Provo MSA Development Thread

[Highrise_Mike]

Here are a few quick cell phone shots from Lehi today.

These pics are of the 7-story Traverse Ridge Center up near SR-92. I like this building because it has a direct trail connection to the Rail Trail and the Murdock Canal Trail plus there are indoor bike lockers and showers for the employees. This building is also right night to the future Trax line that will someday extend down from Draper. I have heard rumors that the Trax line may come sooner than later as well... I would love to see that






Here are a couple of the Ancestry.com building.

[Dan1977]

Highrise Mike,

Thanks for posting the photos. I am curious about the rumor,

"I have heard rumors that the Trax line may come sooner than later as well... I would love to see that"

I live in Traverse Mountain so I would be excited to see the Trax line make its way into Lehi. Is there any timeline that you have heard about an extension to Lehi? I have seen the light rail into Utah County listed as a 2031-2040 phase.

I was hoping that the Lehi and all the big businesses going in near the point of the mountain could put pressure on UTA to implement that sooner.

Do you think it is still something that is at least 10 years away from happening?

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by Dan1977

I was hoping that the Lehi and all the big businesses going in near the point of the mountain could put pressure on UTA to implement that sooner.

Do you think it is still something that is at least 10 years away from happening?

It will happen as fast as Lehi or northern Utah County are willing to procure tax money to make it happen. Unless something radical changes at a federal level and a bunch of pork money or a massive federal grant lands in their lap (which is unlikely), it won't happen until the political will of the people makes it happen.

Salt Lake City has lobbied for regional transit for around two decades. Now that they have a solid regional system piped into Salt Lake City, the interest is in turning inwards to improving city transit. The candidate giving Becker run for his political life is basically representing a major faction in the city that actually wants to make sure no extra money than what is necessary flows into UTA for things that don't directly improve connectivity in the city (this is causing Becker to change his policy in order to survive). Therefore you won't be able to count of the lobbying power of Salt Lake City to help procure money to expand TRAX in Lehi.

That all being said, if Lehi had even an ounce of vision, they could probably tack on a little impact fee / increase property tax (one small enough not to hurt their development momentum) and basically use that to take out a bond to build their light rail extension. If Lehi and Draper could come together on something like this it seems like they could extend the TRAX very easily.

[Future Mayor]

Yes but Lehi tacking on a small transit impact fee would be foresight, and as we can tell by the road system at the Thanksgiving Point sprawltopia, Lehi doesn't have anything related to foresight and vision. Reactive vs proactive.

Yes there is a lot of office space in Lehi, but honestly, unless Lehi or the businesses themselves provide a shuttle, how many of those office buildings are within the ideal 1/4 mile and still doable but less ideal 1/2 mile walking distance from the eventual Trax station location? Maybe Adobe. Will that really provide all that much transit usage, if one or two buildings are within that distance? Is there a pedestrian plan being put in place to provide that 1/4 - 1/2 mile access to more buildings?

There is a huge daytime population at Thankgiving Point/Lehi, but it's not a transit friendly destination. I just don't see the ridership numbers materializing. My comments are simply based on observations and maybe I am way off or just simply have a huge hate for that type of development and sprawl.

[Hatman]

Thanksgiving point may not be ideal for transit, but something must be done, and if TRAX is going to go through the area anyway, it might as well go in sooner rather than later and nudge development in the right direction. I'm generally not a fan of forcing transit into an area where it isn't ideal, because I think it takes a lot more than a single investment in transit infrastructure to make a sprawly area better. But since UTA already owns the ROW and has plans for the extension, this could be an exception. A shuttle between the TRAX and FrontRunner stops could also circulate between the various offices. Bike infrastructure could help office workers use their bikes to get to the Trax stop. Extending TRAX straight on through the point and on to Lehi and American Fork will make it twice as useful as if it just connected to Draper (more than twice actually, but who's counting?).
Transit in this area faces an uphill battle, which is why the leaders seem content to delay this extension (the design work is has already been done all the way from the current End Of Line in Draper to the county line, it just needs to be funded and built). But it's a battle that should be fought, because in this location, transit stands a decent chance of making a significant difference if it uses every trick it has.

