partner and owner of The Lakes at Sleepy Ridge in Orem.

Ultimately, a Gehry-designed project will be a big traffic generator, Miller said.

"Architecture is a commodity today," Miller said. "Why do major civic institutions go to signature architects? Because they want the power that architect brings to the building. People will come to see the buildings, whether they like it or not. We visit them because it's done by important architects and designers and it shows how they realize their thinking. It helps raise consciousness to see there's life beyond the shopping mall, the normal."

[delts145]

http://www.mikebradshaw.net/photoblog/images/20060119204521_utah_county_valley.jpg

[wrendog]

whoa.. can't wait!!! I didn't realize it was on the east side of I-15.. i thought it was behind Thanksgiving pointe on the west side.. this is gonna be great, but won't this doom the terrace at traverse mountain? I would think so..

[delts145]

Wrendog, My understanding is that this is in conjunction with the Terrace. The Gehry project is a major Five Star Hotel Resort with corresponding amenities. The Terrace is primarily a major upscale,retail, lifestyle center. Actually, this can only boost the level of enthusiasm with the developers of The Terrace.
Now this is the kind of center that will attract the attention of a Neiman's. The demographic in So. Salt Lake Valley and No. Utah Valley is very large, well heeled and growing at a phenominal rate.

[i-215]

:previous:

Which is why some of us will chose to live on the north-west side of SLC. It's cheap and ghetto, and I like it that way. Keeps the propety taxes low. :tup:

I want to see some renderings of this project. It's hard for me to get excited, when I visualize a goofy looking hotel next to some houses. I mean, how is this any different than a stupid looking Super 8 next to a subdivision?

I know it is.... I can't visualize how it's something to get giddy about.

[delts145]

BARBARA CHRISTIANSEN - North County Staff
The Utah Department of Transportation has proposed realigning the West Main Street freeway interchange in American Fork, which would take out some existing businesses, and is considering the possibility of making some of State Street a seven-lane road and eliminating parking on it.

Another proposal under consideration by the state officials is to run the Mountain View Corridor through southern American Fork, paralleling the freeway.

American Fork officials, however, have objected to the proposals.

The first change would be part of a plan to upgrade the freeway and to relieve traffic concerns on Lehi's narrow Main Street by moving some traffic onto that city's 10th South.

Planner Rod Despain said the city is willing to help, but not at American Fork's expense.

"Tenth South would help to decrease congestion on Lehi's Main Street," he said. "Our concern is that it doesn't have the effect of substituting congestion on American Fork's State Street."

Despain said the decisions were very important.

"In my 30 years of involvement with American Fork City this is one of the most important decisions affecting this community we have ever had," Despain said. "We need to be firm and united in our resistance that the final decision reflects the desires of the city."

Members of Main Street American Fork expressed concern about the proposal. They met Thursday evening to address this and other issues.

"I think it will kill us," Juel Belmont said about the city's downtown business district.

Merrill Jolley of UDOT said the agency is only conducting a study to consider seven traffic lanes without parking and has made no decisions yet. The area being studied begins at 100 East in American Fork and continues to the east. He said he appreciated the merchants' point of view.

"I can see how that would be a concern to the downtown businesses," Jolley said.

UDOT spokesman Geoff Dupaix said there might be a temporary change to American Fork's Main Street, while I-15 is undergoing reconstruction. He said there could be a seven-lane travelway in the downtown area, but stressed it would not be permanent.

"That is something we could do temporarily to help mitigate the traffic," he said. "It would only be temporary."

Despain said American Fork had proposed an alternative to UDOT.

"We are not opposed to decreasing the problems in Lehi," he added. "We want a solution, not a transfer of a burden."

City Council members said UDOT's proposal would make some of the ground inaccessible, harm a potential residential community, and destroy the downtown. They passed a resolution to that effect on Jan. 9 and sent it to UDOT.

One of the reasons that agency likes the proposal to realign the interchange is that it would move more traffic at a faster rate. It would be the same design as that of the one at University Parkway in Orem. Changing the configuration of the bridge and its location would also allow the present overpass to be used while the new bridge is built.

While that would be more convenient, there are those who say the long term should be of more importance.

"In the course of accommodating the future, how we do it has the real possibility of destroying the viability and desirability of the community in much the same manner as the original I-15 divided Lehi," Despain said.

He said the city's alternative would have a better long-term impact.

"It would serve to keep the area of the southwest part of the city as a viable residential neighborhood," he said. "It would also continue access to the area on the west side of the freeway, the park and ride and the proposed hotel."

Councilman Dale Gunther also said he supported American Fork's proposal for the interchange.

"I am passionate about this," he said. "Lehi has a problem, that is true. I don't see a problem with the 10th South access.

"We have heard UDOT wants to turn our five-lane Main Street into seven lanes. That would eliminate parking and destroy the Main Street business community. That is an environmental issue, too. There has been a lot of effort trying to preserve downtown. To make it just a transportation corridor would destroy it."

American Fork has also suggested an alternate route to one proposal UDOT has made for the Mountain View Corridor. That agency's version would place the east-west route between the freeway and Utah Lake.

Councilwoman Heidi Rodeback said the road was planned away from the lake to protect the shoreline and the environment with the wetlands near the lake.

She countered the state's proposal with American Fork's which suggests running the road near the edge of the wetlands, saying it would better protect the environment.

"It would form a firm boundary between the development and the shoreline protection (zone)," she said. "If it were to the north, there would be pressure to develop. We are concerned about the natural development and the danger to developing in the floodplain."

[delts145]

CHRISTIE DALLEY - North County Staff

If everyone agrees, the entire length of the road from the Pleasant Grove exit on I-15 to Alpine may get a single name -- Mount Timpanogos Parkway.

There are plans to connect the road which has as many names as the cities it travels through. It will snake through Lindon, Pleasant Grove, American Fork, Highland and Alpine.

In Alpine this road is called Canyon Crest. It curves around to the roundabout coming east from the Timberline Junior High School then south into Highland where it is known as 4800 West until it passes the Lone Peak High School where for about a block it is called the Lone Peak Parkway.

When it goes into American Fork it is 900 East then becomes Mount Timpanogos Parkway where it curves around the LDS Church-owned Mount Timpanogos Temple.

After the four-way stop at 700 North it becomes 1100 East. When it passes 50 South in American Fork the east side becomes 2000 West in Pleasant Grove. The road virtually stops at State Street but will ultimately connect to the newly completed 700 North in Lindon as it turns toward the east.

When he introduced the idea at the Jan. 2 City Council meeting, Highland Mayor Jay Franson said, "Most likely the signs will have the Mount Timpanogos Parkway designation on top with the various cities using their own address system underneath."

The Highland City Council will decide whether to re-name their portion the next time they meet.

COMMUNITY NOTES

Cedar Hills

Garbage pickup -- Garbage is picked up on Mondays for residences south of Cedar Hills Drive and on Fridays for residences north of Cedar Hills Drive. Toters should be placed at the curb the night before or by 7 a.m. on the day of pick up, holidays included. If garbage is not picked up, residents may call Waste Management customer service at 785-3000.

The blue recycling bins are picked up every other week on the day of regular garbage pickup. A separate truck picks up recyclables, so they may be picked up at a different time during the day than garbage.

The first garbage toter is $10.25 per month, and additional garbage toters are $6.35 each per month. Cost for recycling toters is $5 per month.

Highland

Spruce Estates is recommended-- The more than 12 acre Christmas tree farm on the canyon road in Highland is slated to become a 14-lot subdivision. The Planning Commission recommended final approval on Jan. 9 for the project located at 4100 W. 11000 North.

Several conditions were imposed. The road to the northwest will be stubbed off to allow future development on that side to connect. A masonry wall is to be erected behind a 29 foot parkway detail which will include landscaping and a sidewalk.

The developer is to work with the Utah Department of Transportation as it has future plans to widen SR92 from Lehi to the mouth of the canyon. The setbacks of the homes along the highway will be measured from in back of the parkway detail, not the actual property line.

Developer Will Jones indicated he will leave as many of the trees as possible so future lot owners may decide whether to keep them or not.

Recorder and Treasurer re-appointed -- The Highland City Council approved by common consent on Jan 2 a resolution to reappoint the city recorder Wini Jensen and city treasurer Nancy Day. As a fourth class city with a population over 10,000, Highland, which had more than 15,000 residents in 2005, is required by the Utah State Code to have these positions and gives the mayor the authority to nominate them each year. The appointments require the concurrence of the city council.

Wini Jensen has been with the city since 1978.

"It will be 29 years in the spring," she said. She is also the mayor's executive secretary.

Treasurer Nancy Day was hired in 1983 so this will be her 24th year.

Council appointments stay the same -- The Highland City Council committee appointments for 2007 were approved on Jan. 2 and will remain the same as last year. Brian Brunson and Steve King are on the Lone Peak Public Safety board which includes the fire and police departments.

Glen Vawdrey's responsibilities will be with the Timpanogos Special Service District which provides sewer services for most of north Utah County. Kathryn Schramm will stay on the North Utah County Animal Control Board and Claudia Stillman will remain on the North Pointe Solid Waste District Board.

[delts145]

http://www.ridgewoodcameraclub.org/Photo%20Gallery/Big%20Horn%20Sheep%20Montana%20Laurie%20Spina.jpg
Man, I love it when these programs take place and show great success. I think of it as adding Big Horn's to our City Park. And what a City Park it is!!!!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Springville Herald
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources received approximately 55 bighorn sheep from Montana that were scheduled to be released January 16th or 17th. in both American Fork Canyon and Willow Creek Canyon (located just east of I-15 near Mona and Nephi).

The project was to supplement existing populations of sheep in these areas.

The Bighorn sheep were to be given Ivomectin (de-wormer) and antibiotics immediately after capture. Blood samples will be taken to test for brucellosis and other diseases as well. Once sheep arrive to Utah, radio collars will be placed on all adult ewes (females) and possibly on some rams and then trailers will then open doors to release sheep.

Another 20 Bighorn sheep will be captured in Colorado and released near American Fork Canyon and Pleasant Grove around the first of February. These sheep are unique in that they tend to live in higher elevations then most sheep

[delts145]

JEREMY DUDA - Staff Writer
In Spanish Fork, it's never too early to start planning for the future - at least when the price is right.

Though the park the land will be used for will not be built for years, the city approved a purchase contract for 46.9 acres because Western Oasis Properties LC was willing to part with it for $45,000 an acre. Mayor Joe Thomas said land adjacent to the plot is selling for $100,000 an acre. Land north of that is selling for $90,000 an acre. The purchase will cost the city $2.1 million.

