A few weeks ago, I wrote about high rises here and yet another one has been making the news as of late. Developer Harbor Bay Ventures is wanting to plop a 14-story high rise on the corner of 1100 East and 2100 South in Sugar House where the current Wells Fargo sits, smack dab in the middle of what’s become for some a traffic nightmare. On one hand the out of state developer’s reps say that the building would add value to the community, reduce the need for parking stalls and increase mass transit use and relieve traffic. They are cheeky enough to be asking the city for what is known as ‘spot zoning’ to approve their idea, which is basically illegal in my opinion as they are asking for different and extreme zoning compared to the surrounding zones. Such a request tends to only favor the property owner who can convince local authorities that what they want to build will be a great asset, whereas the change in zoning could increase car traffic, and decrease the value of nearby properties.

Don’t’ get me wrong, I’m in favor of more housing options as we’re in a housing crisis city and state-wide however I haven’t heard anything from the developer that the project will be dedicated to affordable housing. One long term Sugar House community council volunteer spoke up against it to say “All the rich people will live here”. The Planning and Zoning Commission voted NOT to approve the new zone with Commission Barry stating that the plan would increase traffic congestion, exceeding utility capacity, and the project has a perceived lack of overall community benefit. They did chime in that the developer should come back with a better plan that they may approve in the future.

Pull back the microscope from Sugar House to the County and we find that the County Council voted last week to consider purchasing a new government center in Midvale. The County complex on 2100 South State is 40 years old and it’s estimated it would take at least $225 million to update and renovate the buildings on that site for future needs. They are hoping to purchase a newer home which was Overstock’s offices in Midvale for @$55 million. That makes sense as it’s a more central location for County residents to use, being near a TRAX station and the I-15 freeway. What would happen to the old County Government Center? That too could become a potential high rise development if the land was sold.

I would love to see the County invest in more senior housing options and the current site could potentially allow for 500+ senior apartments, a need that few are talking about these days. Those on fixed incomes /social security are really having an impossible time finding affordable housing options, and much of the County’s inventory of senior housing is quite old, and the wait for some of their units is quite long.