Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Post House
Posted By Babs De Lay on July 15, 2020, 4:00 AM
The mother of all downtown residential projects has just broken ground in Salt Lake City. MVE+ Architects note that Post House will be a pedestrian-oriented development built on 10 acres—a full city block (the size of Liberty Park)—with five buildings and 580 residential units (461,921 square feet of housing) and 26,833 square feet of retail.
The Post District got its name from an old building that once housed the Newspaper Agency Corp., which was a distribution point for the daily newspapers' delivery trucks. Located along 500 South between 300 West and 400 West, you may have even noticed the area as a backdrop in recent skateboarding and clandestine videos.
To the south is the Granary District and to the north is the Salt Lake Mission and what used to be a fruit and vegetable warehouse. The mission is still there, but the Post District has its own plans to repurpose the warehouse. It suffered some minor earthquake damage just after COVID-19 hit, but work is now full steam ahead to take off the layers of paint to make it a part of the development.
The developers dream of not only creating a variety of housing units—from studio apartments the size of small hotel rooms to 2,000 square feet lofts—but also indoor and outdoor pools, rooftop decks and BBQs, a fitness center and greenspaces surrounding the buildings. Imagine Liberty Park with five medium-size residential buildings surrounded by grass and trees. It will be a nicer area in which to live rather than having five individual housing units spread across downtown, sans green spaces.
As a fan of history, I love that the developers want to utilize many of the old buildings on the sites and work them to complement to the new construction. The project is located within an "opportunity zone," which gives blighted and distressed areas love and attention. Builders and investors receive incentives and tax breaks, just as developers did with the Granary District.
The idea of the developers is to have a mix of rental priced housing, from the fancy penthouses to the starter studios. Drive south on 300 West past 500 South, and you'll see the deep trenches going in now for the foundations. Reports are that this will end up costing almost $150 million to erect but given the area and the desperate need for housing, methinks these will rent out fast.
About The Author
Babs De Lay
A full-time broker/owner of Urban Utah Homes and Estates, Babs De Lay serves on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission. A writer and golfer, you'll find them working as a staff guardian at the Temple at Burning Man each year.
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