"We had an opportunity to purchase that land at a really good rate," said Assistant City Manager Seth Perrins. "It was just a great opportunity. It certainly saves the taxpayer, it saves the city as a whole a lot of money."

The city plans to use the land, located on the east side of town near U.S. Highway 6, for a large regional park that could include baseball and soccer fields. The land is even surrounded by what Thomas described as great sledding hills. Most of the details of what the park will include have yet to be worked out, but with so much growth going on in the area, Perrins said the city will need a park there.

Thomas does not expect to see the park completed for as long as 10 years, but said the city will probably plant trees soon so they will be mature by the time the park opens.

"I think you could have baseball fields, you could have picnic areas. Just open space that's dedicated to a place where people could go and throw a Frisbee and play some baseball and that kind of stuff," Thomas said. "Sledding hills just make it gravy on top of it. I think it could be a really wonderful park."

The reason for the cut-rate deal Western Oasis Properties gave the city, Thomas said, is a "cool tool the federal government gives municipalities."

If a plot of land appreciates in value, the owner must pay federal taxes on the increased value when the land is sold. But if the owner sells the land to a municipality, he or she can get a tax deduction in the amount of the difference with a letter from the city.

The tax credit and the city's willingness to close quickly sealed the deal, Thomas said.

The land may also serve other purposes besides recreation. Thomas said some land could be used for a new Fire Department substation and transformer that would serve the rapidly growing area.

"There's some additional city uses that really, I think, will serve the city very well," Thomas said. "A whole bunch of homes will go in that area in the next 10 years."

But the primary motivation is still the massive park that will help meet the needs of Spanish Fork's ever increasing population.

"We will definitely need a park in that area. This is a great opportunity, a good location of land, a good price of land. Let's get the land now and then we'll develop a concept," Perrins said.

[SLC Projects]

Damn there sure is alot of NEWS going on today in all our threads. Good sign for things to come.

[delts145]

Spanish Fork area zoned for commercial use

The Spanish Fork City Council cleared the way this week for a controversial commercial development in the North Park Area.
Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to re-zone approximately 25 acres of the 40-acre plot from residential to commercial. The general plan identifies the whole area as commercial, and the other 15 acres were already zoned accordingly.
Development company Westfield Properties plans to move the 15-acre North Park to a spot in the northern end of the area in order to free up the space along 1000 North for retail development. Negotiations with at least two major retailers are under way, though no announcements have yet been made.
No timetable has been set for the development, although city officials say Westfield plans to have the stores up and running sometime in 2008.
The proposal, which has been in the works for well over a year and first became the subject of public meetings and input in November, has been touted by city officials as a much-needed commercial base and shopping opportunity for residents of Spanish Fork, which city leaders say are spending most of their shopping dollars at large stores in neighboring cities.
Residents who live near North Park, however, have strongly objected, packing public meetings to speak out against the proposal, which will displace residents of a small mobile home park and a few duplexes. Parents in the area also objected to the new park's meticulous design, which will be smaller than the present North Park and which they say will take away the last open space in their area of town.

[SLC Projects]

Highland is looking to future
By Amy Choate
Deseret Morning News
HIGHLAND — After the sun goes down on state Route 92 in Highland, the highway starts to look a lot more like a dark country road than a potential light-rail passageway.
Photo (Deseret Morning News graphic)
Deseret Morning News graphic
But thinking 30 years in the future, Highland Mayor Jay Franson says a TRAX line or rapid-bus transit route along the road might become a necessity, and if so, he wants to start talking about it today.
"I can even look at myself in the mirror and go, 'Are you crazy? Light rail in north Utah County?"' Franson said as he talked to City Council members about the idea at a meeting last week. "But when I think about 25 years in the future, I go, 'No, this is something we need to do in terms of planning, particularly while the corridor's there."'
Franson suggested that the city discuss with Utah's Department of Transportation the possibility of preserving a right-of-way along S.R. 92 to facilitate a light rail or bus-rapid transit system in the future.
"I think we ought to get that in the planning process that's going to be going forward on S.R. 92," Franson said. "It's just something we need to address sooner rather than later."
UDOT already has plans to examine S.R. 92 in a road-widening environmental impact study that should be completed by early next year. In an effort to gather public feedback on how residents think UDOT should improve the road — which is also known as Micron Road— the organization will host a public meeting in February.
"If requests are made for transit or bike lanes, you have to throw all of that into the mix," said UDOT Region 3 spokesman Geoff Dupaix. "That's the purpose of the study, to look at those options and see if they're viable."
Dupaix said the environmental-impact study will determine how wide the road should be, but it will have a minimum of five lanes for the section that is most heavily traveled.
For the most part, S.R. 92 is a two-lane road. It runs through Lehi, Highland and Cedar Hills and is a primary route for residents travelling to I-15.
The road also winds into American Fork Canyon, where it turns into the Alpine Loop. It ends at S.R. 189 in Provo Canyon.
According to Dupaix, $20 million has been set aside for the project, which is enough to go ahead with the environmental-impact study and subsequent designs for improvement. The cost of the road repairs is yet to be determined, but Dupaix said the road will probably be under construction by 2009.
Whether UDOT will also consider reserving more space for a bus-rapid transit system or light rail remains to be seen.
The Mountainland Association of Government's transportation planning arm typically studies traffic patterns in Utah County before making recommendations to UDOT.
While planning for future transit is an important focus for the organization, the cost of transit projects weighs heavily against the predicted need in each area.
"Light rail costs $35 million a mile," said Chad Eccles, MAG transportation planner. "You start asking yourself if the best use of that $35 million a mile is to run TRAX out to Highland."
Eccles said that the organization isn't looking at the area as a potential light rail or rapid bus route, but the potential is there.

Open house Feb. 22

What: UDOT open house for S.R. 92 widening project
When: Feb. 22, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Where: IM Flash Technologies, LLC office, at 1550 E. 3400 North, Lehi

[delts145]

Eagle Mountain to upgrade power
CATHY ALLRED - North County Staff
Rapid growth in Eagle Mountain is forcing the city to move up scheduled upgrades to the city's power infrastructure by a year.

The news that the city would have to install a $3 million power line in May 2008, rather than 2009 as originally planned, caught some council members off guard at a Jan. 9 work session.

The new power line from the north district substation by The Ranches Golf Course to the south district will double power service to the Town Center and will supply energy to approximately 2,300 more new homes.

"The city is growing faster than the capital facilities plan was prepared for," Mayor Don Richardson said. "I think it just took them by surprise. It caught up to them with the growth ... just with the growth it's brought up a lot of issues with (infrastructure and utilities)."

The new surge of 30 percent growth -- the city's permit projections were less than half of the actual 1,000 permits approved for 2006 -- could also move the planned completion date for the $3.9 million South District substation up from its 2012 goal.

"It could be earlier depending on the growth," Richardson said. The unexpected news left city leaders looking at ways to raise $3 million, sooner rather than later, for the new line. He said most of the $6.9 million in funds for both projects -- the substation's cost of $3.9 million not being needed for another five years -- will be taken from revenue bonds or in-house.

"We've come up with $400,000 right off the hand in the review process," the mayor said for the power line budget. Those funds were taken from an existing 2001 bond and impact fees, he said.

Until the new 138 kilo volt power line and its redundant line are completed in May of next year, city leaders will be asking residents to conserve energy.

"Conservation measures, it's just something all power companies do in the state here," Richardson said.

"Just customer education to help them save money, too," Adam Ferre, who oversees the municipal power company.

He said the worst case scenario, if the city was not taking steps to prevent it and growth were to continue at 30 percent in 2007, is the power company having to schedule rolling black outs in 2008 during the summer when power demand is at its highest. There will be no brown outs or black outs for 2007, Richardson said.

Ferre manages a five-person staff at Eagle Mountain City Power. He installed the city's first power line in 1997. Both mayor and Adam agreed the situation was not dire, but proactive.

The installation of the line and substation shouldn't cause a rate hike for residents.

"No, but who knows? I don't think anyone likes to have their power bills go up," Richardson said.

Ferre said the power rate has remained the same since 1999.

[delts145]

Mayor says 2007 to be prosperous for Saratoga Springs


CATHY ALLRED - North County Staff
Saratoga Springs saw a prosperous year in 2006 in population, commercial retail, infrastructure and public services growth.

All of which will carry over as concerns for the city in 2007.

"The biggest challenge for the city government is still going to be city growth and transportation," Mayor Tim Parker said. "The police department is a very big deal. That is something that will occupy a lot of attention as we officially get ready in July."

Not only will the city of 13,000 be starting its own police department, but it will be getting a municipal court on July 1. The municipal court will be held at the city offices, 1307 North Commerce Drive.

Residents have also seen an improvement in fire and EMS service. Saratoga Springs Fire Department received a new ambulance and has first response status allowing the city's EMT's to transport patients to the hospital.

"We've moved into a new fire station to a better location to reach the bulk of the city," Parker said. "Our response times have been better at that location with our full time firefighters."

The biggest challenge in 2006 was keeping up with the city's growth and providing services, he said.

"We are finishing up some rather big infrastructure projects," he said. "We have actually had some development slow down because of the infrastructure hadn't caught up."

The city is completing a 3 million gallon culinary water tank project at the north end of the city and has begun construction on culinary and secondary water facilities in the south service area.

Gaps in the system are being filled in at a rapid rate, he said because of growth. With the infrastructure being put in place though, he said he expects to see a surge in development in 2007.

"Projects have been approved and we have developers who are anxious to begin building and haven't been able to," Parker said.

One of those developers is the Alpine School District. He said he just met with the school district during its work session to discuss a new high school, middle school and two elementary schools.

Commercial developers have been very active in the past year including Wal-Mart, Checker Auto, Walgreens and McDonalds.

"Wal-Mart should be starting construction soon," Parkers said. "I believe that Walgreens has committed to the northeast corner."

While keeping up with growth may have been the biggest challenge, Parker said the biggest frustration was the issue of transportation.

"We're helpless because so much is under the control of UDOT," he said. The city leaders will turn their attention in 2007 he said to building what was Saratoga Spring's Center Street, now Pony Express Parkway, into a five-lane boulevard between Eagle Mountain and the city.

At least one half to three-quarters of a mile must be finished to access the high school campus selected by the school district on 400 North just west of Redwood Road.

All of the growth issues in the city have been time consuming.

"I honestly think that we have been so preoccupied with the activity of growth, that we've not paid attention to some of these other things," Parker said.

And while the library is a tremendous expense, he said he believed this is the year for the council to seriously address starting a library.

The city does have as part of city government services, a very active recreation program. "It has done extremely well over the last year," he said. "What we are really lacking and we are catching up on it. The facilities, they are planned. There is a pipeline. We don't have any diamonds yet. However that not withstanding, the soccer program went really well this year."

