Provo River tract sold to private equity fund

Sporting Ranch Capital Management bought the 204-acre property in Summit and Wasatch counties east of Park City in December from Property Reserve Inc., which manages real estate owned by the Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Terms of the deal weren’t announced.

The Dallas-based fund said it will invest $1 million in the land to create "an unrivaled fly-fishing ranch by enriching [its] waterways and improving conservation and management of the pristine property." Salt Lake Tribune

Developers planning 2 million square feet of office space at Geneva site

Developers of the former Geneva Steel site have announced plans to build 2 million square feet of office space as part of its 100-acre mixed-use project.

Construction on the project, approved in January 2011 by the Vineyard Redevelopment Agency, is set to begin this summer.

Plans for the site at 800 North and Geneva Road call for 7,500 residential units and 2 million square feet of office space. The total site covers more than 1,700 acres along a 1.5-mile frontage on the east shore of Utah Lake. Deseret News

Six Provo Office Buildings Sold to East Bay Technology Park

The Salt Lake City office of CBRE announced that Utah developer, Warren "Pat" King, has purchased a six-building office park that was formerly a part of Novell’s corporate campus in Provo.

Financial terms of the sale transaction were not disclosed. The newly named East Bay Technology Park will be leased and managed by CBRE.

"We want to position this park to play a meaningful role in the high quality, high tech economic development of Provo, Utah County, and the state," said King.

The CBRE team of Laurie Adair, Tab Cornelison and Scott Wilmarth will oversee leasing for the new owner. Additionally, CBRE’s Asset Services will oversee property management of the park. CBRE will have both a management and leasing office on site.

Currently, the park is 40 percent leased to several technology tenants and represents a significant opportunity to capitalize on an existing development in a campus setting, company officials said.

 The park sits on 28 acres of land, and each of the six buildings are connected by enclosed corridors and sky bridges. Combined, the buildings offer nearly 500,000 square feet leasable office space. The park is situated near Interstate 15, and has access to the newly opened FrontRunner South commuter rail line via a planned Bus Rapid Transit stop.

The buildings were constructed between 1986 and 1993, and three were renovated in 2009 and 2010.
CBRE Group, headquartered in Los Angeles, is among the world’s largest commercial real estate services firms. The company has approximately 34,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and tenants through more than 300 offices worldwide. Salt Lake Tribune

Henry Walker Homes acquires Saratoga Springs development

Henry Walker Homes and sister company Strategic Capital Group have announced the acquisition of the largest portion of Fox Hollow, a 3,230-unit residential development in Saratoga Springs.

The deal give Henry Walker approximately 300 acres at Fox Hollow, including 250 improved single family lots, 420 unimproved lots and 20 acres zoned for high density multi-family and commercial use.
Salt Lake Tribune

Xactware breaks ground on Lehi building

Called the opening momentum for approximately 2 million square feet of future business park -- the largest in Utah -- Xactware celebrated its ceremonial ground breaking with gusto on Thursday in north Lehi.

"A lot of people don't realize that this 210,000-square-foot project is the catalyst for 2 million square feet from here to the Outlet Mall at Traverse Mountain," said Brandon Fugal, Coldwell Banker executive vice president.

Set on the south face of Traverse Mountain, the site looks out over Utah Valley. Big D Construction is contracted to complete the environmentally certified project by February 2014. The environmentally friendly building will be located two miles from Thanksgiving Point's FrontRunner station and a stone's throw from the Murdock Canal Trail system.

The company will spend $130 million on the new facility and infrastructure, according to The Governor's Office of Economic Development. Over the life of a 20-year tax incentive agreement the company made with the state, the company will create 859 new full-time positions with full benefits, pay more than $756 million in new state wages and pay $129 million in new Utah tax revenue. As the company completes this expansion, over the years, it will qualify for a maximum post-performance tax credit of up to $32,262,990 over the life of the agreement. Daily Herald

Zion’s Bank breaks ground on new office building

Dignitaries turned the ceremonial “shovel of dirt” on Thursday to break ground on Zion’s Bank’s new office building. The new offices will be located on the corner of East Center Street and Main Street in Heber City. The bank will be vacating the old Abram Hatch home, which has been their home since the early 70’s. The Wasatch Wave

Woodbury purchasing property north of University Mall

Even with two anchor stores gone from University Mall, Woodbury Corp. is still purchasing property, including some homes, just north of the mall. University Mall general manager Rob Kallas said the purchase was a way to square off a portion of the parking lot that narrows in that spot. He also said the mall has considered that purchase for a couple of decades. A portion of 1100 South will be closed, and the rest will be made into a turnaround for vehicles. The company is looking for replacements for Nordstrom and Mervyns. Daily Herald

Developer crowns his Main Street portfolio with acquisition of Sky Lodge

A developer who has acquired a patchwork of Main Street properties over the last year has negotiated a deal to crown his portfolio on the street with the Sky Lodge, an exclusive, well-situated property that fell into bankruptcy as the recession wore on.

