Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[Pencil]

I hope something gets announced soon for that site

[nushiof]

They are drilling in a second spot now at the other end of the same parking lot near the drive through window.

[delts145]

US News And World Reports ranks best to worst States - https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings

"In terms of overall economy, Colorado and Utah were considered the best states due to their strong business environments, employment numbers, and job growth.
West Virginia and Louisiana were at the bottom."

5 Best

1.Washington
2. New Hampshire
3. Minnesota
4. Utah
5. Vermont

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[Marvland]

Originally Posted by delts145

US News And World Reports ranks best to worst States - https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings

"In terms of overall economy, Colorado and Utah were considered the best states due to their strong business environments, employment numbers, and job growth.
West Virginia and Louisiana were at the bottom."

5 Best

1.Washington
2. New Hampshire
3. Minnesota
4. Utah
5. Vermont

.

Thanks for sharing Delts. Interesting that in natural environment, Utah ranks 49th? Rhode Island and South Dakota are #1 and #2. Not sure I'm reading that right.

[airhero]

Originally Posted by Marvland

Thanks for sharing Delts. Interesting that in natural environment, Utah ranks 49th? Rhode Island and South Dakota are #1 and #2. Not sure I'm reading that right.

According to the methodology, the natural environment score is made up of air and water quality and pollution. Although if that's the case I'm not sure how California ended up as 5th best with the worst air quality in the nation. Utah seems to be hurt by having largescale industrial operations abutting population centers and has a higher toxic chemical release (by weight) per sq mi than any other state, according to the EPA. Also poor air pollution, though not the worst.

[delts145]

I remember reading a while ago that a big factor to the low rating on the natural environment is due to mineral extraction. This was particularly noted on parts of the Great Salt Lake, and the fact that so much of Utah's extraction is in close proximity to the major population center. I can't remember what company that was on the Great Salt Lake. Perhaps someone who follows the Lake closely can enlighten us some more.

I follow the Airnow.com site regularly for L.A. and Salt Lake, especially during the winter. While the Wasatch Front has it's bad days, it doesn't seem to be more often than many of the other Western Metros, such as Denver, Phoenix and Vegas. I've been often surprised to see how often metros in Oregon and Washington or say Albuquerque are in the yellow and higher. I remember someone on the forum a couple of years back posting this great color chart tracking many years of air quality from month to month/year to year. It was pretty enlightening as far as the major improvements in air quality that has been made despite the major growth in population. Years with long stretches of hazardous color had often been replaced with stretches of green lines. Definitely room for more improvement, but at least heading in the right direction.

That said, electric cars can't become mainstream soon enough.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by nushiof

DT State Street is becoming a nice residential corridor. Liberty Sky, La Porte site, Carl's Jr. Really changes the 24/7 dynamic of downtown to get people living here. Anxious to hear more details about this one. Hope it pans out!

I've always felt that State Street was a no brainer for high rise residential development. Imagine the views looking East. They need to build more high rise upscale rental residential along the State Street corridor. Designs alla Austin's latest. One, the market for upscale rental residential is seriously under served according to experts, and where in any major downtown would you find views like that of the Wasatch? If in the future the market is there, they can easily convert over to condo sales.

[Utah_Dave]

The worst pollution offender located on the south west side of the lake is US magnesium, formerly know as Magcorp. If you do a google search you will be mightily disappointed with what you find, particularly when it was Magcorp in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Pretty bad stuff.

[Orlando]

Since it's been slow on here, I thought I'd post a cool highrise construction pic from Seattle on here.

I don't know how to get it rotated properly despite multiple attempts though.

[EPdesign]

I miss this City

[Utah_Dave]

https://www.ksl.com/article/46557175...sort-community

New ski resort near Ogden?

[Utah_Dave]

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...that-could-go/

Reading this article is really disappointing to see how difficult it can be to work with the city and getting permits. I was hoping this is not the norm but the article would suggest otherwise. This seems to confirm what past postings on this forum have already suggested. It’s a lot easier to take the developments out the the suburbs then to try to work in the down town area. Hopefully some of these new city council members can make a difference.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by Utah_Dave

https://www.ksl.com/article/46557175...sort-community

New ski resort near Ogden?

Interesting and exciting. That slope side area of Morgan is going to become as big as the Park City ski area someday. The demand seems to be there. Utah's ski industry had a record year for skier visits this past season, and that was even with Park City closing down earlier than usual. I think the increase was 12% over the previous record. I'm past ready for some time of mass transit requirement for the Cottonwoods, at least during the morning rush.

So now we have the Mayflower area of Deer Valley ready to make a huge push above Heber/Midway, and the ongoing additions and expansion of the northern resorts.


Ski tourism in Utah hit an all-time high this season - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...is-season.html

[delts145]

Utah, #1 in Housing Growth, with Vineyard as fastest growing community in the Nation.

By Annie Knox, Deseret News - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...me-growth.html

The data shows the Beehive State continues to build homes faster than any other state, at a rate of about 2.2 percent for 2017-2018.
"This growth is pretty unrelenting" in Utah, said Pamela Perlich, director of demographic research at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

VINEYARD — Not long after making a down payment on a home with expansive views of Utah Lake and only a few neighbors, Julie Fullmer returned from a trip abroad and could not find her way to her house.

