UTA proposes high-density development in Sandy

SANDY — The Utah Transit Authority is promoting a mixed-use housing development near 10000 South that could double or even triple the current allowed density.

And with the development, UTA is expanding its role from bus- and train-service provider to developer.

The 35 acres at what is now the south end of the TRAX line is owned by UTA, and potential plans include two hotels and two restaurants, in addition to multi-family housing, according to a Tuesday presentation to the City Council.

Once the project was built, UTA would continue in a profit-sharing and leasing arrangement that would supplement the transit authority's operating budget, said UTA development coordinator Kathy Olson. It's unknown how much money UTA, a quasi-private-public agency, would make each year off the deal of leasing its land to the developer.

"I don't have a figure on that currently," said UTA spokesman Brandon Bott on Friday. "In general, we are very supportive of transit-oriented development."

The Deseret News is seeking paperwork related to the development through a government-records request.

Last year, UTA announced a "request for qualifications," a kind of announcement to local developers that it is seeking proposals on how to develop the land. In May 2008, Dell Loy Hansen's Wasatch Property Management won a bid for development of the civic center TRAX station project.

The company has built several multi-family projects throughout the United States and is in the middle of transit-oriented developments in Midvale and South Jordan.

Tuesday, UTA and Wasatch Property executives showed the Sandy City Council on a tour of those projects in an attempt to convince them that high density doesn't have to equal poor quality.

"Just because you don't have money doesn't mean you don't have taste," Hansen told the city council, pointing to an open design and granite countertops in a two-bedroom apartment.

Hansen also told the council that the higher a project's density, the more expensive it is to build. The break-even point between density and cost is about 23 units per acre, he said. But higher density is feasible with government subsidies.

UTA is recommending at least 30 housing units per acre for the site. No plans have been aired officially, and the project isn't likely to move forward until the TRAX line is extended, but that figure could rise to 60 units per acre with subsidies from both Sandy and UTA. The extension is due for completion in 2015, possibly earlier.