"The Sky Lodge was the first property that caught my eye when I began looking at potential acquisitions on Main Street," Ken Abdalla said in a prepared statement released by his attorney, Joe Wrona, adding, "The Sky Lodge has a lot of untapped potential, and I am excited to take the Sky Lodge to new heights." Park Record

Mountain Vista industrial park to revitalize Ironton area

Once the home of thriving steel mills built in the 1920s, the 149 acres known as Ironton in the southeast corner of Provo is preparing for a revitalization. The decades-long project has finally jumped through all the economic and environmental hoops to become a developed industrial area know as Mountain Vista Industrial Park.

The city, state and Environmental Protection Agency have been working together since the early 1990s to clean up any contaminated areas, and now they have the nod to develop. Residents driving along State Street on the way to Springville may have noticed trees and brush being cleared, drainage pipes being installed and two roads being laid out. Developers expect this area will be for light industry. Daily Herald

Retail Developments underway

Currently, there are four major retail centers expanding or under development along the Wasatch Front. In fact, the area's top shopping center — Fashion Place mall in Murray — is in the midst of a nearly 100,000-square-foot expansion that will include 17 new stores and restaurants upon completion.

Along with the estimated $1 billion City Creek mixed-use project in downtown Salt Lake City, the Fashion Place expansion is among the largest retail developments in the area. Other major projects include Station Park along I-15 in Farmington and the 220,000-square-foot Scheel's project in Sandy.

Even with all the development under way, recent data compiled by Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate shows mid-year 2011 lease rates for retail space have increased in some segments while area vacancy rates have jumped almost 2 percent over 2010.

While vacancies have risen, the amount landlords are charging for retail space had declined from 2008 to 2010 with rates falling from a five-year high of $16.86 per square foot in ′08 to $14.21 per square foot in ′10. This year, rates have climbed a bit to $14.52 per square foot, bolstered by a sharp rise in the neighborhood retail sector. Deseret News

Park City Main Street makeover, unveiled this week, could be dramatic

Main Street leaders on Monday unveiled blueprints for a dramatic makeover of the popular shopping, dining and entertainment strip, one that would involve ambitious brick-and-mortar projects stretching from the top to the bottom of the street.

The Historic Park City Alliance, a business group representing the Main Street district, made public a series of concepts that are under consideration during an open house held at the Alpine Internet Cafe inside the Kimball Art Center. The ideas, ranging from the construction of an ice-skating rink to making improvements to the sidewalks, would perhaps be the most dramatic change since the development of lower Main Street in the 1990s.

They are:

The Brew Pub parking lot at the top of Main Street. The idea is to build an ice-skating rink at the site. The concept also calls for a giant television screen to be placed at the location.

Miners Plaza, the small piece of land toward the midpoint of Main Street where restrooms, a seating area and the bronze miner statue are situated. The concept outlined on Monday calls for the plaza to be redesigned.

A site just next to the Main Street trolley turnaround at the bottom of Main Street. The concept envisions removing the turnaround in favor of building a park.

Main Street has spent the last ten-plus years trying to fend off increased competition, particularly from developments at or near Kimball Junction like Redstone and Newpark. But there is still concern that the street could lose business to the competitors without improvements like the ones the Historic Park City Alliance has outlined.

Park Record

End of year report: prices down, sales up

Quarterly reports from the Park City Board of Realtors tend to emphasize the positive, and the 2010 End-of-Year Report released last week is no different even though people wishing for a quick market recovery will find it sobering.

That's because, said past-president Mark Seltenrich and new president Patrick Giblin, no matter how bad it is, Park City is faring better than the Utah average, which is faring better than the national average.

The bad news

"The outlook for 2011 is more of the same as what was seen in 2010," Seltenrich wrote in the report summary. "The market will continue to be very price sensitive it will continue to be a buyer's market ."

Median prices for all property types are down three percent from one year ago; mean average sale prices are down over seven percent, the summary said. Median prices for vacant land fell 50 to 60 percent in some areas, and 43 percent overall.

Sales of foreclosures account for more than one-third of all sales.

"Foreclosures will remain a major factor in the Park City market in 2011," the summary said.

