First-floor residential would only increase that pedestrian-friendly feel city planners are aiming for, he added. An increased core of city-dwellers could also add to the effort to revitalize Main Street and the downtown area — roughly between 200 East and 600 West and 1000 South and North Temple.

"If you've got the 24-hour population, they're going to support the restaurants and the retail and the arts," he said. "They will support all of the functions much more than the workday population that basically vacates downtown at 5 p.m."

Interest from developers about ground-floor apartments has peaked in recent years with permit applications increasing and inquiries about first-floor homes "popping up more frequently," city permit supervisor Larry Butcher said.

Although developers could get a conditional permit to put housing on the first floor, the permit process is often too lengthy and daunting, he added.

"A lot of the developers are finding that trying to do the commercial takes them in a direction they're not comfortable with," he said.

Alan Wood, developer and owner of Wood Property Development, initially wanted to put housing units on the ground floor of a 117-unit condo development at 350 S. 200 East. But getting a permit proved too time-consuming, and he settled for a live-work model with street-level retail.

"It would have been an uphill battle at that time getting the change," Wood said. "I decided I had to stick with retail."

Wood said he's been converted to the live-work model of retail on the first floor, adding that viable ground-floor housing may depend on the specific site.

"In an urban setting, with the need for security and feeling that you're not right on the street, the preference is to be up off the ground level — to be removed from it a little bit," he said. "I think that there may be some hesitancy to have a condominium unit right on the street level."

---

E-mail: estewart@desnews.com