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DAVID RANDALL - Daily Herald

After 17 years of waiting and planning, developer David Gardner has started work on a $16 million condominium development at the north end of Freedom Boulevard.

The upscale Trellis on the Green, intended for empty-nesters, will soon be overlooking the third and fourth holes of the Riverside Country Club.

Gardner has been hoping to develop the property, occupied by two homes, since the late 1980s, but until recently he wasn't able to get the separate owners to sell at the same time.

Gardner decided to buy the land once both plots became available, even though he hadn't yet run his plan for the land past the Provo City Council. The council approved the building earlier this month.

"I think the council felt it was a quality product," he said, though he admitted he was nervous about the presentation.

City Councilman Dave Knecht said he couldn't find anything wrong with the development and liked the proximity to area businesses and entertainment.

"I liked the idea -- that it's walkable," he said.

The four-story building will include 43 units in one large building with an atrium, swimming pool, exercise room and views of Mount Timpanogos, Squaw Peak and the golf course.

"It's going to be a very beautiful high-end type condominium," said Carl Bacon, one of the developers working on marketing for the project.

Prices for the condos will range from around $300,000 to $500,000, and owners will be required to sign restrictive covenants saying they won't rent out the units, Gardner said.

Construction on the project could begin as soon as October, though Gardner admitted that's a little optimistic. He expects once construction begins the building will be done in about a year.

Bacon said he has already talked to some people who have expressed interest in the complex, and now with the approval from the council he is ready to start reserving spaces.

Concerns have been raised about how the building would affect parking, traffic and the Provo skyline, but Gardner said the effects would be minimal.

"From an economic standpoint it will actually be a benefit," he said. "I think it will appeal to people who might otherwise move out of the area to find this kind of product ... people that have some disposable income."

Knecht said he didn't consider concerns about the size of the building a major issue.

"If we were worried about blocking views we wouldn't have any two story houses in town," he said.

The building will sit back away from major roads, and developers plan to keep the area's tall trees.

"It will continue to be a secluded, tree-lined area," Bacon said.