Provo MSA Development Thread

[Highrise_Mike]

At least for this being a freeway project, they have included some decent bike/pedestrian amenities. There will now be grade separated crossings to cross the on/off ramps and I-15 at SR-92. Trails are going to be built along both one-way frontage roads and Lehi's first bicycle roundabouts are supposed to be included as well. I am personally doing everything in my power to get better transit to the area, but at least the bike/pedestrian facilities are being improved with the freeway. Unfortunately in Utah (and in the US for that matter) it is always easier to get highway widening funded than a new transit line, even when going after federal dollars. I don't think our current president is helping the transit funding situation in any way either 😔

[tchild2]

Originally Posted by jedikermit

Does anyone else hate the name "Silicon Slopes" as much as I do?

No? Just me?

Okay.

I hate it as much as you do. My offices are in Thanksgiving Point. I am right in the heart of the "Silicon Slopes" and I just wish I could move. There is no need for a name. I seriously doubt another human being outside of Utah references Utah's tech corridor as the "Silicon Slopes". If they did, whoever they were talking to would probably just punch them in the face.

[bob rulz]

Silicon Slopes is definitely used outside of Utah. Just one example:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkon.../#4c31b6bc3310

[delts145]

Great article Bob, really enjoyed the read. Thanks for posting. As pointed out in the article, will be interesting to see the upcoming effect of the enormous tech/cloud growth spilling over onto downtown Salt Lake City. I think the many executives and talented newbies who are now being imported into Utah will fuel a real renaissance of cosmopolitan growth in Salt Lake City's downtown and city proper. Also Park City and Summit Co. in general.

Infact, I think there are many positive trends in store for the Wasatch Front in general, if you read between the lines of this and related articles. For one, these CEO/CFO's are on the fast track to personally becoming home grown multi-billionaires, not to mention the dollar value growth of their companies, and the influence it has on state and federal government decision makers. Many have already amassed personal fortunes in the hundreds of millions. The good news connection to this is that these same executives are very pro mass transit connectivity for the Wasatch Front. As would be expected, the tech leaders share many of the same mindsets as those on this forum, both as personal preferences and because it benefits their bottom lines. Just as one little example, it is very important to the CEO of a Provo, Pleasant Grove or Lehi tech giant to be able to recruit top talent from around the world these days. This is accompanied by the need to provide that talent with the opportunity to live in a more diverse urban environment such as Salt Lake City. IE, we'll be seeing a lot of pressure from the moneyed elite to fast track improvements to light and heavy rail between Salt Lake City and Provo.

We use to look at double tracking for FrontRunner and initiating Light-Rail in Utah County as somewhere farther off in the future. However, I think those far off dreams seem to keep getting closer and closer as the business climate along the Wasatch continues to accelerate.

On another note, I can only just begin to comprehend the impact that the inland port is going to have on the Wasatch Front.

[delts145]

Next phase of Utah's Point of the Mountain development — how to pay for it all

Art Raymond, Deseret News - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...or-it-all.html

If done right, 150K new high-end innovation jobs could be added, Envision Utah pres. says

SALT LAKE CITY — Envision Utah President/CEO Robert Grow didn't mince his comments to state legislators at an interim committee meeting Wednesday about what's at stake, economically speaking, in the quest to plan for ongoing explosive growth in and around the Wasatch Front's Point of the Mountain area.

Tens of thousands of new, high-paying jobs and billions in state revenues.

"The national consulting team we worked with made these projections that, if we do things right, we would end up with, by 2050, 150,000 additional high-end, innovation jobs in the state that would otherwise not come," Grow said.

"And those jobs would pay on average about $40,000 (a year) more than the average incomes of the state."

The same consultants projected the state would harvest about $8 billion in additional revenues from those new jobs, and that's just looking at personal income tax generated by those workers over the next 33 years, Grow also noted to members of the Economic Development and Workforce Services Interim Committee...

The Adobe headquarters, in back left, and other commercial developments that make up the "Silicon Slopes" around Point of the Mountain in Lehi are pictured on Wednesday, May 16, 2018.

