August 2026 | Urban Utah Homes and Estates

That Housing Bill

August 23, 2026/in Living Here: Urban Utah Blog /by Babs De Lay

Last month POTUS would and did not sign the major housing reform bill, hailed as ‘the biggest housing bill in decades. Instead, it became law 10 days after it passed through congress and condos around the country are facing some major changes via new lending and insurance requirements. The bill was written in part due to the collapse of the Surfside Condos in Florida in 2021 and authorities shared with Congress committees what’s going on with the dangers of older buildings around the country and lack of housing options.

Example: Did you know that one in seven homes in Florida is for sale, and that they only have eight percent of homes in the U.S.? Most of that inventory is condos and now government regulations have been changed to meet new HOA requirements across the country, not just Florida. A University of Miami-led study found that 35 high-rise condos and hotels along a 12-mile stretch of Miami Beach to Sunny Isles Beach have been sinking or settling between .8 and 3.1 inches over the past seven years including the Trump International Beach Resorts there.

As an example, under the new legislation, if your building is super old and needs all new plumbing and you learn through the HOA meeting/minutes that the bid to replace it is $10mil for 100 units. If the repairs haven’t been paid for by your HOA dues/HOA management, you might not be able to get a loan on the unit or refinance it. Also, monthly reserve requirements for HOA’s are going up from 10% to 15% and that deductibles will be capped for damage/repairs at $50,000 per unit. Reserves are like a savings account wherein a part of your monthly HOA fees gets deposited in case repairs are needed in a building. Note that insurance costs in some buildings around the country have gone up 60%, which is passed along to condo owners through monthly HOA fees. Insurance companies are averaging an eight percent increase this year in policies overall, but up to 27% in some states. The HOA pays for insurance on your building, but you insure your contents here in Utah.

The good parts of the new bill are that the law streamlines federal environmental reviews for office-to-residential conversions and infill projects that can help shorten permitting timelines for condo developments in mixed-use or infill areas in urban locations. There’s a housing crisis around the country and condos can be a cheaper purchase option than a home. The bill also lifted the Rental Assistance Demonstration program cap by 100,000 units and authorized a new Moving to Work program that might help financing for affordable condo projects and units.

My favorite part of the bill is that it now restricts large institutional investors from buying massive numbers of single-family homes. It doesn’t necessarily target condo purchases but single-family home buys, which could end up influencing condo demand and rental pricing in the long run.

Getting Greener

August 17, 2026/in Living Here: Urban Utah Blog /by Babs De Lay

Salt Lake City Corp. is concerned about the Great Salt Lake drying up and the remaining dust killing all of us with toxic chemicals. I recall when SLC set up the E2 Business program under then-Mayor Rocky Anderson in 2003. I signed up and was the first company to do so. Several of my fellow Realtors at the time thought I was promoting bigger lawns because I was ‘going Green’ (for reals!). Our city is diligently trying to keep getting our town greener through a program called ‘CLIMATE FORWARD SLC’. Tyler Poulson, founder of Collaborative Climate, a firm specializing in climate and clean energy solutions for public, private and non-profit clients of which SLC is one is leading the study.

His firm polled several local businesses last December about what types of sustainable measures local businesses are doing and their financial/tech issues as to how to be more sustainable. Climate Forward SLC-a continuation and enhancement of former city priorities- has a goal for us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions here by 40% in 2040. Where are these emissions? In our buildings, on the roads and via materials and food waste we all contribute to daily. A study called ‘existing conditions report’ on the website notes risks, carbon sources, and input that’s been collected earlier this year on city’s website such as the fact that air quality ground level ozone impacts-local air pollution-has reduced outdoor air quality, in the past 30 years, as well as indoor air pollution data and choices for things like home and business appliances that affect air quality. Per our carbon emissions, the goal is obviously to reduce burning fossil fuels. Our primary sources of greenhouse gases: electricity generation (40%), natural gas consumption in buildings (29%). We have a cleaner electric grid, but Poulson says we need to get to 0% carbon emissions from electricity usage in the equipment we buy and the vehicles we use.

He contends there are keys to eliminating emissions: cut energy waste, electrify everything to reach a 100% clean grid. We can choose to upgrade our home appliances for households by replacing gas machines like our furnaces and our gas stoves by electrifying a household like changing out HVAC and water heaters with heat pumps and kitchen ranges with induction ranges. Per transportation: emissions can be eliminated at the tail pipe with electric vehicles, taking TRAX and electric buses or opting to walk or bike.

He reported that our national grid is getting cleaner, as solar just exceeded coal in the US grid this year, adding wind is the #1 renewable energy source in the US. The Euro union reports that 25% of electricity is coming from solar in the summer months. Utah has ‘renewable communities’ with new program this winter in 16 local governments with a goal of a net goal of 100% clean, 100% electric grid with 0 emissions. You’ll get more info in the mail from Rocky Mt. Power in the mail to sign up as an individual household.

For more info: Slc.gov/sustainability/climate-forward

PARK IT!

August 3, 2026/in Living Here: Urban Utah Blog /by Babs De Lay

I remember back when I served (8 years!) as a volunteer Planning and Zoning Commissioner for Salt Lake City. It was one of the most interesting and educational experiences I’ve ever had. Besides learning about past, present and future planning laws and trends I learned a great deal about my city. At one meeting an out-of-state consultant had been brought in as an expert in ‘green spaces’ in cities. He had not ever traveled here, but when asked in our public hearing about adding more green spaces to our city and county he laughed and said, “Why do you need more when it’s a 15-minute drive or 30-minute bike ride to the hills and mountains around here?!”

Ali Vallarta, host of City Cast Salt Lake podcast spent two years documenting every single public park in Salt Lake County and found there were a total of 511 of them. She found in her study that 69% of the parks didn’t have year-round public bathroom access, that only 15 of the parks have full family amenities and that a quarter of county households are not within walking distance to a park. Walking or biking to a park was a major amenity planned for all of Daybreak and that may be one of the reasons the massive development under the eye of the copper mine is so popular as a place to live. There is a park, path, and playground area within 5 minutes of any home out there and there are plans for much more in their future development plans.

The downtown Farmers Market at our historic Pioneer Park started this past weekend and folks were surprised to see the north end of the park closed and all the streets around it (except 300 West) were closed to cars and only good for pedestrians during the market hours. Pioneer Park is seeing massive improvements to the tune of almost $20 million paid for by Salt Lake City. There will eventually be a fountain and main pavilion, pickleball and basketball courts, a better dog park and playground.

Liberty Park, our second largest public green space, is also undergoing significant improvements in the next 20 years. There are massive plans to preserve and repair some of the historic buildings, take out dying trees and planting better ones for our climate, adding and expanding indoor and outdoor gardens, putting in a new greenhouse, expansion of “Liberty Lake” with a boardwalk and trail. Currently the Rotary Play Park, an all-age, all-abilities playground, is being rebuilt with new swings, climbing towers, shaded seating and picnic areas. They are also working on the Seven Canyons water feature that may become a dry art installation that will use light, sound and sculpture to engage visitors…but no water will run through it.

Summer is here and for a list of the parks to discover and enjoy that Vallarta found, go to:

saltlake.citycast.fm/parks/visiting-every-park-in-salt-lake-county