FAIRFIELD BRIEFS

EPA finds 'hot spots' -- Mayor Lynn Gillies reported at the Jan. 11 town council meeting that Al Lange, a director of the Environmental Protection Agency, has confirmed that some Fairfield roads contain "hot spots" of arsenic contamination. The EPA took samples of all suspected areas of arsenic contamination during a study they conducted in Fairfield in December. Fairfield leaders expect a full report listing specific contamination areas and amounts of contamination by February.

Fairfield reviews landfill pact -- At the Jan. 11 town council meeting, Mayor Lynn Gillies gave council members a rough draft of a Solid Waste Disposal Agreement between Fairfield and Intermountain Regional Landfill. The mayor asked council members to review the agreement and write in proposed additions and suggestions by Jan. 25. The final agreement will be part of the conditional use agreement between the town and the landfill approved in Sept. for 330 acres within Fairfield's boundaries.

[delts145]

http://www.uvsc.edu/images_homepage/campus_shot2.jpg

A $10 million UVSC 'down payment'

By Erin Stewart
Deseret Morning News
Utah Valley State College doesn't want to add the word "university" to its stationery if there's no money to back it up, school leaders told legislators Monday.
That dollar amount, however, may be much higher in the end than the $10 million figure volleyed at the Legislature this year. In reality, $20 million to $25 million annually could be needed to make UVSC a full-fledged university, Utah Higher Education Commissioner Rich Kendell said.
He told members of the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee that this year's $10 million estimate is likely just a "down payment" on ongoing funds needed to make UVSC a "genuine university."
"We've been very open about the fact that this might take a couple of installments," Kendell said. "In the past we have gone along with changes in mission. Without funding that, in retrospect as a Monday morning quarterback, would be ill advised."
Kendell added, however, that he doesn't expect UVSC leaders to come back to the Legislature asking for millions more to fund the mission change after the initial $10 million in ongoing state funds. Rather, he said the gap will be filled as the college's enrollment grows and it is able to fund its own expansion.
"We thought this $10 million would be the increment needed to get them on that university road.
After that, I don't think there's any intent to come back and say, 'Here's another $5 million bump,"' Kendell said.
A bill containing $3 million of those initial mission change funds has already passed out of the Senate and is now awaiting a hearing in the House. The rest of the money is expected to be included in the official bill by Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, to change the Utah County school to Utah Valley University. Exact language of that bill has not yet been released.
About $1.1 million of the $10 million state investment would go toward new graduate degrees, and the remainder would strengthen current undergraduate offerings, UVSC President William Sederburg said.
In particular, reducing the number of courses taught by adjunct faculty, increasing advisers and lessening the teaching load are all necessary changes to become a university, he said.
Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, said although he can "sense a consensus growing around, the switch to a university," he is wary of mission creep among schools that get caught up in the prestige of becoming research universities.
Under the pending legislation, UVSC would become a Type II university, meaning it would offer some master's degrees but would not be a research institution. Weber State University and Southern Utah University would be in its peer group.
"Once you're a university, people want to do more research. There's just a natural be-true-to-your-school boosterism," Bell said. "We can't afford in five or six years to have someone from Utah Valley say, 'We need a community college."'
Sederburg said he's committed to maintaining the community college offerings at UVSC and that any future change would only come on the heels of changing market demands.
That marketplace is calling for a regional university, Sederburg said, with Brigham Young University accepting more out-of-state students and Utah County's population growing rapidly.
"We think this is a natural evolution," he said.

[delts145]

CEDAR HILLS — Cedar Hills will have a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Thursday to receive input on a proposed Wal-Mart.
The hearing will be at Cedar Hills' public safety building, at 3925 W. Cedar Hills Drive.
The proposed Wal-Mart would be built on the northwest corner of Redwood Drive and Cedar Hills Drive.
According to preliminary site plans for the project, the building is proposed to be 132,890 square feet. Three other empty lots surround the proposed store, where other retail centers are in the early stages of planning.
According to city code, the store's hours of operation and whether the store will sell alcohol are yet to be determined.

[delts145]

HIGHLAND — After the sun goes down on state Route 92 in Highland, the highway starts to look a lot more like a dark country road than a potential light-rail passageway.

http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/b012207high.jpg
Deseret Morning News graphic

But thinking 30 years in the future, Highland Mayor Jay Franson says a TRAX line or rapid-bus transit route along the road might become a necessity, and if so, he wants to start talking about it today.
"I can even look at myself in the mirror and go, 'Are you crazy? Light rail in north Utah County?"' Franson said as he talked to City Council members about the idea at a meeting last week. "But when I think about 25 years in the future, I go, 'No, this is something we need to do in terms of planning, particularly while the corridor's there."'
Franson suggested that the city discuss with Utah's Department of Transportation the possibility of preserving a right-of-way along S.R. 92 to facilitate a light rail or bus-rapid transit system in the future.
"I think we ought to get that in the planning process that's going to be going forward on S.R. 92," Franson said. "It's just something we need to address sooner rather than later."
UDOT already has plans to examine S.R. 92 in a road-widening environmental impact study that should be completed by early next year. In an effort to gather public feedback on how residents think UDOT should improve the road — which is also known as Micron Road— the organization will host a public meeting in February.
"If requests are made for transit or bike lanes, you have to throw all of that into the mix," said UDOT Region 3 spokesman Geoff Dupaix. "That's the purpose of the study, to look at those options and see if they're viable."
Dupaix said the environmental-impact study will determine how wide the road should be, but it will have a minimum of five lanes for the section that is most heavily traveled.
For the most part, S.R. 92 is a two-lane road. It runs through Lehi, Highland and Cedar Hills and is a primary route for residents travelling to I-15.
The road also winds into American Fork Canyon, where it turns into the Alpine Loop. It ends at S.R. 189 in Provo Canyon.
According to Dupaix, $20 million has been set aside for the project, which is enough to go ahead with the environmental-impact study and subsequent designs for improvement. The cost of the road repairs is yet to be determined, but Dupaix said the road will probably be under construction by 2009.
Whether UDOT will also consider reserving more space for a bus-rapid transit system or light rail remains to be seen.
The Mountainland Association of Government's transportation planning arm typically studies traffic patterns in Utah County before making recommendations to UDOT.
While planning for future transit is an important focus for the organization, the cost of transit projects weighs heavily against the predicted need in each area.
"Light rail costs $35 million a mile," said Chad Eccles, MAG transportation planner. "You start asking yourself if the best use of that $35 million a mile is to run TRAX out to Highland."
Eccles said that the organization isn't looking at the area as a potential light rail or rapid bus route, but the potential is there.
Open house Feb. 22

What: UDOT open house for S.R. 92 widening project
When: Feb. 22, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Where: IM Flash Technologies, LLC office, at 1550 E. 3400 North, Lehi

[delts145]

http://s162494416.onlinehome.us/img/novell.gif
corporate offices, Provo

By Dina Bass
Bloomberg News
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, chose Novell Inc.'s Linux software for some of its computer networks in an agreement attributed to Novell's recent alliance with Microsoft Corp.
Wal-Mart signed a contract with Microsoft and Novell, based in Waltham, Mass., to use Novell's version of Linux for some its networks, Chief Technology Officer Nancy Stewart said Monday in an interview. Terms weren't disclosed.
Wal-Mart, already a software customer of Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., chose Novell "because of my relationship with Microsoft," Stewart said.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, and Novell, the second-biggest seller of Linux software, agreed in November to make their programs compatible in corporate-server networks.
Since then, Microsoft has announced agreements to supply Novell's Linux software to Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse and AIG Technologies Inc.
Shares of Novell, which has about one-third of its work force in Provo, rose 19 cents to close at $7 Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Microsoft rose 2 cents to $30.74. Wal-Mart fell 15 cents to $47.81 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Microsoft and Novell have been competitors for most of their history, and Microsoft paid Novell $536 million in 2004 to settle an antitrust lawsuit. Microsoft also has spent billions of dollars to improve its Windows server software, partially to fend off the threat of Linux. The new collaboration may give Novell an advantage over Red Hat Inc., the top Linux seller.
"While there are people in the Linux community that were upset about the relationship, there are certainly big enterprises that feel more confident using Linux now that they see a partnership with Microsoft," said Brendan Barnicle, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore., who rates Novell "sector perform."
The relationship is helped by the fact that Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner previously worked for Wal-Mart as chief information officer and later ran the company's Sam's Club warehouse-store division.
Wal-Mart, which currently uses some Linux software from Red Hat, also considered products from International Business Machines Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. before choosing Microsoft and Novell, Stewart said.
Wal-Mart was concerned about legal liability in expanding its use of Linux, which is built on freely distributed code, Stewart said. The agreement between Microsoft and Novell, which included a clause saying that the two wouldn't sue each other over Linux, helped alleviate that concern, she said.
As part of the November deal, Microsoft is paying Novell $240 million for licenses to use Novell's version of Linux, Suse, which Microsoft will distribute to customers such as Wal-Mart. The revenue from the Wal-Mart agreement is part of that $240 million, said Susan Heystee, a Novell general manager who oversees the Microsoft business.

[SLC Projects]

http://s162494416.onlinehome.us/img/novell.gif
corporate offices, Provo


I like that building in Provo. Too bad it wasn't built more downtown. But still it adds to the skyline. ( kind of )

[newkidontheblock]

A little blurb in the SL Tribune about a couple of 8 story 140 foot buildings to be built in Orem
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5086552

[SLC Projects]

I love how Orem has been starting to build UP these past few years with midtown village and soon with this new project "North Pointe"
Way a Orem city for having the balls to build taller buildings. :tup:

[SmilingBob]

A little blurb in the SL Tribune about a couple of 8 story 140 foot buildings to be built in Orem
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5086552

New high rises set for Orem
By Todd Hollingshead
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 01/25/2007 02:18:44 PM MST

Posted: 2:19 PM- OREM - Another set of high-rise buildings is on its way to Orem.
The Orem City Council this week rezoned five acres just east of the 1600 North exit for a new business complex that will feature two eight-story, 140-foot tall buildings.
The North Pointe Plaza will join Orem's Midtown Village as the only two high-rise complexes in Utah County's second largest city.
"You're going to know when you're in Orem," said City Councilman Mark Seastrand. "Some twin towers are going up."

This is between the Exxon and Holiday oil gas stations, next to the Leavitt Insurance Building.

http://gis.orem.org/output/DevTrack_oremgis544427722567.jpg

[Happy Valley Freak]

is there n e were I can find some renderings?

[Wasatch_One]

Smiling Bob found some renderings a few months back... do you remember who the developer was Bob? (their website)

...as for this project... yeah, its cool that Orem is getting some taller buildings, but the city council needs to consolidate this high rise building trend.