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[i-215]

We gotta stop screwing around with housing. It's wonderful to add 150,000 new jobs. Are we going to seriously build 75,000-100,000 new residential units to accommodate this?

I really don't care how we do it.

Apartments. Condos. Cheap suburban sprawl.

But right now residential construction seems eerily slow compared to what I remember as a kid back in the 1990s. Where are the huge developments? Why is there even still an acre of vacant land left in the city of Lehi? It should have filled up with condos and townhouses years ago!

[DanskeUtahn]

Here are a couple shots of Provo I took from the foothills above Springville

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[JMK]

Black Diamond parent company set to expand in Utah

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...d-in-utah.html

The parent corporation of Utah's Black Diamond Equipment — the outdoor gear specialists that can trace its lineage back to legendary climber/entrepreneur/environmentalist Yvon Chouinard — announced plans to invest $40 million and expand operations in the Beehive State.

The investment by Clarus Corp., the company that bought out Black Diamond in 2010, will bring 147 new, high-paying jobs to Utah and contribute over $8.9 million in new state corporate, payroll and sales taxes.

The move has earned the company a post-performance tax incentive package worth up to $1.8 million from the Governor's Office of Economic Development.

[delts145]

Boomsourcing opens new Lehi headquarters

Karissa Neely, Daily Herald https://www.heraldextra.com/business...5a602f063.html

Boomsourcing recently completed a move into a new Lehi headquarters office space. The building is part of the new office development surrounding Thanksgiving Point in Lehi.

“We’re excited about where we are. We’re right in the heart of the innovative new tech hub of Silicon Slopes,” said Noel Lopez, Boomsourcing director of marketing, in an email.

The new office is in keeping with Boomsourcing’s continued growth, Lopez said. The company has large operations in the Philippines and a growing presence in Mexico.

“The growth of these global locations made it even more important to grow our mountain home,” Lopez said

Boomsourcing has opened its new headquarters near Thanksgiving Point in Lehi.
Courtesy Boomsourcing

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[Liberty Wellsian]

Originally Posted by i-215

We gotta stop screwing around with housing. It's wonderful to add 150,000 new jobs. Are we going to seriously build 75,000-100,000 new residential units to accommodate this?

I really don't care how we do it.

Apartments. Condos. Cheap suburban sprawl.

But right now residential construction seems eerily slow compared to what I remember as a kid back in the 1990s. Where are the huge developments? Why is there even still an acre of vacant land left in the city of Lehi? It should have filled up with condos and townhouses years ago!

I think that we are at one of those in between moments that requires someone with both vision and money.

My brother is in his mid twenties, one child and looking for his first home. He is having a rough go of it. It's either BFE or unremodelled crack house. Someone needs to step up with a "beyond Daybreak" community that will be today's white picket fence. Cheap 6 story apartments aren't cutting it.

[i-215]

Originally Posted by Liberty Wellsian

Someone needs to step up with a "beyond Daybreak" community that will be today's white picket fence.

I'd love a townhouse/duplex community that isn't HOA. Let me mow my own friggin' lawn. Dedicate the parks to the city, rather than making them HOA.

Get the price for a 3bd, 2 bath unit (with formica countertops and cheap carpet) for like $225k or less. And build thousands of these all over the place. Every vacant lot in town.

[delts145]

Utah County approves deal to lure mystery data center to Eagle Mountain

Katie McKellar - Deseret News, https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...-mountain.html

..."The deal for the mystery company — which may be one of the Fortune 100 companies Google, Apple or Facebook — still needs approval from two other tax districts, slated to vote this week: Alpine School District and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. Eagle Mountain and Unified Fire Authority have already signed off."...

Eagle Mountain City officials as well as representatives of Utah state agencies, say they can't reveal the name of the company looking to build a data center on 500 acres of "green fields" near this Utah County community due to ongoing contract talks. on Monday, May 21, 2018.

Photo By Scott G. Winterton

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[delts145]

Secrecy surrounds Eagle Mountain talks for proposed data center

Art Raymond - Deseret News
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...ta-center.html

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Ghosts of a failed Facebook data center bid are haunting an Eagle Mountain effort to close a similar deal with a yet-unnamed tech company.

