Those positive relationships can help inmates change and are one of the key factors in deciding if an inmate gets parole, said Board of Pardons and Parole member Don Blanchard.

"It makes the person despondent or less interested in getting out," Blanchard said.

Prime property

Much of the decision to move the prison will hinge on whether the value of the 750-acre prison site could offset the impact that moving prison the facility would have on state coffers and inmates themselves.

The state-owned acreage has tied up prime real estate for years, Keck said.

"The stigma of the prison has kept land around it from developing," Keck said. "There's a lot of people just lying out there wanting to make a deal on some of that land."

Easy freeway access from a site equidistant to both Provo and Salt Lake has had city planners scheming for at least five years, when rumors of a prison move first hit the city.

And the price for the desirable real estate keeps rising, Keck added. Based on recent commercial sales nearby, city estimates peg the land at about $8-$10 a square foot Although Keck said that figure could fluctuate between highway-front property and land farther west, a sale at $10 a square foot could bring in nearly $325 million for the state.

But commercial land surrounding the prison now on the market through Coldwell Banker and Commerce CRG is listed at closer to $3.50 a square foot. Keck, however, is still optimistic that land prices will more than double once the prison land is freed up — along with development opportunities.

"There's not much real estate and prime frontage along the freeway," Keck said. "It's going to be very attractive to a developer. It's very visible; it's very valuable."

Though Keck has not received any formal applications for the prison land, he said interest has increased in the past six months with at least four companies looking to develop land directly north of the prison.

Employment hub

But land value alone may not be enough of an incentive to sell and move an entire prison, Keck added, because the cost to construct a new prison may come close to the total land value.

The real economic benefit will come from what kind of development takes place on the prison lot, Keck said.

"Our goal is to see that property is master-planned and maximized for its highest and best use," he said. "There's going to be a lot of growth in this valley, and there are not enough jobs as it is."

Through conversations with the governor's office, Keck and city planners have started to envision a new master plan for the area that will transform the Point of the Mountain land into a regional employment center.