Residential
Commercial
Venture
Mission
Careers
Investors
Annual Meeting
In the News
Contact
 |
 |
 |
|
Wasatch Project: Providence Place Apartments 2006-10-23 
An abandoned community center in downtown Salt Lake is being transformed
into a vibrant new housing project, built specifically for the workers
whose labors will build and sustain Downtown Rising for decades to come.
Although the upscale amenities and location in Salt Lake City’s Central
Business District will appeal to the wealthy, 125-Providence Place
apartments will house working individuals who earn 60-percent or less of
the Area Median Income. For one resident, the maximum allowable income
is $25,740 annually and a family of five can earn no more than $39,780
under the workforce affordable housing guidelines.
Wasatch Advantage Group, LLC., is developing the unique community at 309 E. 100 South. “It’s a brand new product and it brings working people into the neighborhood to live. We are creating affordable, high quality, close-to-work housing,” said Kipling S. Sheppard, President of WAG. “This is workforce housing developed to serve the needs of working, service-oriented people.” With the pending demolition and reconstruction of several blocks in downtown Salt Lake City by the LDS Church, Sheppard said many more developments like Providence Place are needed to accommodate laborers. “When you have that much construction going on, you will have a flood of workers and a huge demand for housing,” Sheppard said. The long-term needs for the Providence Place housing project are equally dire, Sheppard said. When a new restaurant opens up downtown, approximately 150 new jobs are created. Workforce housing will serve these employees who earn up to approximately $14 per hour, Sheppard explained. “The people that work here can live here,” he said. “Salt Lake needs ten more of this type of community to meet the demands of hotels, restaurants, theaters and stores.” Jeffrey Nielson, Chief Financial Officer for WAG, added his praise to Sheppard’s for the Salt Lake City Council’s support of Providence Place. The City Council approved a 30-year, $850,000 loan from the Salt Lake City Housing Trust Fund. “This financial support is absolutely necessary to make affordable housing for the workforce a reality in the downtown area.” Nielson said. “We can’t build these things and offer them at below market rates. Nobody can,” added Sheppard. “Since it doesn’t make sense to offer those low rents, you do need city and federal support.” Nielson said Providence Place will have two elevators, two levels of underground parking and five stories of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Other amenities at this gated community will include a fitness center, terrace roof garden, dog park, full business center and library, storage rooms, TV room and lounge. Apartments will be equipped with washer/dryer hook-ups, walk-in closets, garbage disposals, dishwashers and electrical appliances. The building will be designed to fit in with and complement the neighboring buildings and surrounding neighborhood. Construction begins Jan. 2007 and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2008. For more information, contact Kip Sheppard at (949) 367-1393 or Jeff Nielson at (435) 755-2074. |