Grantsville housing boom implodes

GRANTSVILLE, Tooele County — When the housing boom eventually spilled westward beyond the Oquirrh Mountains, homebuilders were quick to capitalize on the cheap open land and plentiful water awaiting them on the edge of the desolate Great Salt Lake Desert.

With its umbilical-like connection via I-80 to the Salt Lake Valley, Grantsville scratched Utahns' itch for large lots and larger homes at significant discounts compared to the big city. New subdivisions began appearing to the south and west of the town's traditional footprint triggering, for a time, comparisons to Eagle Mountain and other high-flying enclaves in the outer reaches of surburbia.

Develop. Sell. Repeat. It was as if sleepy Grantsville had started tweaking meth and everyone — from the developers, to the city fathers, to the real estate agents, to the eager homebuyers, to the guys laying sod and sprinkler pipe — wanted to share in the high.

"It was a frenzy. I don't know how else to describe it," explains one area contractor who's a lifelong Grantsville resident.

"There may have been a few too many developments on the books," admits city planning commission member Angela Grant recalling Grantsville's go-go years of 2006 and 2007.

But by 2008, go-go had gone bye-bye and the aftermath remains evident today. Off Durfee Street, in the gated Dolorosa Estancia subdivision, siren calls from enchanting and exotic street names like Montego Court, Xiomara Avenue and Belicia Lane have been drowned out by sounds of the deflating housing bubble.

Although a large sign posted at the entrance to this upscale equestrian subdivision indicates 11 luxury lots have been sold and four more have been reserved, only five of the development's 70 lots, originally advertised for sale between $90,000 and $155,900, appear to built on. One is only partially finished with a "For Sale by Owner" sign in the front. A neighbor volunteers that there hasn't been any work done on the house for months.

Lawsuits and rumors of lawsuits swirl around the project like a West Desert duster. Grantsville recently sued Dolorosa Development in 3rd District Court, seeking payment for two years of unpaid irrigation water assessments totaling more than $25,000.

Nowhere are there indications of the planned 4.5-acre private park and riding trails once promised by local developer Josh Henwood, who declined an interview opportunity. But in comments to the Tooele Transcript Bulletin in late April, Henwood blamed the project's stagnation on the economy, telling the paper, "Nothing is selling right now."