UTA to become development partner

SALT LAKE CITY — In coming weeks, deals could be inked and shovels could be digging into the ground, beginning the first two transit-oriented developments (TODs) owned in part by the Utah Transit Authority.

Plenty of developers over the years have built mixed-use centers of housing, office space and retail near UTA railroad tracks, but on Friday, UTA's Board of Trustees gave staff the go-ahead to negotiate contracts using UTA-owned land.

One TOD will be in along the Mid-Jordan TRAX line. It is slated to open next year at roughly 8600 South and 3200-3500 West.

The other is at the Meadowbrook Park-and-Ride lot at 3900 South along an existing TRAX line that connects downtown and Sandy.

The Jordan development is the first that could see shovels as soon as this fall, said Kathy Olson, who works in TOD for UTA.

The first structure to be built is a three-to-five-story parking garage, which will serve shoppers, residents and others who want to "park and ride." In the spring, the developer is expected to start building residential units.

The developer that UTA is talking to is Boulder Ventures LLC — owned by Jeff Vitek of San Diego, who also president of Foursquare Development Inc. — owner of Jordan Landing and the company interested in building a controversial TOD with UTA along a future FrontRunner South line in Draper.

The proposed plans for the 36-acre Jordan Valley development show 1,400 to 1,600 residential units, a combination of market-rate and low-income apartments. Eventually, when real estate turns around, condos will be offered for sale, Olson said. There is also office space.

"It could be eight or nine phases," said Bruce Jones, UTA general counsel and president of government resources.

The proposed Meadowbrook development, on the other hand, is smaller at 7.6 acres.

UTA is negotiating with Centerville-based Ascent Construction Inc., owned by Brad Knowlton. If negotiations are successful, construction could start in the spring, reconfiguring parking and a bus loop. Then, work would start on a 60,000-square-foot Salt Lake Community College classroom/office building slated to open for classes in fall 2011.

SLCC would lease the building. The college currently has a building on the opposite side of the tracks. It is unclear whether that building would stay open.