Provo MSA Development Thread

[Orlando]

Can someone post the latest version of Millrace?

[Atlas]

I don't think there's anything public that is newer than these, although someone on the "New Provo Developments" Facebook group implied that the taller towers have been value-engineered a bit.

[delts145]

Vineyard does final preparations for groundbreaking of new FrontRunner station

By Genelle Pugmire, Daily Herald - https://www.heraldextra.com/news/loc...e66949f46.html

The next step for the future of Vineyard is happening in just two weeks as Utah Transit Authority prepares for the groundbreaking of a new FrontRunner station in the city.

The groundbreaking for the new Vineyard FrontRunner station will be at 2 p.m. on May 13. Representatives from the Utah Department of Transportation, Utah State Legislature and Utah Transit Authority will be among the guests.

"One of the exciting parts of the Vineyard station plans is the double-track that will be laid from the station and north 2 miles".



The site of the new Vineyard Station is just north of the area in the photo and will be a gateway to the new Vineyard area downtown plan. Courtesy Vineyard City

Before then, a few finishing touches in preparation for the festivities are in the works, according to George Angerbauer, public relations specialist with UTA.

“We are thrilled to add this new Vineyard Station and FrontRunner service,” Angerbauer said.

UTA is happy when cities look into the future and plan now for growth and transportation expansion, according to Angerbauer.

When you look that far ahead you create a lot of opportunity, you create a lifestyle. Vineyard has done a great job planning, Angerbauer said.

“With this new station, FrontRunner has even greater capability to connect students, commuters, recreation seekers, remote family members and anyone wishing to travel across the beautiful Wasatch Front,” Angerbauer said...

...“UTA is adding $10 million for the necessary double-track section approximately 2 miles north of the station to improve regional mobility — this is the first section of double track installed since its (FrontRunner’s) opening, and we are working toward additional double track areas to decrease travel time and increase reliability,” Angerbauer said.

Maps of Vineyard as it is built out from the FrontRunner train station across from the Utah Valley University property, to the long esplanade to the beachfront properties at Utah Lake. Courtesy @geneva

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[delts145]

Linden L.D.S. Temple Rendering Released to the Public

A recently released rendering of the Lindon Utah Temple shows the exterior and planned design of the temple that was announced just eight months ago.

The exterior rendering was recently added to Newsroom’s December 2020 announcement of the Lindon temple’s site location and general dimensions.

Detailed design plans for the temple are still being developed, and additional information — including interior renderings — will be made public later.

The site location and general dimensions for the Lindon Utah Temple were released in December 2020. The new exterior rendering shows plans for the three-story temple of approximately 81,000 square feet.

The temple is to be located near 800 East and Center Street in Lindon.

Credit: Intellectual Reserve, Inc.


Courtesy of Brent R. - Aerial view of temple site

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[delts145]

Orem City Council unanimously approves 1600 North zone change

Genelle Pugmire for the Daily Herald - https://www.heraldextra.com/news/loc...2cdacb8b0.html

The development at 1600 North and 400 West, known at The Lofts at 16th. It includes the four townhomes facing 400 West with the one-story retail space facing 1600 North.
The five-story condominiums are closer to State Street. April 26, 2021. Courtesy Knighton Architecture


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[delts145]

New Primary Children's Hospital, Lehi

May 19th

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[Deek1978]

Avelo to start flying in and out of Provo starting in September. Only 1 route to Burbank.

https://www.heraldextra.com/news/loc...10f6324ba.html

[Orlando]

I was in downtown Provo yesterday, and I might so bold to say that Center Street and University Avenue are better than downtown Salt Lake City's Main Street. The place was so lively with all sorts of cool eateries. The facade restoration program made all the old buildings look so great. Their narrower streets with angled parking in the center, and nice street planters, and the beautiful park in front of the Provo City Center temple. I'll post some photos and maybe a video later.

[Boz]

Looking forward to seeing the photos. I don't know much about Provo at all.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by Orlando

I was in downtown Provo yesterday, and I might so bold to say that Center Street and University Avenue are better than downtown Salt Lake City's Main Street. The place was so lively with all sorts of cool eateries. The facade restoration program made all the old buildings look so great. Their narrower streets with angled parking in the center, and nice street planters, and the beautiful park in front of the Provo City Center temple. I'll post some photos and maybe a video later.