[Highrise_Mike]

I first must say that my information on the rumor may not be completely accurate but what I have heard is to bump up the timeline to extend the line to the Meadows area on the border of Lehi and American Fork to 2020-2025 instead of 2030-2040. This could change depending on funding, etc. but there is obviously pressure from the companies located at the point to extend Trax. Extending the line beyond American Fork would be something much more down the line as far as timing goes.

As far as the large roads in the area go, that ship sailed when the Thanksgiving Point area plan was approved 15 years ago and bonded for and built the existing roads. Really I-15, the Front Runner line, the Trax ROW, and SR-92 really disect the area which has implications that make it more difficult to improve the overall connectivity of the area. There is an overpass planned over I-15 to add a connection over I-15 about where the new hospital is located which may be built with the upcoming I-15 reconstruction project. Also an interchange location has been identified and may be included in the upcoming project north of Adobe near the property where the Frank Ghery project was proposed.

As far as land use goes, our General Plan identifies several TOD locations that allow for higher densities and mixed use development and a TOD zone is already codified in the Development Code which shows the City is ready for that type of development when the Trax line comes and the market allows for it. The site where the whole Frank Ghery project was proposed still has 2500 residential units and mixed use zoning. This property is located right along the future Trax corridor and is well within 1/4 mile walkability radius. Other areas throughout Lehi allow for higher density along the corridor and the City is open to project proposals that may require changing the zoning code. Essentially the current zoning allows for land uses that can allow more intense uses along the corridor.

Some things that the City is doing that can extend the ridership capture of the future Trax stations and the Frontrunner station would be the requirements for bikes. Instead of a 1/4-1/2 mile radius for walking, bikes can have a radius of a mile or two which would really include a majority of the existing office buildings in the area. Any commercial development in Lehi requires bike parking and mid size and larger office buildings are required to provide indoor/secure bike parking. There are many existing trails and more planned trails in the area that connect with regional trails as well as a good network of bike lanes in the adopted bike/ped.

I don't agree that there is zero foresight in Lehi but I would say the City is in a highly reactive state at this point.

[Highrise_Mike]

There is some glass going up on the UCCU Building. This building is moving along slowly compared to the others in the area but this is probably my favorite building in Lehi at this point.

[Tymtw12]

Originally Posted by I-15

Here's an Fox13 article and video that shows some of the renderings of the 160 ft building in Orem. Would be located on 1200 N and 1200 W.

http://fox13now.com/2015/10/05/orem-...with-petition/

I heard this petition failed and they will break ground for the 9-story office building in January with construction estimated to finish in late 2016.

Here is a single rendering of the building that I was able to find from a KSL story last month.

[SLC Projects]

Nice looking building. Shame it didn't go either downtown Provo or Lehi.

[delts145]

Agree Projects, that is a very handsome building. Will be pretty impressive from it's perch next to I-15, but yeah, would have been nice in Downtown Provo. I do understand though, that location is quite convenient for many of their employees.

[delts145]

Public invited to comment on AF's Main Street

Barbara Christiansen DAILY HERALD - http://www.heraldextra.com/news/loca...c4845e0b4.html



.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by delts145

Public invited to comment on AF's Main Street

Barbara Christiansen DAILY HERALD - http://www.heraldextra.com/news/loca...c4845e0b4.html



.

I like the pendant style and I'm glad that they are proposing some traffic calming on their Main St.

[StevenF]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

I like the pendant style and I'm glad that they are proposing some traffic calming on their Main St.

I also prefer that light. I mainly like it because it is different than all the other cities in Utah, as it seems that most go for the Acorn style.

[HellToSell]

^^^ FINALLY! AF Mainstreet has been in serious need of an upgrade!

I'd love to see new business come to main street. I'd like to see new buildings with a classic/historic feel and get rid of some of the horrendus 1950's era buildings.

[delts145]

You and me both HellToSell. This is long overdue. Hopefully they will bring back in an authentic way some of the unique architecture lost to the wrecking ball. The original Chipman Sq. amongst others. Also, that whole Albertsons block needs to be re thought, and would like to see new development that includes residential. I think many would be prime to live on a charming walkable Main St. with convenient services at street level.