Midtown and North Pointe are probably 3 miles apart. Orem needs to build their core up around State St and Center St (Midtown is doing better at achieving this than the North Pointe development is)

[jedikermit]

You're right...there's too much sprawl, not enough consolidation...and it kills me that they call these 8-story things "high rises." GAH!

Still, glad they're getting built, I suppose.

[delts145]

I'm hoping that whole Midtown Village style in Orem catches on in that immediate vicinity. I would like to see more of the same up and down State Street in Orem.

[Wasatch_One]

^^ ya know, I would almost rather not have this development built (North Pointe), at least in its current proposed location.

I feel the same way about the Gehery project. EVEN HERE ON AN URBANIST BOARD, people still arent seeing these projects for what they really are... something we urban nerds should abhor...

spraaaaaaawl:shrug:

[delts145]

By Amy Choate-Nielsen
Deseret Morning News
PROVO — After three years of looking for funding and firm commitments, the Utah Lake Commission is on the verge of receiving a legislative stamp of approval.

http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/3728202.jpg
Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News
Snow covers a frozen Utah Lake, which is the focus of a legislative bill.

Rep. Steve Clark, R-Provo, is sponsoring a bill that will allow the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Quality and Central Utah Water Conservancy District to participate and vote in the commission — and pay about $105,000 annually to do so.
The state governmental agencies will join other Utah County cities that border the lake and are willing to commit funds to the commission. Because the commission's purpose will be to give educated advice toward developing and restoring the lake, Clark says he thinks the bill won't have any opposition.
"I don't see any problem up here with (the bill) not passing," Clark said. "People need to understand that we are not taking over the authority of the lake. There are people with property rights and water rights and they may think that this group is going to come in and start dictating what they can do with their property or their water. That is not the responsibility or the mission of this commission. This is a recommendation commission."
Clark's bill says the purpose for the commission is to "manage Utah Lake's shoreline, encourage and promote multiple uses of Utah Lake, conserve and protect Utah Lake's natural resources, maintain and develop recreation access to Utah Lake and monitor and promote responsible economic development activities around the lake."
But when Clark envisions the effects a successful Utah Lake Commission will have on the lake, he says he sees pristine water in a setting that looks as it did decades ago before all of the carp came.
"I would like to see (Utah Lake) restored to its clean, clear state," Clark said. "The carp are the biggest problem here. We've gone back in history to see what the lake was like before we were overrun with carp, and it was clear. It had vegetation, lily pads — it was a beautiful, clean, clear lake."
The Department of Natural Resources has already started a project, the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program, to remove the carp from the lake.
So far, Orem, Springville, American Fork and Genola have signed resolutions to participate in the commission. Lehi, Lindon, Provo, Saratoga Springs, Vineyard and Utah County are also expected to join.
In recent county meetings, Utah County Commissioners Gary Anderson and Steve White raised concerns that the county representatives will only have one vote, while the state will have several.
"I'm probably the stick in the mud ... but we're working that through," Anderson said. "We want everybody to understand that even though we're holding up the process, it's long overdue and we're supportive of (the lake commission). We have some representation concerns and I think we can work things out, but we do have some concerns."
Provo Mayor Lewis Billings said that some cities may be hesitant to commit to the commission until they see what happens with the Legislature, but he is confident that Provo will eventually sign a resolution to participate.
"One of the comments of the (Provo City) Council was, 'Why wouldn't we do this?' and I think they're right," Billings said. "That's probably the right perspective. So I believe we'll have our people in place the first week in February."

[delts145]

Conceptual approval follows 4-hour hearing

By Rosalie Westenskow
Deseret Morning News
CEDAR HILLS — The city planning commission gave conceptual approval for a proposed Wal-mart supercenter Thursday night following a four-hour public hearing.

http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/mart012607.jpg
Deseret Morning News graphic

The move is an indication the project will get the go-ahead, but planning commissioners are recommending a few modifications be made before they pass it on to the City Council for final consideration.
Residents who packed the public hearing voiced a mixture of opposition and support for the store.
It's the second time the retailer has approached the city. The City Council rejected the original application in 2003 in the wake of strong protests from city residents. The company's new plan is for a 131,946-square-foot super center that would sit between Riverwood Drive and 4800 West on Cedar Hills Drive. The size is 30,000 square feet smaller than the building proposed in 2003.
Despite the decrease in size, several of the residents who spoke at the hearing said they want an even smaller store.
"My biggest concern is the size," Gary Hilton said. "I wonder why we always have to supersize things."
Although Hilton said he likes the savings Wal-Mart provides, he cautioned the commission against a purely economic decision.
"Don't sell out on something that will decrease our value of life just to save money," he said.
Others raised concerns about increased traffic on nearby roads, particularly 4800 West, and the safety of students at Lone Peak High School, which lies across the street from the proposed Wal-Mart location.
"I am here as a concerned father of a student at Lone Peak High School," said Steve King, a Highland resident. "(Traffic is) a concern to me, having my son travel on (4800 West) to and from school."
Wal-Mart's Sunday operations also created worries for those who believe the structure would ruin the area's ambience.
"Does Utah really need a Wal-Mart in every single town?" Wendy Gage asked. "Most people bought their homes (in Cedar Hills) for the mountain views, lake views and close-knit community. Not for a glowing Wal-Mart view."
Wal-Mart has attempted to create a community-oriented design for the building, said Shell MacPherson from Pacland, the development company that created the plans.
"Wal-Mart has listened to the community and responded," he said.
The structure would be one-of-a-kind, with an unusually large plaza in front, large trees and architecture designed to blend in with the community.

[SLC Projects]

You guys bring up a good point about how far apart "Midtown" and "North Point" are from one another. I agree that these two projects should of been built closer together to give Orem city it's core. But I do believe there will be more projects like Midtown with 8-stories buildings to be build on state street near Midtown in the near future. :yes:

[delts145]

I hadn't seen anything lately on Deseret Towers. I ran across this by accident on Google,under Salt Lake Library/rooftop garden.????:shrug:
Anyway, these pics are from Dec. 30th.

http://jacob.peargrove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/vhall.jpg

http://jacob.peargrove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/vhal2.jpg

[SLC Projects]

What a mess. :haha:

But what is going to get build there again? I forgot. :shrug:

[delts145]

I was just thinking the same thing. I wonder if Wasatch has a rendering of whats going to replace the tower's? Given what BYU has been doing lately with it's replacements, it will definately look a lot better than the current Deseret Towers.

[Wasatch_One]

...from what I understand, Deseret Towers will be torn down and nothing is slated yet for their current location.

However, a massive 5000 student housing complex of 5 and 6 story buildings will be going up on 8th north and 4th east (just south of the BYU campus)... this is what will replace Deseret Towers. Classrooms may be built where Deseret Towers are being demolished.

Renderings of the new complex are at architecturalnexus.com

[DevdogAZ]

...from what I understand, Deseret Towers will be torn down and nothing is slated yet for their current location.

However, a massive 5000 student housing complex of 5 and 6 story buildings will be going up on 8th north and 4th east (just south of the BYU campus)... this is what will replace Deseret Towers. Classrooms may be built where Deseret Towers are being demolished.

Renderings of the new complex are at architecturalnexus.com

According to this blurb from that website:
Architectural Nexus was recently awarded the design of phase 1 for the Brigham Young University New Student Housing along 800 North which is currently in schematic design. Architectural Nexus also completed the initial program and master plan for the 3 different housing complexes at Brigham Young University including the replacement of Heritage Halls Housing, Deseret Towers Housing, and new student housing identified as 800 North. The Heritage/Deseret Towers complex will comprise 3000 beds and 1,213,884 G.S.F. The 800 North complex will comprise 1000 beds and will be 645,306 G.S.F.
it appears that there will be housing built on the DT/Heritage Halls site to replace what's being torn down and that the site on 8th North is something different. Is the 8th North site at the location of Joaquin Elementary? I know there has been discussion for a long time about turning that site into a multi-use housing/retail/entertainment district because of it's close proximity to campus. However, I wasn't aware that BYU had purchased it.

Edit: I just remembered that Joaquin is between 5th and 6th North and between 6th and 7th East, so this would not be the same complex. So does anyone know anything about the proposal for the Joaquin site?

[SmilingBob]

New high rises set for Orem
By Todd Hollingshead
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 01/25/2007 02:18:44 PM MST

Posted: 2:19 PM- OREM - Another set of high-rise buildings is on its way to Orem.
The Orem City Council this week rezoned five acres just east of the 1600 North exit for a new business complex that will feature two eight-story, 140-foot tall buildings.
The North Pointe Plaza will join Orem's Midtown Village as the only two high-rise complexes in Utah County's second largest city.
"You're going to know when you're in Orem," said City Councilman Mark Seastrand. "Some twin towers are going up."

This is between the Exxon and Holiday oil gas stations, next to the Leavitt Insurance Building.

http://gis.orem.org/output/DevTrack_oremgis544427722567.jpg

This is on the hill across from ModusMedia. With nothing around it more than a couple of stories tall it will stand out like Midtown does on State St.

[DevdogAZ]

There was a thread in the last couple of days where someone posted a video that had something to do with Deseret Towers and what was going to replace them. I couldn't watch it at the time and now I can't find it. Do any of you know what thread that was in or who posted it?

[SLC Projects]

There was a thread in the last couple of days where someone posted a video that had something to do with Deseret Towers and what was going to replace them. I couldn't watch it at the time and now I can't find it. Do any of you know what thread that was in or who posted it?


It was I-215 I think who post that video. It should be on this same thread, that or maybe it's on the city creek thread when some of us started talking about Demo of the crossroads mall. One of those two threads. :tup:

[delts145]

They'll replace camp's aging wooden tents

By Amy Choate-Nielsen
Deseret Morning News
PROVO — In the beginning, there was no plumbing, no electricity — only wooden tents — and people still fell in love with the rustic atmosphere of Aspen Grove.

http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/3739916.jpg
Keith Johnson, Deseret Morning News
A visitor does some cross country skiing near Aspen Grove Lodge in Provo Canyon during a youth conference on Friday.

