New condos aim to revive Sugar House pulse
Housing » Business owners cheer the vibrancy; critics fret over congestion.
By Derek P. Jensen
The Salt Lake Tribune
Despite its pitted heart, Sugar House has grown a new limb -- and this one is designed to support life.
Oozing urban-living modernity and majestic views, the 29-unit Urbana on Eleventh condominium tower -- a block north of the cratered retail hub -- is just a few months from completion.
Two years after developer Craig Mecham bulldozed the business district's eclecticism, surviving Sugar House business owners predict Urbana could revive the area's weakened but willful pulse.
"It's a beautiful project," says Pat Gleason, who for years worked across the street at a structural-engineering firm. "It will add some eclectic dimension -- it just completes that street."
Critics worry the new brick building sandwiched between a gas station and a pub at 1988 S. 1100 East will steal views and clog the already-crowded corridor with cars.
But Salt Lake City leaders embraced it early, even supplying some "gap" financing from redevelopment funds. Urbana's medium-density housing, they say, melds with the master plan and should add "24-7 vibrancy."
"We zoned that area for just this kind of project," recalls ex-Councilman Eric Jergensen, the city's former Redevelopment Agency chairman. "It makes a great deal of sense."
It also fills part of the void left by Mecham, whose "Sugar hole" on the corner of 2100 South and 1100 East sits vacant as he tries to secure financing. The developer still hopes to erect abutting seven-story buildings stuffed with offices and residential units above a mix of ground-level shops. Mecham blames the recession's credit crunch for the delay.
Barbara Green, whose family long has run nearby Smith-Crown Co., says Urbana should jump-start a district that still sports restaurants, salons, gyms, bars and other boutiques.
"I'm excited," she says. "The one thing we've always wanted is people in Sugar House. People who can walk places bring vitality."
The Eastern view from the fifth story of the Urbana condos, the new six-story condominium project that has changed the face of the Sugar House business district. Wednesday, February 3, 2010 ( Rick Egan / The Salt Lake Tribune)
Urbana developer John Gardiner says that point defines his project. Buyers, he notes, can live stylishly atop a breathing urban body, but easily walk to every needed amenity. One covered parking stall per unit is provided, but Urbana's front door swings onto a tree-shaded sidewalk just steps from a post office, grocery, library and two parks.
"We want it to fit with the neighborhood," Gardiner says, standing eye level with a billboard on one of the corner balconies -- sounds and smells of the street sashaying below. "This meets the complete vision of the master plan. And we've been bold enough that when the wheels were falling off the economy last year -- to blast ahead."
The one- and two-bedroom pet-friendly condos, which range from $195,000 to $532,000, feature open-concept design with the expected finishes. Across five levels (plus top-floor lofts), Urbana includes hardwood, granite, stainless appliances, gas fireplaces, pocket doors and a common balcony -- complete with hot tub -- perched before the picturesque Wasatch range.
"It's not a stucco box," Gardiner says. "In the midst of all this [economic] distress, we've actually pulled it off. We've taken a lot of risk."
Twenty percent of the building is bought, including top-floor units snatched by couples from Portland, Ore., and Park City. Gardiner hopes to attract others with his Web site pitch: "Where short walks replace long commutes. Hundreds of stores are in your own backyard. And friendly neighbors replace the concrete jungle."
But some neighbors are not so welcoming.
"It's totally out of place," Lee Davis says, walking in the building's shadow with her sister and sister's baby. "It not only puts a lot of people here, but it ups the crime rate. We've already got that here."
Other neighbors fear parking on surrounding streets will get cutthroat. It already is, argue the owners of nearby Fiddler's Elbow, who repeatedly have huddled with city officials, and once with Mayor Ralph Becker, to challenge Urbana.
"They have no guest parking," the restaurant's co-owner Andy Scribner laments. "People use our property as the Sugar House parking lot."
Fiddler's now has a security guard -- he says he writes up to 12 $50 tickets every day -- and has contracted with a tow-truck company. The owners also have fenced the south end of the alley behind Urbana that tenants must access from Hollywood Avenue. Right-of-way across the alley remains a sore point. But city bosses suggest the dispute should be settled between the parties or in court.
Meantime, architects and the restaurant owners also question fire safety (due to the narrow alley), while Scribner says the construction site "filled up with water once," perhaps from the canal directly below the alley.
"They're trying to shake us down for money," Gardiner dismisses. "Every claim they've made is complete baloney." He points to Urbana's elaborate sprinkler system and says utilities officials agree the canal is a nonissue.
"The city heard what they wanted to hear," Scribner counters. "They wanted to see the condos go up."
But Orion Goff, the city's building director, says issuing Urbana's permit was never a question. Engineers, utilities officials and fire inspectors signed off. "It met the ordinances," Goff says. "Nobody has shown us a mistake yet that we can even investigate."
Given the economy, smaller, well-designed projects such as Urbana could become the new normal, says City Councilman Carlton Christensen. "It's a bright spot in a cloudy market."
Merchants hope it signals Sugar House's resurgence. And Gardiner insists his prices for urban living will prove a bargain, especially once a planned streetcar gets rolling roughly two blocks away.
"People are being drawn to these communities -- it's a perfect thing to do," Gleason says of Urbana. "I might try to get into one of them."
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More on the Web
To see the changing face of Sugar House, go to
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