Please do Orlando. It has been a long time since we've had anyone actually posting live from Provo. Use to be we had a number of students and locals keeping us up to date but they've all disappeared.

[bob rulz]

Provo Center Street is nice because when you go out of the core 5-block or so area it's a suburban hellscape of parking lots and single-family homes with nothing but chain stores to shop at. All of the interesting places are located in a small area. Center Street looks nice, but it's not a fair comparison to Main Street in Salt Lake at all. Main Street has much taller buildings, more residential density, and TRAX running down the middle (making the park strip and angled parking of Center Street in Provo basically irrelevant in SLC). Not to mention plenty more bars and more nearby cultural institutions.

I don't want to diminish what Provo has done there - it might be as good as it gets for Utah County - but to say it's "better" doesn't track with me at all. More aesthetically pleasing - maybe. But better? I guess for some people, but from an urbanist perspective, not even close.

[delts145]

I think it's possible to complement both Salt Lake City and Provo without making disparaging remarks about either of the city propers. Provo is a big town and is not trying to enter the world as a major U.S. city. Whereas Salt Lake City will I hope someday illicit the respect of a major attractive urban center. Where Salt Lake City's Main Street has been tweaked these past ten years it is more attractive than many U.S. urban centers. I think its pretty obvious that the once broken teeth are quickly being replaced and hopefully an attractive urban connection between Salt Lake's major corridors and South Salt Lake will proceed ASAP.

However, to say that outside of its few downtown blocks Provo is a Hellscape is in my opinion not accurate. We could give the argument some credit regarding Orem, but even Orem is making progress on many fronts. Given their current ambitions I think that cities like Orem, West Valley, and Sandy will have made some excellent progress twenty years from now.

I continue to hope that once quaint and charming towns like Midvale, Murray, American Fork, Lehi and Pleasant Grove will reclaim their Main Streets.

Excluding Salt Lake City proper, which I have also resided in for several years and love dearly Provo is aesthetically much more attractive and livable than many of the cities in Salt Lake Valley. Yes, it has a Ward and June Cleaver families only aspect to it that is not everyone's cup of tea including myself. Once someone reaches their thirties and is still not married it is a hard place to feel like you fit in. That said, I lived there for 10 years in my twenties and have a lot of fond memories of the huge student aspect, the many beautiful and friendly neighborhoods, its unsurpassed gorgeous setting, etc. Since I lived there it has only made a lot of measurable improvements and continues to do so.

The bottom line, both cities are on the right trajectory. My only concern for Downtown Salt Lake is that in its race to achieve major urban status that it doesn't lose it natural charm and intimacy.

[poodledoodledude]

Provo local here. I used to be heavily involved with this page and still check back occasionally. I love Provo. My husband and I are gay and have never had any issues here. People are nice and friendly and accepting of us. We even hold hands in downtown snd no one cares or says a word to us. Provo has come a long way and I personally feel like it gets a bad rap, and that’s unfortunate. IMO, Byu is not Provo. Byu is byu. Many of us have learned to make a distinction between the two entities. Sure there are students here. Of course, but Provo is sooo much more than byu students. Provo is finally growing up, and we love it here.

Provo airport is really growing. When the terminal gets completed, it will be a wonderful asset to Utah. A great alternative to getting around without having to go to SLC all the time. Millrace is being built. New apartments going in around downtown Provo. Don’t forget about the old city center property that’s being developed. The mix is coming to fruition, although many of us locals are disappointed that it didn’t stick with the original development plan. It went from a great mixed use concept to basically 3 story residential— with parking lots mixed throughout. It could’ve been sooooo much more. The mall in east bay is hoping to develop soon into something better. The planning commission is hard to deal with right now and they are stuck in this “Provo is supposed to be a small town” mentality mode and it’s getting notoriously difficult to pass anything that isn’t “single family residential on a 1/4 acre lot.” Even condos, which make sense in an urban core or being set back, rejected, or just plain denied. It’s so incredibly frustrating.

Look, I get it if people don’t like Provo. It will ALWAYS be the “ugly step sister” if Utah cities. I hear it CONSTANTLY from folks living in SLC. Slc will always be the “biggest and best” in Utah. Fine. Great. Whatever. But living in Provo really has been a LOT of fun. People are nice. They’re friendly. We know our neighbors. If they judge us, who cares?! You can find weirdos in ANY city or town no matter where you live. We decided to make the best of it living in Utah Valley and couldn’t be happier.