"I was driving around and had no idea where I was going," Fullmer recalled Wednesday. Dozens of homes had popped up around hers in the six months she spent in Asia. "I couldn't see the lake at all. It was instantly built out."

Eight years after she finally found her driveway, Vineyard continues to grow so quickly that it is almost unrecognizable from just half a year earlier. It is the fastest-growing community of more than 1,000 in the nation, new census figures suggest, and Fullmer, now its mayor, is working to make sure it can handle the rush of newcomers...

New apartments and houses in Vineyard, Utah County, one of the fastest growing areas in Utah, are pictured on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

...The new Utah homes have cropped up mostly in clusters in Salt Lake and Utah counties, and also in southern Utah's Washington County, home to a growing number of outdoor enthusiasts, retirees and service workers, Perlich said. But they have not averted an affordable housing crunch. The state's housing market has been among the hottest in the west for the past several years, driving up prices for homebuyers and renters, particularly along the Wasatch Front, according to James Wood, a senior fellow at the Gardner Institute who studies real estate trends. Last year, he notes, was exceptional. Home sales were brisk, while apartments and condos were being built at an all-time high — in no small part due to steady job growth in Utah.

“The employment growth brings people in and those people need housing units,” he said. “Consequently, we get demand for housing." Read More... https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...me-growth.html

Steve Griffin - Deseret News

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[Marvland]

Originally Posted by Utah_Dave

https://www.ksl.com/article/46557175...sort-community

New ski resort near Ogden?

This was a former JV between Dick Bass and Earl Holding for which a hybrid Bird/Basin resort was supposed to come about. They both passed and the families have been bogarting 21 of the most epic bowls on the planet for the last few decades. This is the most important and prominent skiiable terrain in private hands in the world. Unfortunately for now, the ski area, which include six lifts, is private. I think that will change as the revenues will be needed to support resort ops, which are really expensive. Also, I smell a flip to AlterraEpicIkon. Be cool if Powder Corp got it. That Morhgan skyline has something like 20,000 private acres on it. Morgan is over as we know it. I just hope Rio Tinto pulls their heads out and builds theirs soon. Speaking of, they scrapped their west side master plan in the downturn. Any word on Rio Tinto's real estate arm?

[Marvland]

Originally Posted by delts145

[CENTER]Utah, #1 in Housing Growth, with Vineyard as fastest growing community in the Nation.

By Annie Knox, Deseret News - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...me-growth.html


.

Crazy how we lead the nation in housing units but are nowhere near parity. We need tens of thousands more. What we really need is a few hundred more GC firms and about 10,000 more construction workers. There was a contraction of permits do to construction costs and lack of skilled labor.

[Makid]

Originally Posted by Marvland

Crazy how we lead the nation in housing units but are nowhere near parity. We need tens of thousands more. What we really need is a few hundred more GC firms and about 10,000 more construction workers. There was a contraction of permits do to construction costs and lack of skilled labor.

The other reason for the slow down was the Steel and Aluminum tariffs. They also increased costs for projects.

As prices for steel and aluminum come back down, this will help make projects pencil out.

As for workers, I know that the State and SL County have been doing work to get some of the younger generation and the homeless interested and jobs in the various trades. The problem is that many of the younger generation don't seem to want to do physical work in large enough numbers to replenish the current set of workers let alone increase the count.

To get the count to increase, outreach needs to be done to get workers to move to the area from those areas with less work.

[delts145]

Difficulties finding construction labor among the Anglo workforce today reminds me of the same issues faced in the agricultural industry a couple of decades ago. My parents had a large ranch, and it was almost impossible to find willing labor among Anglo adults or even high school Anglo's. I see the same issue in the construction industry today, at least here in Los Angeles. I imagine much the same is occurring at the Wasatch Front. Skilled labor Trades in general are far more popular among the Hispanic workforce. Many of you have probably noticed that much of the salvation of the Wasatch Front's future infrastructure growth is becoming increasingly dependent on skilled Hispanic labor.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by Marvland

Crazy how we lead the nation in housing units but are nowhere near parity. We need tens of thousands more. What we really need is a few hundred more GC firms and about 10,000 more construction workers. There was a contraction of permits do to construction costs and lack of skilled labor.

I wonder if a lot of this data is about single family homes rather than apartment or condo units? It would seem that Seattle would be easily outpacing Salt Lake City if all the apartment and condo units were included in this study.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by Utah_Dave

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...that-could-go/

Reading this article is really disappointing to see how difficult it can be to work with the city and getting permits. I was hoping this is not the norm but the article would suggest otherwise. This seems to confirm what past postings on this forum have already suggested. It’s a lot easier to take the developments out the the suburbs then to try to work in the down town area. Hopefully some of these new city council members can make a difference.

I'm sure getting through Salt Lake City is a breeze compared to Seattle or San Francisco. I've been designing a building that we just submitted for Early Design Guidance, and they are so busy that the earliest time we can get in to present is September. And this is for an 8-story apartment building. If we pass, than we proceed with the design and then submit to present for Design Review, and that can be another 4 to 5 month wait. Then you submit for a Master Use Permit, and then building permit, which both usually take multiple rounds and about 6 months of back and forth. When I hear that a highrise in downtown Salt Lake City does not require design review unless they exceed the height limit, I am in disbelief. Every building in Seattle goes through Design Review and more unless they are smaller 1 to 2 story buildings.