That was in 1960.
Now, the family-centered recreation camp in Provo Canyon is making plans to remove some of its nearly 90-year-old cabins in favor of new lodging that's more deluxe and less "rough."
"All of the indicators show us that our guests are wanting the nicer facilities more and more and more," Aspen Grove camp director Glen Parker said. "But I'm sure that we're always going to be romantically involved with some of those rustic cabins."
Aspen Grove, which is owned and operated by Brigham Young University's alumni association, used to serve as a summer school for BYU's students in the 1920s. The students went to Aspen Grove during the summer to study biology or other science subjects.
Because there was no plumbing, the students had to heft their water uphill from a nearby stream, and at night, they slept in wooden tents, which were primitive, A-frame, wooden structures.
Since then, the camp has built several newer lodges with individual bathrooms and common living areas, but the rustic wooden tents still serve as housing during the summer time while the family camp is going on.
Parker says the tents are less preferable because the bathroom is shared with other tents, and they are farther away from the main lodge.
"(The tents) were never built with it in mind that they were going to last this long," Parker said. "Originally, they were going to build tent platforms and put canvas tents on them, but then they thought that just for a little bit more money, they can build a wood tent. They lasted much longer than anyone ever thought."
Aspen Grove has several phases of the project that will ultimately result in three new lodges, two new cabins, a remodeled cabin and remodeled main bathroom.
The first phase will start with a new lodge located near the dining hall. The planned three-story lodge, with 12 bedrooms on each floor, will provide housing for 100 guests.
The lodge will ultimately be connected with two other lodges, which, if built according to plans, will be built side-by-side and connected with underground parking.
Although the camp's capacity of 408 guests is already booked years in advance for each summer season, the new lodges will not be adding any more beds, according to county code. Guests do not have to be BYU alumni to attend the camp.
Parker said estimated construction costs are still under wraps, but all of the expenses will be paid with fees the camp generates from its guests each summer.
Construction on the first phase is slated to begin in early June, Parker said.
Ray Beckham remembers what Aspen Grove was like before it opened as a family camp, but he says the changes over the years haven't affected the camp's overall purpose.
During World War II, Aspen Grove closed as a summer camp for students, and by 1960, BYU was considering giving the land back to its original owners. But Beckham had a different idea.
As a member of the BYU alumni association, Beckham had spent some time at the camp with his family, lugging water and sleeping in the wood lodges. He convinced BYU to allow him to transform the facility into a family camp, and from that year on, the beds have been filled.
"Taking care of families has been (Aspen Grove's) priority since the day they opened," Beckham said. "This is still the best place in the world to take your family for vacation. And once you take your family there, they just want to go back year after year after year because it is so good."
Bountiful resident Kenneth Beesley has been traveling to Aspen Grove every year for 12 years, and he says he agrees. The camp has made great improvements since he first started going, Beesley says, but the camp's organization is the reason he has returned with his family.
"Where else can you go that the food is provided and programs are provided for the kids from diaper-age up to teenagers?" Beesley said. "The kids love it, and the mothers love it, why would you choose to go anywhere else?"

[delts145]

Costs create affordability gap for would-be buyers

By Tad Walch
Deseret Morning News
PROVO — From Santaquin to Alpine, the housing market is hot.
How hot?
Three years ago, a $250,000 home was a premium home in Utah Valley. Now, the average sale price of a Utah County home is $254,000.
In fact, the number of valley homes sold for at least $500,000 jumped from 95 three years ago to 368 last year.
Real estate expert Kevin Call now tracks the valley's high-end housing market by counting the million-dollar homes: 44 sold last year, 73 on the market right now.
The surge is raising prices at the bottom end of the market, too, great news for homeowners but bad news for would-be homebuyers who now can't afford most of the homes in Utah Valley, said Call, executive vice president for the Utah County Association of Realtors.
How bad is the affordability gap?
Only 3 percent of homes on the market right now are listing for less than $160,000. And 90 percent of all homes on the market this week list for $200,000 or more.
"That's an affordability problem in our marketplace," Call told the Provo Kiwanis Club on Tuesday. "If you are a schoolteacher in the Alpine School District with five years' experience and a master's degree, you can't qualify for 90 percent of homes on the market unless you have a second job or a spouse that works."
Don't expect new construction to ease the problem, either.
"You can't find a new construction home for under $160,000," Call said. "Even downtown Eagle Mountain has passed that threshold."
The reason is a stark leap in lot prices. For example, in 2004, a lot in the Val Vista subdivision in American Fork sold for $75,000. Last year, a nearby lot that was the same size sold for $149,500.
The lowest-priced, developed single-family lot listed Wednesday in Santaquin, one of the most affordable cities in the valley, was $67,000 for .17 acres.
The affordability situation is compounded by a low inventory: Only a small supply of homes are for sale for less than $160,000 or even up to $200,000.
"The group that can handle the least competition is facing the most competition," Call said of lower-income homebuyers.
The good news is that homeowners are seeing an excellent return on their investments.
Last year, half of all single-family homes in Utah Valley sold for more than $213,075 in 2006, and half sold for less. That median sale price was up 33 percent from $160,000 at the end of 2004.
The median price in Orem jumped from $151,525 to $180,000 over the same period. In Provo, it went from $143,450 to $170,000. The highest appreciation was in the Highland-Alpine area, where it grew roughly 23 percent last year alone.
"I expect 2007 to be approximately the same in unit sales as it was in 2006," Call said. "I expect prices to increase, but certainly not at 22 to 24 percent. Our market is beginning to settle, to stabilize a bit. I believe that's healthy for our market."
One reason is new construction. More building permits were issued in Utah County in 2006 than ever before. Even Provo hit an eight-year high, Mayor Lewis Billings said recently.

[delts145]

Orem has high-rise vision
City rezones to accommodate new North Pointe twin towers
By Todd Hollingshead
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 01/26/2007 11:47:56 PM MST

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2007/0126/20070126__ut_highrise_0127~1_Gallery.jpg
This is a model of North Pointe Plaza, an eight-story high rise that will be built at 1275 W. 1600 North in Orem.

Former Orem Mayor Joseph Nelson had a vision that one day people would be greeted by a high-rise as they enter Orem.
Nelson isn't here to see it - he died during his term - but his vision is coming true.
Times two.
The Orem City Council this week rezoned 5 acres just east of Interstate 15's 1600 North exit for a new business complex, which will feature two eight-story, 140-foot-tall buildings.
North Pointe Plaza will join Orem's Midtown Village as the only two high-rise complexes in Utah County's second largest city.
"I remember [Nelson] expressing that he hoped someone would come along and build something nice and high-rise along the freeway corridor," said North Pointe project engineer Roger Dudley.
But a new office building simply wasn't feasible as little as three years ago because of a surplus of office space in the area. Today, office vacancies in Utah County are low, due to the rise in corporate expansion along the Wasatch Front, which has gobbled up available space
"There is a need for office space - especially Class A [top of the line] space" in Utah County, said James Bullington, an office and retail specialist with commercial real estate brokerage Commerce CRG.
North Pointe's two conjoined glass office towers will be the tallest buildings in Orem. Midtown Village, located at 300 S. State St., will be less than 100 feet tall.
"You're going to know when you're in Orem," City Councilman Mark Seastrand said.
Developers have been authorized to go forward with North Pointe's site plans and probably will start construction by the summer, Dudley said. The development will offer roughly 120,000 square feet.
The plaza - including a curving, three-story parking garage around the east and south edges - likely will be finished in the spring or summer of next year.
Because of the steep slope at the project site, roughly 1275 West 1600 North, developer Bruce Dickerson said the buildings may not appear as tall as Midtown Village.
But Dudley said Provo Canyon will be visible from the top two floors.
"This would give [the area] some depth and some personality, and I think that was the hope," Dudley said.
City planners say more projects like North Pointe Plaza and Midtown Village - developments that go up rather than out - are on their way to Orem.
The city of more than 90,000 people is almost built out.
"You're going to see a few more of [the high-rises] pop up down State Street," city planner Jason Bench said.
North Pointe's developers mailed 204 notices to residents within 300 feet of the property. Fewer than a dozen attended this week's council meeting and none had much concern with the project.
---
* Tribune reporterLESLEY MITCHELL contributed to this report.

[delts145]

:previous:

We've talked about building up Orem's core around the new Village complex. While I definately want to see alot more of the same in that area, I'm wondering how much traffic the Center Street corridor is equipped to handle. While State Street is an excellent route,the access from the freeway to a large downtown type office cluster is very limited from I-15. Center Street from I-15 to State Street is quite a distance and cannot be expanded further. While 800 no. is currently being expanded and will serve the area well, it is quite a distance north from The Orem Village Center. Really, Orem has no sensible drop-off I-15 access to the Village as a major downtown core, like Salt lake from I-15 to its downtown.

This 1600 north area has excellent immediate I-15 access, and is surrounded by the vast empty areas of the former Geneva Steel. I have long had this vision of a glistening skyline in this area where the once grotesquely ugly Geneva once stood. Given that Ut. Valley's portion of I-15 is about to receive a major overhaul, and also the valley wide transportation hub will be here, and adjacent to the new regional power generating facitlity, "this would get my pick for the skyline center of Ut. Valley." Can you all imagine a spectacular skyline on the shores of a beautifully restored Utah Lake with Timp as a magnificent backdrop. It would be one of the most stunning skyline locations in the country

I'm not at all against this happening for downtown Provo. I think Provo also has excellent I-15 access and will have a bright mass-transit future. But as someone who has the psyche of a developer I see 1600 No. as overwhelmingly attractive to future highrise development. Most of this is because of large,attractive, bulk land issues at the 1600 no. site, which would be very difficult to duplicate in and around downtown Provo.

[SmilingBob]

Orem has high-rise vision
City rezones to accommodate new North Pointe twin towers
By Todd Hollingshead
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 01/26/2007 11:47:56 PM MST

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2007/0126/20070126__ut_highrise_0127~1_Gallery.jpg
This is a model of North Pointe Plaza, an eight-story high rise that will be built at 1275 W. 1600 North in Orem.

These buildings are going to look massive sitting halfway up the hill off 1600 N. I like the idea, but the location makes me wonder if it will truely fit with the surroundings.

This location is on the hillside east of I-15. The elevation is probably 100' higher than I-15's elevation making it visible from very far away. If you think about the elevation difference this building will look like it's 240' tall from I-15 level or out toward Geneva.

Sounds like a great place to move into when completed next year. :tup: Just about the time we'll need to move! :yes:

[SLC Projects]

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2007/0126/20070126__ut_highrise_0127~1_Gallery.jpg



It looks like a cake. LOL


Anyways Sounds like a good idea, Glad to hear that there will be a three story parking. Wish it would be closer to Midtown Village.


City planners say more projects like North Pointe Plaza and Midtown Village - developments that go up rather than out - are on their way to Orem.
The city of more than 90,000 people is almost built out.
"You're going to see a few more of [the high-rises] pop up down State Street," city planner Jason Bench said.