I created to new Provo developments snd new Orem developments on Facebook and have since left Facebook. So I’m sure you’ll start seeing me post here more often. I know a LOT of info on developments here, and if anything new is coming up that I hear about, I’ll be sure to post it.

[poodledoodledude]

Comparing Provo to SLC really isn’t fair— to either city. I have no idea where this comes from. Is it the byu/U of U thing? Is it two larger urban cores thing?? I don’t get it. It’s like comparing a Jaguar Vanden Plas to a Honda Civic. Different cars, different class. I think we need to compare like cities to like cities. Slc to Denver. Provo to Boulder. each city is different and unique. Look, Provo has some pretty weird quirks. So does SLC. By comparing the two together, you’ve done BOTH a disservice.

Stop it.

(…..and for the record, Provo would be the Jaguar in this case…..LOL)

::poodledoodledude steps off high horse and goes back in the house::

[Atlas]

Yes, the presence of BYU in Provo and its more-concentrated teetotaler/zoobie culture give it a bad reputation in the heathen-run cities like SLC, Ogden, and Park City. That said, I don't really get why its necessary to compare SLC and Provo directly. They're in completely different weight classes. SLC has 10x the history, importance, notoriety, and resulting built environment compared to Provo.

That's not to say Provo is bad or anything. I'm sure there are loads of nice people there. I look forward to seeing Provo's downtown grow into its role as the center of the burgeoning Utah County. I'd much rather see tech companies and businesses move there than to the sprawltopia that is Lehi (bleh!). I'm glad they finally legalized brewing beer a year or two ago. I can't wait to see the Millrace project rise, the airport to open, and the FrontRunner expanded to Payson.

A better comparison would be Provo-Ogden.

[bob rulz]

You're right, calling Provo a hellscape was unnecessary. I apologize for that.

It's very much not my cup of tea, but I'm glad people enjoy living in Provo and that it's on the right trajectory.

I only brought Salt Lake into it because Orlando compared it to Main Street first, and I felt that calling it "better" was an odd statement. Better is in the eye of the beholder after all. I would love to see more Utah County update pictures.

[Utahn]

Allegiant announced flights from Provo to Palm Springs and Houston today. This after Avelo became the airport's second airline after announcing flights to Burbank recently. Flights out of Provo's airport are ramping up, and this before the increase of capacity with the new terminal's completion. Now Allegiant is flying Austin, Denver, Phoenix, St. Petersburg, FL, and Orange County.

It seems the Provo airport is shaping up to be the Wasatch Front's discount airline hub, and it will be interesting to see if others like Breeze, Spirit, Sun Country, or Frontier (a return for Frontier) make the jump as well as the terminal opens. Perhaps United or American will consider flights as well as an alternative to Delta's hub.

Beyond the immediate Provo/Orem market, there are many people willing to fly from Provo if the frequencies increase and the flights are cheaper. I live in the DC area now, and tons of folks make the journey to the Baltimore airport for that same reason.

https://www.heraldextra.com/news/loc...dc133fef4.html

“Be honest. Did you every think you could fly from Provo to Houston?” asked Mayor Michelle Kaufusi. “If you’re like me, you’re still getting used to the fact that flights from Provo are now available to locations beyond here in the West, including one to Florida!”

........According to Airport Manager Steve Gleason, with the new terminal the airport could eventually sustain 22 commercial flights a day.

[delts145]

Agree Utahn. Same here with people traveling down to Long Beach or up to Burbank, and avoiding LAX altogether. I think Provo has a bright future as a backup to SLC International. I think Ogden will follow the same trajectory in the near future. In addition to its economic growth and expanding population, its nearby ski industry is exploding. Ogden could use a more accommodating airport for the major ski town reputation it's developing.

[wrendog]

You left out Tucson and LAX (as well as PHX in addition to the Mesa flight) on list of flights from PVU on allegiant.

It think it will make 10 destinations from PVU

[delts145]

Tyson Foods New $300 Million Dollar Facility - Cedar Valley

Tyson Foods is expanding its case ready production facilities to the western U.S. to better meet consumer demand. Our newest plant is being built in Eagle Mountain, Utah, and is expected to open as soon as August 2021.
As we get closer to our opening date we will continue to provide information on employment availability so make sure to follow us! The $300 million plant will initially provide 800 jobs, expanding to 1,200 positions and an annual
payroll of $44 million within three years of opening.

https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net...c6&oe=6139727C

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