While public officials involved with the quest are citing ongoing contract negotiations as the basis for protecting the company's identity, statements made in discussions about the project indicate it's likely one of the Bay Area giants. Google, Apple and Facebook have all been actively engaged in building new, big server farms in the U.S., according to reports...

...Eagle Mountain, however, is currently having better success at lining up support for its effort, which officials say will bring $750 million in investment in just phase 1 of what could be a multiphase project...

"Economic Development Corp. of Utah President/CEO Theresa Foxley said the company, which she declined to identify other than confirming it was "one of the Fortune 100 companies," is willing to pay for extensive infrastructure investment upfront that will include new power, water/sewer, telecommunications and road improvements to the site.

A study commissioned by Eagle Mountain cited returns of 1,000 percent on the city's investment and highlighted that the 500-acre parcel just south of the city's center is currently a "greenbelt" that generates $66 annually in property taxes. In the event the data center goes in, tax revenues would skyrocket, with annual property tax receipts approaching $840,000"...

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[TonyAnderson]

Originally Posted by i-215

We gotta stop screwing around with housing. It's wonderful to add 150,000 new jobs. Are we going to seriously build 75,000-100,000 new residential units to accommodate this?

I really don't care how we do it.

Apartments. Condos. Cheap suburban sprawl.

But right now residential construction seems eerily slow compared to what I remember as a kid back in the 1990s. Where are the huge developments? Why is there even still an acre of vacant land left in the city of Lehi? It should have filled up with condos and townhouses years ago!

Just look at census data and you can see what cities are adding population wise. There's places like Vineyard going from 0-10k overnight. Mostly it's just a mix of a bunch of suburbs adding 1-2,000 every year.

Originally Posted by i-215

Get the price for a 3bd, 2 bath unit (with formica countertops and cheap carpet) for like $225k or less. And build thousands of these all over the place. Every vacant lot in town.

They need those lots for parking. All of them.

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Originally Posted by i-215

I'd love a townhouse/duplex community that isn't HOA. Let me mow my own friggin' lawn. Dedicate the parks to the city, rather than making them HOA.

Get the price for a 3bd, 2 bath unit (with formica countertops and cheap carpet) for like $225k or less. And build thousands of these all over the place. Every vacant lot in town.

This brings up an interesting point because the political ethic in our state tends to be "more local the better" when it comes to government decisions. As a general rule I agree with that notion, but we have a real problem with communities zoning out density and leaving that to a handful of cities. When a city doesn't allow middle or high density it impacts the whole region. My proposal would be to either make building denser more attractive to city councils or reduce the amount of sales tax money they receive from the redistributed sales tax money if they don't have certain levels of density. You could make density more attractive by making housing break even or revenue positive rather than an expense as it is now. I would like to see cities not rely on sales tax money to cover general budget needs, but fully collect that money from the property owners through property taxes. Then sales tax could be used to fund amenities such as parks, etc. Then the more dense a city gets the more the costs of the city are spread out which would allow the city to cut taxes for each taxpayer.

[Liberty Wellsian]

Originally Posted by Always Sunny in SLC

This brings up an interesting point because the political ethic in our state tends to be "more local the better" when it comes to government decisions. As a general rule I agree with that notion, but we have a real problem with communities zoning out density and leaving that to a handful of cities. When a city doesn't allow middle or high density it impacts the whole region. My proposal would be to either make building denser more attractive to city councils or reduce the amount of sales tax money they receive from the redistributed sales tax money if they don't have certain levels of density. You could make density more attractive by making housing break even or revenue positive rather than an expense as it is now. I would like to see cities not rely on sales tax money to cover general budget needs, but fully collect that money from the property owners through property taxes. Then sales tax could be used to fund amenities such as parks, etc. Then the more dense a city gets the more the costs of the city are spread out which would allow the city to cut taxes for each taxpayer.

I've been thinking that regional impact fees are a good idea.

I would do 2.

The first schedule would be adjusted for distance to a permanent transit stop (within 1/4 mile =$0)

The second would be based on lot size/#of units.

Basically if you want to build mcmansions on the periphery you're going to have to pay a lot more than someone who builds condos along the spine of the metro.