The Main Streets of Pleasant Grove, American Fork and Lehi have so much potential. Alpine is also another town that's long overdue for an authentic village development on it's Main thoroughfare. It has a few businesses here and there, but nothing covering enough contiguous street presence to give the feeling of a town center.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by delts145

...Alpine is also another town that's long overdue for an authentic village development on it's Main thoroughfare. It has a few businesses here and there, but nothing covering enough contiguous street presence to give the feeling of a town center.

Alpine doesn't want any businesses in the city proper. They're quite quirky that way.

[Wasatch_One]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Alpine doesn't want any businesses in the city proper. They're quite quirky that way.

This is where I live and I get so frustrated every time I roll into the round-a-bout with the Noah's Ark building greeting all visitors (and residents).

I would love for someone with vision to join the planning commission. Personally, I would love for them to expand Legacy Park (south of the City Hall) by buying up property to the east and putting a road through on 100 E between center st and 100 S. It would be cool to see some nice, higher-end apartments, condos, lofts or town homes (or a combination) on the streets surrounding this park. They need to take advantage of the grid in the city and stop building out stupid faux looking office bldgs on top of a big parking lot by the round-a-bout.

Residents in Alpine are an interesting bunch because they don't want apartments in their town creating higher density, yet they throw in a basement apartment in 80% of the homes, rent it out and clutter all of the neighborhoods with 3x the cars parked on the streets and deem that fine, since they're benefiting financially from it. If you're going to allow and even encourage apartments as part of primary dwellings, how about you actually use better planning and zone for nice developments in areas that can handle higher density in and around Main St. and grow some vibrancy in the "downtown" area as well.

I would love to see some mountain contemporary architecture go up with glass, metal and wood start popping up instead of these cheezy, kitschy "historic looking" pieces of garbage go up. Ezra Lee attempted with the new Pine Valley Real Estate office, but it just doesn't look like something timeless to me (maybe I'm alone on this one??)

Anyway, rant over.

[Future Mayor]

Sounds like you should pursue a Planning Commission seat.

I understand your frustration as I was offered the planning job there about 3 years ago, but I was told that the majority of the work would actually be more along the lines of Code Enforcement, rather than planning, because the residents don't really want anything to change from the way it is. I turned it down because of the lack of wanting anything besides the type of homes that are currently being built, geared toward a specific homogeneous demographic, and wanting zero no retail/commercial.

Get on the PC and make some waves.

[delts145]

I wish you would seek a seat dealing with Alpine Wasatch One. I grew up there, and I understand the mentality pretty well. The right project, with true authentic flavor would pass. It just needs someone with the right vision and tenacity. Unfortunately, too many of those projects fall short of desirable, and there are a few. For example, at the south entrance into town, that faux school house on the east side of the street, and the business park on the west side, like you mentioned. I don't know whether it's just unsophisticated taste or greedy development practices. I hate the finish look on that faux school.

In a Metro where gorgeous urban views are a dime a dozen Alpine stands out as one of the most beautiful. Even the LDS churches are way too cookie cutter and should have been given a particular flavor. Alpine needs a good dose of Midway and or Park City development appeal that is specific to it's historic identity. I remember a few years back when someone on the Highland Town Council complained pretty loudly about the non descript churches going up everywhere in Highland. It wasn't that this person was agnostic, not by a mile. She just wanted people and the LDS Church to give a little more thought to the historic and visual heritage of the community.

At this point Highland's Kountry Korner, Cedar Hills Center, and Lehi's northeast entrance has probably grabbed the majority of convenient services that Alpiners need, but there must be some kind of shops and offices that would serve Alpine better than what they have now. I mean, don't even get me talking about that business park over on the southeast entrance of town.

Ah, what the heck! Focus on downtown Lehi, Pleasant Grove and American Fork. Those places are at a point in maturity that they are anxiously looking to reestablish their Main Streets, and do it in an authentic way. The more historically charming the development the more they'll love it. We need some successful examples in Northern Utah County to point to, then you'll get enough people in Alpine wanting their own piece of the visually attractive and charming pie.

[Liberty Wellsian]

Originally Posted by HellToSell

^^^ FINALLY! AF Mainstreet has been in serious need of an upgrade!

I'd love to see new business come to main street. I'd like to see new buildings with a classic/historic feel and get rid of some of the horrendus 1950's era buildings.

They need to rehab the old high school on church street.(They needed to 20 years ago)