An Update on Development in the Ballpark from Nick Norris, Planning Director

click on the interactive map

Nick Norris is the Planning Director for Salt Lake City. He recently answered a bunch of our most burning questions about the changes coming to the neighborhood and what we as residents can do to keep on top of all the development headed our way and share our concerns and ideas. 

A full range of housing opportunities is important to the vibrancy of any neighborhood, and to supporting the development of and success of local businesses. Our neighborhood has a great deal of income-restricted housing. In fact, we have more than twice the number of buildings supported by Low Income Housing Tax Credits than in all census tracts to the east, west and south combined.  

For our neighborhood to succeed, we will need both affordable and ‘market rate’ housing. This article will give you an idea of how many more units of affordable and ‘market rate’ housing is coming to our neighborhood. 

How many new developments are currently approved or underway in the Ballpark? 

Market Rate:

Market rate, means the housing costs are whatever the market can fill without any financial support that would limit the cost of the unit. There are several projects that are under construction, which you all probably are aware of. This list alone includes more than 1,700 dwellings that have been approved in the last year. This list does not include those projects that are listed in the table of projects that include affordable dwellings. 

• 30 West 900 South: 145 dwellings (57 studios, 78 one bedroom, 10 two bedrooms) plus ground floor retail space.

• Chromeworks (269 West Brooklyn) 234 dwellings (191 studios, 22 one bedroom, 21 two bedrooms). 

• 1050 South Washington: located next door to Chromeworks, this project will have 287 dwellings, with 236 studios, 20 one bedroom, and 31 two-bedroom units. 

• 1518 South 300 West: 432 dwellings in two buildings. Building one will have 10 studios, 229 one bedroom, and 32 two bedroom units. Building two will have 7 studios, 135 one bedroom, and 19 two bedroom units. The development includes ground floor commercial space along 300 West. 

• Pacific Yard (443 West 700 South). This building will include 292 dwellings and ground floor commercial space. 

• Pickle and Hide (739 South 400 West): includes 141 dwelling units and ground floor commercial space.  The applicant indicated that they plan on making 20% of the dwellings available to households that make 80% or less AMI. 

• 1720 and 1734 South West Temple. This was a general plan and zoning map amendment to change the zoning to R-MU-45.  This zone allows buildings up to 45 feet in height. The application did not include development plans.

• 1150 Richards Street. This project includes 117 dwellings.  

• Platform 1500 (1512 South 300 West) This is an affordable housing project that is under construction. It includes 60 dwellings (6 studios, 29 one bedroom, 19 two bedroom, and 6 three-bedroom units).  All the units will have an average AMI of 43% or less. 

• Gabbots Row: 1448 South Main. 40 dwellings. These look like townhomes but are rentals.  Under construction. 

Affordable Housing:

The Ballpark can anticipate at least 271 units of affordable housing in the future. 69 of these units are deeply affordable – meaning individuals and families whose incomes are less than 40% of the average incomes in our area. To give you an idea, for a single adult, 50% of AMI means an income of less than is $35,850 a year.

• Alliance House (1805 S Main St) 16 one bedroom apartments for low wealth people with serious and persistent mental illness. The building will be managed by the nonprofit mental health provider Alliance House. 

• Book Cliffs Lodge (1159 S West Temple St), 55 one bedroom apartments for a variety of income levels, including 6 market rate apartments. The project is managed by the Salt Lake Housing Authority and will include seniors, single adults and small families. 

• Liberty Corner (265 W 1300 S). This is a big project. 200 units are planned, including 104 with three or more bedrooms! 

This chart lays out approved affordable housing and the number of units for each level of income. 

Project Name	Address	Bedrooms	<40% AMI	41-60% AMI	61-80% AMI	Market Rate	Total
Alliance House	1805 S Main St	1 Bedroom	16				16
Book Cliffs Lodge	1159 S West Temple St	1 Bedroom	9	20	20	6	55
Liberty Corner	265 W 1300 S	2 Bedroom	22	34	40		96
Liberty Corner	265 W 1300 S	3 Bedroom	18	32	30		80
Liberty Corner	265 W 1300 S	4+ Bedroom	4	12	8		24
Total			69	98	98	6	271

Are any of these units planned as owner-occupied, or for sale?

Unfortunately, it does not look like there are many for sale housing types being proposed now.  The most likely for sale housing type that is new construction in SLC are townhomes where each unit in the townhome can be on its own lot without the need to go through a condominium process.  However, not every property can accommodate that type of layout. 

Are any of the planned units built for families, i.e. 2+ bedrooms?  

Of the projects listed, there are a total of 172 two-bedroom units. That is about 10% of all the units.  There are only six units with three bedrooms in the projects listed.  Some of the projects don’t have exact unit counts yet, so I would expect the number of 2- and 3-bedroom units to increase.  

The Liberty Corner project has a total of 200 units that are 2 or more bedrooms, including four units with four bedrooms.  Plus, they are all going to be affordable at different levels.  

What is the best way for residents to track progress on these developments?

It is a little tricky to track the progress of developments, but the best way is to note the property address and use the citizen access portal to search for the permits associated with the address.  The citizen access portal can be found here: https://aca-prod.accela.com/SLCREF/Default.aspx  You can search for building permits, planning applications, and other types of activities.  You don’t need to create a username or password and can just use the search function.  

If you lived in the Ballpark what would make you most excited about our future? And something to keep an eye on?

While I don’t live in the Ballpark neighborhood, it is one of my top go to destinations for food.  From the options in Central Ninth to the restaurants on 1700 South, the number of locally owned restaurants with good food is what brings me to the Ballpark neighborhood more than anything.  The beer brewed in the neighborhood is also a draw and growing with the future location of Shades on 300 West.  

As far as the future is concerned, I cannot wait to see what is possible with Smith's Ballpark. I hope it turns into a year-round community space, whether that involves sports, music, parks, library, or whatever else is possible. 

If Ballparkers are interested in housing policy, how do they get involved?

The city’s housing policy is based on the adopted housing plan. State law requires the city to update that plan every five years. The plan creates the direction for housing policy, which often includes changes in zoning and budget allocations to various housing programs. That is a lot of programs to monitor. I think the best way is to subscribe to receive updates from the city council and from the planning division. Most of the policy decisions must go through the planning commission prior to being decided by the city council, so subscribing to email updates is probably the best way to see everything that is going on. The city’s social media accounts also frequently push info about housing policy, so following the official Salt Lake City feeds on your favorite social media platform is a good way.