In an interview Monday, Seltenrich said the mean average is down so low because high-end homes either aren't selling, or are selling for less.

Good in comparison

According to the summary, total dollar volume in sales surpassed $1 billion because a large number of units sold for reasonable prices. That has only occurred six other times in history and is a 16-percent improvement over last year. Unit sales were up 20 percent over 2009.

Vacant-land sales were up 60 percent. Condo sales were up 22 percent. Single-family home sales were up over 26 percent and comprised 46 percent of all sales and 54 percent of total dollar volume, the summary said.

Property values in many neighborhoods appear to have bottomed out and are improving. Foreclosures and short sales continue to depress values, but the fact that they only comprise one-third of the market means sellers have adjusted to the new reality an important step to clear out inventory and to allow appreciation to begin again.

What happened in the Park City real estate market in 2010 is simplified this way: prices came down and people are buying.

Park Record

Vineyard tries again for incentives to develop Geneva property

The town of Vineyard pressed its case for 35 years of tax breaks from Alpine School District on Tuesday afternoon. The attempt was the second from Vineyard, which is working with a major developer to tackle the former Geneva Steel property. In June, district officials were pressed to give away 40 years of property tax charges as incentive to developers. They hoped the new 35-year deal would garner more support.

For their part, developers and Vineyard officials said their analysis shows that if the district, among other entities, does not approve the tax breaks, the school district will take in $36 million over 35 years. But if approved, that sum will grow to $75 million. In approving the tax breaks, the district actually doubles their money, according to developers.

Some district officials were skeptical. In the past, Superintendent Vern Henshaw has said that if the district approves the tax break, "there would need to be a slight increase in the [property tax] rate."

Vineyard Mayor Randy Farnsworth told district elected officials that the future of his city depends on cooperation. "We can develop Geneva, or we can put a fence around it and leave it," he said. Without tax incentives, the property is "a big albatross. ... Sometimes we wonder if it was worth it, but it is what it is, and we have to make it work." Daily Herald

Massive Vineyard development waiting for approval

The largest single development project in Utah County history is primed to finally get started, if the Alpine School District's concerns are resolved. The final touches could be put on a tax break deal in January that would launch the effort to take the old Geneva Steel property and make it a hub for residential, commercial and transportation use. The town of Vineyard as well as landowner Anderson-Geneva and other stakeholders are close to settling on terms that will give up to $300 million in tax breaks over 40 years to develop the 1,000-plus acres on the shore of Utah Lake. The plan could add as many as 26,000 new residents to the existing 100-plus people who live there now.

But first, the Alpine School District has some concerns to be dealt with. The district is part of the Taxing Entity Committee that has to approve the tax breaks before they can take effect.

If they gain approval, the company expects to start installing infrastructure like main roads and sewer lines within six months. Provo Daily Herald

Air Force development plan raises concerns

An Air Force proposal to build a 1.2 million-square-foot commercial development in Summit County is raising the hackles of Park City-area business people, who fear it will hurt existing businesses and send taxes out of the county.

The proposed retail center is the latest iteration of an ongoing effort to replace the rustic, 44-bed Hill Haus lodge, which was owned by the Air Force and was demolished to expand Earl Holding’s Snowbasin resort in Weber County during the run-up to the 2002 Winter Games. The lodge was a retreat for military personnel.

Provo rezones downtown hoping to direct future development

Provo's Municipal Council changed and expanded downtown business zones Tuesday to create four new zoning districts that will facilitate long-term plans for refurbishing and upgrading the look of the west Center Street area. According to a city staff presentation, the downtown zoning revision has three major purposes: It is an integrated approach to development from the gateway to downtown; it serves as a way to plan for development instead of reacting to it coming; and it augments property potential without hindering current property use. Provo Daily Herald

Utah faring better than other Western states in commercial real estate market

With big names like Adobe, Electronic Arts and Twitter setting up shop along the Wasatch Front, Utah has fared a bit better than many of its western neighbors in finding occupants for its available commercial real estate. And while the area has experienced its share of economic difficulty during the recession, the market could be poised for growth in the near future.

From the archive

Projects in the development pipeline include Falcon Hill — a 550-acre aerospace research park in Clearfield, Station Park — a 62-acre mixed-use development next to Farmington's FrontRunner station and City Creek Center in the downtown Salt Lake City central business district, said Brandon Fugal, executive vice president at Coldwell Banker Commercial.

And more projects are under way in Utah County as well. "The former Geneva (Steel) site is 1,700 acres in the center of a major metroplex area … (with) access to three critical thoroughfares," he said. "It's master-planned to be the transit hub for that entire county." Deseret News