:previous:
I can't wait to see what other projects are in store for Orem. Hope these other projects will near both North point and midtown village projects. :tup:

[SLC Projects]

oh and as for the roads, The roads now are busy enough without these new projects. I don't even want to think about how bad state street or the other roads will be once these new office towers will go in the area. With 90,000 people in Orem and the fact that Orem is build out and needs to build up I think it's time for Orem to start thinking about putting in Light rail in their city. :yes:

[jedikermit]

:previous:

I really want to like those buildings...they're just so...squat.

[delts145]

oh and as for the roads, The roads now are busy enough without these new projects. I don't even want to think about how bad state street or the other roads will be once these new office towers will go in the area. With 90,000 people in Orem and the fact that Orem is build out and needs to build up I think it's time for Orem to start thinking about putting in Light rail in their city. :yes:

The main tranportation terminal is planned to be just below No. Pointe Plaza If North pointe projects were to congregate around the current Village Center in Orem, traffic would become a nightmare. Northpoint is an area that is far more viable for high-rise density.

[DevdogAZ]

I'm not at all against this happening for downtown Provo. I think Provo also has excellent I-15 access and will have a bright mass-transit future. But as someone who has the psyche of a developer I see 1600 No. as overwhelmingly attractive to future highrise development. Most of this is because of large,attractive, bulk land issues at the 1600 no. site, which would be very difficult to duplicate in and around downtown Provo.
I think your idea of a "core" of sorts in the 1600 N. area is interesting, but I've got to wonder about your sanity when you say Orem Center St. is bad freeway access but then you say Provo's downtown has "excellent" access to I-15. Have you ever driven Provo Center St. from I-15 to University? If there is ever any kind of employment core downtown, that corridor will be a nightmare. Downtown Provo is kind of a puzzle, because it has kind of a cool feel with all the old stores, but in order to get more people down there, they'll have to condemn all those stores to widen Center Street.

[delts145]

:previous:

I'm sorry, I should have been more specific. I guess I just assumed that I was talking to locals who had a better understanding of the area. I was referring to the University Ave. access further southeast along I-15. The south portion of Univ. Ave. is many times more relevant to a developer of traffic generating density than the limited access of Center Street in Orem.
I'm a huge proponent of historical preservation, and would loathe any destruction of Provo's historic district. I would like to see the area to the south and southeast, in the old warehousing and railroad district developed as more of a mid and hi-rise style gateway district, much like the Depot district in the west portion of downtown Salt Lake.

[urbane]

oh and as for the roads, The roads now are busy enough without these new projects. I don't even want to think about how bad state street or the other roads will be once these new office towers will go in the area. With 90,000 people in Orem and the fact that Orem is build out and needs to build up I think it's time for Orem to start thinking about putting in Light rail in their city. :yes:

Very true, if they plan to build up instead of out they are going to need to plan for effective pulic transportation, such as light rail. Has Orem of even Utah County joined UTA yet? Did the sales tax bill pass?

[SmilingBob]

Looks like we're going from very little as far as convention space to hundreds of thousands of square feet with the PG and Lehi projects. It seems like we'll have a race to see who can get their convention center/hotel up first.

I wonder if this will affect the plans to build a convention center and hotel in downtown Provo. Most likely it will be built, but how large is the question. I've heard it's somewhere between 80,000 to 100,000 feet of convention space, but haven't heard much about the hotel.

It will be interesting when Provo announces. We really will have some exciting projects to watch.

[delts145]

http://www.heraldextra.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=74362&g2_serialNumber=2
ASHLEY FRANSCELL/ Daily Herald Ira Fulton watches dancers and performers during a celebration at UVSC Thursday, February 1, 2007. The celebration was to publicly thank Fulton and his wife, Mary Lou, for their donation of $516,000 a match to money raised by the students at UVSC.

Ten million dollars could buy a ton of chili for Utah Valley State College students, but philanthropist Ira Fulton is more worried about getting the word "university" on their diplomas.

UVSC students lined the halls of the Sorensen Center to get a free bowl of chili, oh, and thank Fulton for his nearly $500,000 donation to the school at the "Fulton Celebration" Thursday.

Giving is contagious for the Arizona construction mogul.

After matching Utah Valley State College's donations 1:1 for a total amount of more than $1 million, Fulton announced Thursday he also wants to raise $10 million by the end of this month to jump-start UVSC's switch to university status.

"I want to raise 10 million by the end of this month. I will match it if you raise it," promised the CEO of Fulton Homes in Phoenix. "Just don't tell my wife I made another commitment," he joked later.

"Let's go before the Legislature at the end of this month and challenge them," Fulton said.

SB 70 proposes a base-funding increase for UVSC of $10 million per year. Currently, UVSC has a budget of $100 million a year, with 51 percent coming from tuition and the other 49 percent coming from the state. The additional funds will add more salaried faculty, reduce the student to teacher ratio and add graduate degrees -- all steps toward a university status.

The one-time Fulton gift would be an added bonus to the cause, one that UVSC believes will entice legislators to pass the bill this legislative session.

"Private donations will really help the university status to really come into its own," said Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, who is sponsoring the legislation that would upgrade UVSC's status.

Legislative appropriations go for ongoing needs like salaries and utilities, while one-time money like a large gift is best used for expenses like books, computer equipment and building upgrades. Lawmakers know the difference, and the fundraising drive shouldn't affect the appropriations process, Valentine said.

"We'd show them we are putting our money where our heart and mouth is, and we hope for them to do the same," said Cameron Martin, assistant to the president at UVSC.

Martin said historically the Legislature has responded favorably to causes in which people have done their part of the fundraising.

Fulton also announced Thursday he'll do another fundraising challenge -- like last year's -- after the first goal of $10 million is met.

Last April, the Fultons challenged deans and administrators at the college to establish fundraising goals for their divisions. For those that reached the mark by Dec. 31, the Fultons agreed to match up to $1,000 per donor. The effort that raised more the $1 million for the college.

President Sederburg, overwhelmed by the couple's generosity, noted: "It isn't the money. It's the spirit (they) bring to UVSC and higher education."

The 74-year-old and his wife were listed in the top 50 most generous philanthropists in 2006 in Business Week. From 2002-06, the Fultons have given $234 million, or 60 percent of their net worth, mostly toward higher education.

Kate McNeil can be reached at 344-2549 or kmcneil@heraldextra.com

The Fulton Money Trail

What is going where

Athletics Department: $121,435

School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences: $70,390

Wasatch Campus: $57,771

School of Business: $48,526

School of Science and Health: $47,125

Associated Students: $39,521

Student Affairs: $38,183

General Scholarships: $31,280

School of Education: $19,744

School of General Academics: $11,792

Center of Ethics: $11,000

School of Technology & Computing: $8,888

Continuing Education: $7,095

Total: $512,750

*Numbers are based on fundraising efforts within each department. The Fultons matched each donation 1:1 for a total raised of more than 1 million.

[delts145]

:) With the growth in this area I was wondering when we would see this. If anyone can get a pic of the design that would be great.

http://www.jacobs-ranch.com/images/TitleBarScenicSM1.jpg

Council gets first look at high school design


CATHY ALLRED - North County Newspapers
Saratoga Springs council members got their first glimpse of the new high school design on Jan. 30 during a work session.

Resembling a airport terminal, the two-story high school building design spans out with two wings behind the main structure and entryway.

"They look like pliers," Mayor Tim Parker said.

The council did like the fact that Alpine School District had let the city have a say in much of the school's layout. A chain link fence like that dividing the Lehi High School parking lot from Lehi's Main Street won't stand a chance at the Saratoga Springs school. The parking lot will have 30 feet of landscaping surrounding it.

Another plus will be the cooperation planned between the district and the city in building some of the sports fields.

"We're discussing with the city having a shared campus," Holdaway said. "We talked about sharing the recreation facilities with the city."

The new high school serving west Lehi, Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Fairfield and Cedar Fort is scheduled to open its doors to students in fall 2009. By that time, the projected student population at Lehi High School will be 2,600 students.

How the boundaries will be set will depend on the student population at Lehi High School, Willowcreek Middle School and Lehi Jr. High, said Jim Hansen ASD director of budgets.

"If we look at Willowcreek and we look at the current projections, it would be around 1,500," Hansen said. "You would hope it would be divided somewhere in half so they would be divided equally."

Located on the gentle slope two blocks west of Redwood Road just south of Saratoga Springs' Center Street and future Pony Express Way, the nearly 50-acre campus site will boast a 300,000 sq. ft. building designed by Sandstrom Architect Associates.

"It's a totally new design," David Holdaway, ASD physical facilities director, said. "It's quite a bit different -- a different design, a different concept."

He said there will be a sunken gym with a running track surrounding the perimeter above the gym. The auditorium will have an orchestra pit and fly loft. Designed for a capacity of 1,800 students, the building will be two-stories throughout except for its front administrative offices.

Fast facts

Location: 200 W. Pony Express Way (Center St.), Saratoga Springs

Campus: approx. 50 acres

Bldg. size: 300,000 sq. ft.

Budget: $41 million

Capacity: 1,800 students

Opens: Fall 2009

[delts145]

Looking north toward Lone Peak from a Cedar Hills front yard. Some really incredible views from this city.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/100/259428167_482989c163.jpg?v=0


Proposed Wal-Mart concept approved


CALEB WARNOCK - Daily Herald
Cedar Hills planning commissioners approved the concept for a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on Thursday evening, though they attached a list of requirements.

City planner Rod Despain called the concept approval "a warm and fuzzy," indicating the city wants to do business with Wal-Mart but is not entirely happy with the plan the company brought forward. The vote requires Wal-Mart to re-tool the plan and return to the Planning Commission.

Councilman Jim Perry asked commissioners to hold a special meeting to speed up the process. The Planning Commission only meets once a month.

Commissioners required Wal-Mart to return with an updated traffic study focusing on peak traffic from 5-6 p.m., a new landscape plan that eliminates 30 parking stalls and adds more greenery, a noise study showing how the store would bring noise at the property edge to lower than a speaking voice, and a plan for signs.

Commissioners did not require Wal-Mart to bring back a smaller building size but encouraged the company to do so.

Twenty residents spoke for and against the proposed store during a public hearing Thursday night. Residents filled the commission chambers and the hallway outside, trying to hear the meeting.

"I'm excited Wal-Mart is back," said former Councilwoman Melissa Willie. "I'm pleased to see them come back with something different. It's still not perfect, but I believe the opportunity for our city is great with employment, convenience and the tax base we need.

"I would like to see it smaller, but I understand the perfect little country store a lot of people desire is not going to be possible for us."

"I spend 95 percent of my discretionary money at Wal-Mart," said resident Teri-Lyn Wiles, who noted that her husband works at a Wal-Mart. "I know they give us good jobs because he gets paid well for what he does."

"Some of you remember me from 2003," said Shell MacPherson of PacLand, the development company representing Wal-Mart. In 2003, Wal-Mart ultimately withdrew a proposed store in Cedar Hills after public outcry because of the size of the building and traffic.

