Buyers lining up for Salt Lake condos

"Can you imagine condos overlooking Temple Square?" Wood said. "You get some rich Californians who've got money to burn, and they will really stimulate the market again. I'm sure a sizable amount of those will be owner-occupied. I think they are going to do very well on those."

Bob Springmeyer, who lives in a single-family home in the Avenues, also is on the Metro waiting list.

"We're looking to downsize," Springmeyer said. "We like the location. We like convenience, access to TRAX, access to the library. My wife works in the mayor's office in Salt Lake, so she is obviously attracted to the convenience to the (Salt Lake) City-County Building."

In addition to those benefits, Springmeyer hopes to purchase one of the Metro's handful of live-work units, a two-story structure that houses retail and office space at street level with an interior stairway connecting to a residence above.

Springmeyer said if he is offered the right space, he will move his economic consulting office, Bonneville Research, from 200 S. 200 West and work from home.

"The market downtown was up more than 20 percent last year," said Andrew Pratt, director of sales and marketing for the Metro. "And the market is still underserved. You've got the baby boomer population that is finding condominium living very appealing."

Chris Corroon, former director of sales at Parc at The Gateway, said developers have been slow to react to Salt Lake's strong condo demand.

The Parc condos, which started selling in 2002, are now sold out, Corroon said, with some of the high-end units having sold for nearly $500,000.

"We struggled a little bit at first because of the economy, and the condo market downtown really wasn't proven, especially the new condo market," Corroon said. "Now, there is a ton of demand. I think you are going to see more stuff coming on the market in the next couple of years."

---

E-mail: danderton@desnews.com