[delts145]

Final 2 agencies pass tax breaks for mystery data center in Utah County

Art Raymond, Deseret News https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...ah-county.html

AMERICAN FORK — The last two of five taxing entities signed off Wednesday on huge tax breaks that seem poised to pave the way for an enormous new data center facility in Eagle Mountain that's been described as "one of the greatest economic opportunities the state has ever had."...

..."(The company name) will be known in the very near term," Foxley said. "The company will go back, analyze all the deal terms that have surfaced over the span of this public process. They’ll take that to the decision-making bodies within the company and, assuming, in aggregate, it’s a good business decision for them we would expect them to make a decision very quickly and make an announcement very quickly because they need the capacity (of the new data center)."...

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[JMK]

No surprise: Facebook to build data center in Eagle Mountain

There were very few surprised faces in the room Wednesday when officials from the state and Eagle Mountain revealed Facebook as the entity behind a massive planned data center here, and the recipient of an equally massive tax relief package.

Facebook will qualify for some $150 million in tax breaks for Phase 1 of the project, expected to be a $750 million investment. Facebook continues to be the most profitable social media company on the planet and just reported record profits for the first quarter of 2018, approaching $12 billion. And that in spite of a slew of criticism surrounding revelations late last year that a data scientist harvested personal data on some 80 million users and later sold the information to Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook boasts nearly 1.5 billion daily users and over 2 billion regular monthly users.

Talks centered on the project go back at least a year when Gov. Gary Herbert and others visited the company in Palo Alto, California, but the company's name was kept under wraps due to "ongoing contract negotiations" according to those involved with the deal.

Phase 1 of the effort will include putting up two facilities on a roughly 500-acre parcel south of Eagle Mountain's city center. Theresa Foxley, president/CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, said last week that once shovels are in the ground, the expected construction term should be about 18 months.

The company will also be investing, according to Foxley, about $150 million in infrastructure improvements including bringing power to the site from a nearby high-capacity power line corridor, extending sewer and water service, bringing in telecommunication lines and improving roads.

That infrastructure investment is expected to be equalized by the Phase 1 tax benefits of $150 million over 20 years. All additional phases will be eligible for the same level of tax relief.

A study commissioned by Eagle Mountain on the project referenced the potential for five phases which, if executed, would earn the mystery company $750 million in tax relief.

According to Eagle Mountain officials, the property currently generates about $66 per year in tax revenues. After Phase 1 of the data center is complete, the tax revenues would shoot up to about $840,000 annually.

[delts145]

So Utah got a Facebook Data Center anyway, just not in Salt Lake County.

[delts145]

How will an inland port affect Utah County business?


Adam Wasserman, managing partner of GLDPartners... explained that the port’s proximity to the airport is going to be increasingly important to local companies’ competitiveness on both a national and global scale. He foresees companies in the future making location decisions based on access to the port.

“Having this confluence of opportunity and connectivity right next to the largest airport recharging project, and one of the largest in the world right now is pretty interesting,” Wasserman said...


Karissa Neely, Daily Herald https://www.heraldextra.com/business...b44ce91ac.html

...Salt Lake City is uniquely positioned, the study continues, because “the Union Pacific’s Salt Lake City Intermodal Terminal provides significant infrastructure for a potential inland port. Located along the Union Pacific mainline, the terminal provides direct rail service to both the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Direct rail service is potentially available to the Port of Oakland as well. The terminal is located in close proximity to I-80, I-215, and S.R. 201, each of which is listed as one of Utah’s Primary Freight Network highways.”...

...Matt Mahar, vice president of home services at Vivint Smart Home, said the port could significantly help Vivint’s business model. All of Vivint’s product is produced in Asia currently, but an inland port could open up local manufacturing opportunities.

“I know if we could manufacture stateside at an affordable rate it would be much more beneficial to us in shipping speed and quality control,” Mahar said at the breakfast event. “To have something local would allow much more integrated logistics and planning, and could drive costs down.”

Mahar said he believes the port would be even more important for larger companies who more heavily rely on shipping goods to and from the state. Once the inland port is up and running, it could optimize business growth.

“I imagine that’s what a lot of other companies here are looking at,” Mahar said...

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