In the plan proposed Thursday, one acre in the northeast corner of the 18-acre site will be used for storm water drainage and turned into a park, which may be given to the city, MacPherson said. The supercenter will have groceries, general merchandise and a garden center but not a tire and lube center.

The supercenter, its landscaping and 591 parking spaces would take up 14 of the 18 acres at the site, with three sites for small businesses to come later, he said. Twelve- to 14-foot trees were proposed, and the building was to feature varying roof heights and faux second story windows to break up the facade of the approximately 132,000-square-foot building.

The building also will feature skylights to reduce the need for electric lighting, be constructed from recycled steel and plastic and feature a white roof, which will reduce heat there by 10 percent, he said.

"The way I see it, you could replace this one building with five others and then you end up with five redundancies with trucks loading and unloading and space," said Commissioner Donald Steele. He noted that residents would not visually be able to tell the difference between a 100,000-square-foot building and a 132,000-square-foot building.

If five smaller buildings were constructed instead, city ordinances would allow those to be a total of 185,000 square feet, MacPherson said.

"I appreciate you guys coming here, we need you guys," said Commissioner H.R. Brown. "I never thought it would be 132,000 square feet. It seems too large for what our town is looking for. I don't want to lose the deal but there must be a way to downsize and still maintain a viable store.

"It seems like this is just a big parking lot. I just envision walking through with my wife and daughter with a path and picnic tables and Maggie Moo's, but maybe I'm an idealist. I don't want to chase you off, but this is not what I envisioned downtown Cedar Hills looking like."

[delts145]

Instead of a strip plan only, American Fork's huge new Meadow's Commercial Center is organized over a vast expanse of land with many islands of businesses punctuated by large wetland area's and attractive bridges and roundabouts.
one of the many little business islands at "The Meadows"
http://home.flash.net/~ral1/starbucks/bigimages11/DSCN11816.jpg

Here's some interesting comments regarding Northern Utah County and it's growth. Something we've been discussing a lot in light of the Gehry/Andersen project.

Merchants to address growth issues


BARBARA CHRISTIANSEN - North County Staff
As American Fork continues to grow, so will its business, industrial and retail sectors. That's according to a study done by Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham, Inc. and presented to Main Street American Fork in January.

Representatives of the group met to look at what that growth is expected to mean to the city as a whole and the downtown area.

They plan to meet Tuesday to address the issues raised and how they will approach them. The meeting is open to the public and is at 4 p.m. at the Bank of American Fork, 33 E. Main, American Fork.

As Utah County continues to increase in population, the north end of the county is expected to increase at an even greater rate. In 2005, north Utah County had about one-third of the population of the county, with central Utah County (Orem and Provo) 46 percent. By 2050, those numbers are expected to more than reverse, according to the study.

North Utah County is projected to have 49 percent of the population, with only 23 percent in the central area. Lehi and Eagle Mountain are projected to lead that growth. By 2050, they are expected to be 101,000 and 100,000 population, with American Fork around 50,000.

Susie Becker represented the Utah Main Street Program, which works with individual members communities throughout the state. She said there were some ideas which had been presented which the Main Street Program supported.

"One of the ideas things to promote American Fork would be to make a civic center," she said. "We could tie things in together visually. This (the downtown area) needs to be the heart of your community."

Mayor Heber Thompson concurred.

A member of Downtown American Fork, Inc., (Main Street American Fork's predecessor) before he was elected as mayor, Thompson said he still supported the group.

"I am very supportive of Main Street American Fork," he said. "I support any effort you make to connect and work with what the national levels of Main Street programs."

Thompson suggested strategies he would recommend to improve the downtown.

They included working with UDOT to maintain or improve traffic flow and routes, improve parking, do sidewalk repair, create a civic plaza, work to permit a mix of commercial and residential uses and create an inviting look for downtown.

Although the projects had Thompson's support, he said the city did not have funding available.

"We do not have the financial capability to sponsor all these things, and we shouldn't be," he said. "We should be a cooperative partner."

Walton said the group would address the UDOT plans

"We will start talking about UDOT and their proposal that will impact Main Street," she said. "Until that is decided, we will hold off making any big decisions."

Merchants learned about the term "leakage," which is used to show the amount of business residents are taking to other communities instead of shopping in their home town. It can be expressed in positive or negative figures, the negatives showing funds leaking to other cities, the positives indicating money from neighboring residents being spent in American Fork.

In 2005, American Fork had positive leakage -- which is considered a negative -- in building materials, food stores, apparel and accessories, furniture and electronics, miscellaneous retail and business services.

The same year, on the positive side, there were outside dollars spent in American Fork in general merchandise, fast food and restaurants, personal services, and amusement and recreation.

Becker encouraged the merchants to continue to build on successes.

"You need to find your strengths and build on them," she said.

Main Street director Linda Walton told the group about a survey that was taken two months prior and had just been compiled.

The downtown merchants identified their major concerns as competition with The Meadows, increased traffic problems, lack of parking, the poor condition of the buildings and the streetscape, apathy of the community and problems with speeding and its effect on pedestrians.

[jedikermit]

:previous:

Are these any better than strip malls they were building in the 80s - 90s? I mean, you end up with the same problems either way...I know I'm getting sick of this style, seeing it all over the valley.

I dunno. I guess when you're putting retail into the suburbs, there's a limited number of ways to do it.

[DevdogAZ]

Instead of a strip plan only, American Fork's huge new Meadow's Commercial Center is organized over a vast expanse of land with many islands of businesses punctuated by large wetland area's and attractive bridges and roundabouts.
one of the many little business islands at "The Meadows."
Is this the retail center that spans the area between the AF Main St. Exit and the main Lehi exit? If so, that place is a total mess. Rather than all the businesses facing a certain way, it appears to be totally haphazard, with some facing the freeway, some turning away from the freeway, some facing south, some facing north, and all this means that rather than one unified parking lot, there is parking almost all the way around this complex, making it more difficult to have service access to any of the stores, and making it confusing for shoppers who aren't sure where to park if they're going to more than one of the stores (which is the intention when you build a center like this).

[SmilingBob]

One of the problems with The Meadows was the requirement for open space. Down the middle of the development is a strip of wetlands. Because of this it splits the development into two pieces. South end with the theaters, Target area and Kohls. The north end is Wal-mart and Home Depot with a lot of smaller stores tucked in and about the project. Classic example of sprawl because you have to drive from store to store.

It is not a very friendly place to drive. The roundabouts are basically useless especially the one by Home Depot and Walmart. Traffic gets backed up at the light through the roundabout.

I remember when I first heard about the project and found out Woodbury Corp. was the developers. While they are very well connected with retailers, their sense of design and layout is way off base. Having dealt with them for many years on other projects they are about 5 years behind the trends. We have a great example of what can be created with the Gateway, they choose not to include any walking elements in this development. To get from store to store you and everyone else must drive, and the traffic vs. pedestrian flow is crazy. Too many people walking in traffic to get into the stores.

Unfortunately there isn't anything to be done about it.

How many times have you almost had an accident or seen an accident over there?

[SLC Projects]

8-story landmark for Orem planned
By Sara Israelsen
Deseret Morning News
OREM — A towering landmark planned for 1600 North is being touted by developers as a one-of-a-kind addition to Orem.
A 3-D model shows the North Point Plaza, which is planned for 1600 North in Orem just east of I-15. The two towers are to include offices and a restaurant. (Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News)
Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News
A 3-D model shows the North Point Plaza, which is planned for 1600 North in Orem just east of I-15. The two towers are to include offices and a restaurant.
"We decided, let's do something that's really nice, that has not been done in Orem or Utah County," said Bruce Dickerson, owner and developer of Skyline Development, which is creating the North Point Plaza. "I think everybody's been satisfied with building these standard four-story buildings. I think this is going to raise the mark."
If built to plans, the two eight-story buildings will hold offices, a ground-level restaurant and a full glass enclosure joining the two towers, with stairs and elevators.
The Orem City Council recently approved the building's design, and Mayor Jerry Washburn called the project "a beautiful gateway" to the community.
The towers, just east of I-15 at 1600 N. and 1275 West on a bit more than five acres, will have a covered three-story parking terrace, Dickerson said.
The 120,000-square-foot project will have space to rent for $23 a square foot — full service — said real estate broker Jason Dodge.
"It'll be the front door of Orem city, basically," Dodge said. "When you're coming down the freeway you'll know you've hit Orem when you see this property."
But North Point won't be the only high-rise development in Orem.
Midtown Village is rising above State Street with its seven stories and center tower. Frequently compared to Salt Lake City's The Gateway, Midtown Village is a combination of commercial, offices and residential units.
North Point Plaza will be more focused on offices and can claim the title of highest building in Orem with its eighth floor, developers say.
"It's definitely unique to Orem," said Curtis Miner, principal architect with the project. "First off, because of its position, as you come into Orem on I-15, you climb a hill. Looking south, you'll be able to see this."
The project managers need to go before the Orem City Planning Commission again to get approval for building permits and other technicalities before the project can hopefully be started in three months, Dickerson said.
"It's a good way for Orem to show off what they've got," Dodge said. "It'll definitely help the image of Orem."

E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com

[delts145]

http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/3788090.jpg

[A 3-D model shows the North Point Plaza, which is planned for 1600 North in Orem just east of I-15. The two towers are to include offices and a restaurant.

I'm hoping they'll release some different renderings soon.

[delts145]

By Sara Israelsen
Deseret Morning News
OREM — After 14 years of being crammed into too-tight quarters, the Orem Public Works Department finally has a new spacious place to call home.

http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/3787834.jpg
Jason Olson, Deseret Morning NewsColby Ince, on forklift, Trent Mallinson, center, and Justin Gaines move stockpiles of traffic signage into the new Orem Public Works warehouse last week.

The department hopes to start moving in today to a new, 84,000-square-foot complex at 1450 W. 550 North in the Bunker Business Park.
"We only get one time to build a new facility," said Public Works Director Bruce Chesnut. "We better plan for a bit of growth."
The new $7.7 million complex dwarfs its predecessor at 955 N. 900 West, which has been around since 1973.
With four huge "work bays," the L-shaped structure on 20.5 acres provides far more room for city fleet services, administration and the city carpenter, as well as departments responsible for street signs and lights, traffic control, parks and storm water.
In the old building, only 20 percent of the city's 248 vehicles could be inside at any given time.
Now, around 70 percent of vehicles can camp out in the 23-feet-high, 90- to 100-feet-wide bays.
"It really helps with the kind of weather we have here in Utah," Chesnut said.
Planning for growth is also seen in the large conference room near the main entrance. Designed with earthquake-resistant walls and emergency backup outlets, the room can become an Emergency Operation Center during a crisis.
But until then, it's just a highly functional meeting room with an adjoining kitchen for retirement parties or small lunch gatherings.
The specifics of each area were custom-designed by those who will be working there — all 107 full-time employees, with 70 seasonal workers.
"Everybody had some input in how the building should be designed," said Steve Webber, maintenance division manager. "We tried to take everybody's (ideas)."
So, when city mechanics asked for multiple air and water pumps at each work station, they got it.
"The mechanics are just thrilled to death," Chesnut said. "We have the latest and greatest a fleet shop would need."
There's also plenty of outside storage space for pipes, piles of salt used during the winter and mulch for the parks.
Construction began in January 2006, although the building design had been batted around for three years and the goal of a new building for about 14.
Plastic runners still line the stairs, and spackling patches are waiting to be covered by the painter. The finishing touches will probably be ongoing for the next month or so, Chesnut said.

[i-215]

http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/3788090.jpg

[A 3-D model shows the North Point Plaza, which is planned for 1600 North in Orem just east of I-15. The two towers are to include offices and a restaurant.

I'm hoping they'll release some different renderings soon.

Is it just me, or is Salt Lake slowly turning into Los Angeles? When I go to LA, I drive the freeways, and it's mostly single-family homes for 100 miles, but near the exits they'll have some suburban high-rises, which adds to the coolness/claustrophobia of the area. With high-rises in Sandy, and more planned for Orem, Pleasant Grove, and Lehi, it almost makes me wonder if we're doing the L.A. thing, except we pay higher taxes to fund needed highways as well as rail.

[SLC Projects]

I'm a little bit worried about this project cus it will make 1600 North alot more busy then it already is. All the streets in Orem are crazy and very busy. Having Trax down there would be a plus. I think we talked about this before. LOL.

I don't mind other cities other then salt lake to have highrises as long as it has level parking so that way it won't look like the E-center in West Valley that has the big ass parking lot that seem like it goes on forever. You guys know what I mean.

Sandy city has been building tons of office building that go from 5-7 stories, but somthing doesn't seem right with those buildings and it doesn't have a downtown feel. Maybe their buildings are too far apart from another. :shrug:

Murray has that IHC campus with that 15-story tower. That I like, but they don't have the level parking. :slob: That campus just as a sea of parking lots. That I don't like. But at least there's a trax stop there in that area.

I just hope that this North Point project can get it right as well as Midtown and other projects inclubing the Frank Gehry Hotel tower in Lehi.

But as I-215 was saying there will be alot of highrises just off the the freeway. :yes:

[SmilingBob]

Y. to restrict singles to a 2-mile block

By Tad Walch (http://deseretnews.com/dn/staff/card/1,1228,1595,00.html)

Deseret Morning News

PROVO — Starting in April, Brigham Young University will require all single students to live within a block two miles by two miles, with the campus at the center of the block. BYU's boundary extends from Center Street to 2230 North, and from State Street and 500 West to 1450 East and Seven Peaks Boulevard.

Nearly 100 percent of single students are already living within that block, university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said, up from about 92 percent when the school announced the boundary in 2003.

And if Provo City Councilwoman Cindy Clark can help it, the city will restrict all construction of new student apartment complexes to that area — if not even closer to BYU.

Clark floated the idea of a city-imposed moratorium on new student apartment complexes during a meeting on Tuesday.

She found no allies for an absolute moratorium but unanimous support for the idea of restricting where new complexes can be built.

"I feel we are in control," City Councilwoman Barbara Sandstrom said.

Clark said the idea of a moratorium wasn't intended to scotch plans for a Joaquin Village, the 238-unit complex proposed for the old Joaquin Elementary School site two blocks south of campus — well inside the BYU boundary.


Not only is Joaquin inside the BYU boundary, it also is within a city zoning boundary informally known as the South Campus Area Master Plan, or SCAMP, where high-density student housing is permitted. That area extends only from the BYU campus down to 500 North.

The only other place where Provo zoning laws allow high-density apartment complexes is in the downtown area.

Officially, SCAMP died in 2002 before the council ever voted on it, but since then the council has implemented much of the plan through other ordinances.


"We have tried in every way to design and develop this and obtain the zoning suggested in the SCAMP proposals several years ago," Ross said. "Studies then showed where high-density residential housing is needed and where the school and community would like to see it. We've tried to accomplish what everyone through the years said they would like to see."

Clark praised the 163-unit Alpine Village rapidly taking shape on Freedom Boulevard north of the Provo High School football field — inside the BYU boundary but outside SCAMP.


Right now, 15,011 BYU students live within the (SCAMP?) boundaries in 23,953 BYU-contracted off-campus spaces.

Another 5,072 single students live on campus.

Married students, who make up 25 percent of the BYU student body, are not required to live within the boundaries. Some single students live at home, and BYU does make a few exceptions for some single students to live outside the boundary, Jenkins said.

Clark said the BYU statistics, despite the desire of Utah Valley State College students and other college-age men and women to live near BYU, bolster her argument that Provo should oppose any more student apartment complexes outside the SCAMP area.

"Does Provo need more?" she said. "I don't think so."
I guess that last statement means that BYU only wants their students to live in Provo and UVSC students to live in Orem. I know there is a big problem with parking at BYU and maybe making students living closer would ease some of those concerns. Provo must feel that they have enough housing for BYU students, and the growth pressure coming from UVSC students isn't something they feel they want to deal with. Even with the new Joaquin Village and the Alpine Village there is still desire to add more student housing. BYU is moving thousands of students off campus and building a new facility on 800 N.

This will also put more pressure on Orem to build more student housing choices. UVSC is the growing school in Utah Valley, and should continue to grow with the new University status. More UVSC students are going to be pushed out of Provo and need a place to live. I would guess we'll see more units going up on the west side of I-15 and University Parkway.

I still think Provo needs to address their downtown problems and look at bringing in more downtown condos for non-BYU students and couples.

[i-215]

:previous:

That's gonna be fun! I get to watch my rent payment go up...up...up...and away!

Geez, I'm already paying $300/mo and I have to share a bedroom!

[SmilingBob]

:previous:

That's gonna be fun! I get to watch my rent payment go up...up...up...and away!

Geez, I'm already paying $300/mo and I have to share a bedroom!


Exactly.


Your rich landlord is going to jack up the rents. I also think it will become a BYU student only area. If they have to fit all the BYU students into the small 2 x 2 mile area the rents will go up and anyone but BYU students will go elsewhere to cheaper properties.


It goes along with the whole student housing problem at BYU. BYU requires the single students to live in approved student housing and this allows the landlord to rent to the individual rather than the entire apartment. In other words a 3 bedroom apt. might rent for $700, but because of the BYU housing requirements they rent two beds in each room for $300 each x 6 people and get $1800 for the entire unit.

[SLC Projects]

:previous:

That's gonna be fun! I get to watch my rent payment go up...up...up...and away!

Geez, I'm already paying $300/mo and I have to share a bedroom!



:previous:
Damn your only paying $300.00 per month? I have to pay $520.00 per month for a one bedroom/one bathroom apartment.

[wrendog]

I think you missed his point projects.. he pays 300 a month for a BED not for an apartment..that is sharing a ROOM with someone else who is also paying 300 bucks.. and on top of that, there is probably another room with two more students at 300 bucks a pop.. it's ridiculous..

[SLC Projects]

I think you missed his point projects.. he pays 300 a month for a BED not for an apartment..that is sharing a ROOM with someone else who is also paying 300 bucks.. and on top of that, there is probably another room with two more students at 300 bucks a pop.. it's ridiculous..



Oh I see. I never did live in one of those student homes when I had to share a bedroom. LOL. But yea $300.00 for a bed to sleep on is ridiculous and having 4 or more students in just one partment with only two bedrooms or whatever and each of them having to pay $300.00 also is crazy. That's like $1,200+ per month totol in each household if there's at least four stadents living in one house. Somebody is making alot of money. :sly:


But at least there's some new housing projects in the works for that area.

[i-215]

:previous:

That's not the worst of it. I'm in the "on-campus system" so although it's not really any cheaper or more expensive than off-campus private housing, BYU actually maintains it, which is nice. As opposed to those living in the Glenwood who had their complex remodeled WHILE people occupied in it. ('Scuse me sir, I gotta remove that sheet of drywall," etc.)

But where I'm at, I pay about $300/mo. There are two to a room, and three rooms....

Basically, it's a 3 bedroom, one bath apartment that rents for $1800/mo.

See why I hate high density housing? No wonder there's surburban sprawl. All the college grads learn to hate getting shafted by landlords. :haha:

[blm3034L!fe]

All of the above mentioned about BYU Housing is insaine! Man I am happy to be living in a State where Tenants are treated with some dignity and respect and we actually have RIGHTS! OMG How do you guys do it? Or better yet how does BYU get away with such crazy landlording?

How's this I gain 20/25% of my monthly rent in the form of "Equity" which I can in turn apply toward a NEW Home purchase with local developers when I am ready to purchase a home. My rent is 1K a month for just under 1200 sq feet, 2bdrm 2bath, I have been with the "Program" for almost 5 years. And get this I almost have 20K in Equity that I can apply to a NEW HOME PURCHASE!!! Beat that...........

Oh and BTW this program/apartment company is Nationwide, however not in Utah and judging from the way BYU Has Utah County on Lockdown I can see why, SUCKERS!!! Or should I say sucks 4 Ya'll U-Tawns... Oh hey guys good luck with that BYU Housing thingy, have you ever considered CU Boulder. ;)

[urbane]

:previous:

That's not the worst of it. I'm in the "on-campus system" so although it's not really any cheaper or more expensive than off-campus private housing, BYU actually maintains it, which is nice. As opposed to those living in the Glenwood who had their complex remodeled WHILE people occupied in it. ('Scuse me sir, I gotta remove that sheet of drywall," etc.)

But where I'm at, I pay about $300/mo. There are two to a room, and three rooms....

Basically, it's a 3 bedroom, one bath apartment that rents for $1800/mo.

See why I hate high density housing? No wonder there's surburban sprawl. All the college grads learn to hate getting shafted by landlords. :haha:

Provo and BYU are not a reflection of reality don't let them tell you it is.

[pdxman]

Its so true, landlords in the byu housing district are horrible...they know they can screw people over and boy do they ever. All see are dollar signs $$$

[jedikermit]

We rented in Salt Lake City and West Valley City for four years before we bought our house, and never had any problems like that. Low rents, nice places, good landlords, nice enough neighbors...

I think it is a Provo/BYU thing.

*shudder*

[i-215]

Hence my locale: Utah County (temporarily)