This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Draper • Online auction house eBay won approval for its plans to build in the city's transit-oriented district.
The City Council unanimously approved eBay's master area plan, which shows the company completing an office park at 12880 S. Galena Park Blvd. (5500 West) by 2018, with the first phase completed by April 2013.
"We are excited to start the project," said Adrienne Bell, who represented eBay at the meeting. "We are looking forward to moving forward."
The plan breaks the project into three phases on 36.38 acres. The first phase includes a three-story, 192,000-square-foot office building; a one-story 51,000-square-foot employee amenity building; and 1,800 parking spaces for 1,900 employees.
Subsequent phases would add two four-story, 128,000-square-foot office buildings and a parking structure.
In August, the Governor's Office of Economic Development approved a $38.2 million tax incentive for eBay to build in Draper. To get the incentive, eBay must create 2,200 new jobs by 2031.
But resident Shawn Benjamin, who is also running for City Council, was concerned about how many people will be there — and if the road system can handle it.
"The original traffic study [for the transit-oriented district] was based on 150,000 square feet of office space," Benjamin said.
Councilman Bill Colbert said the effect on roads should be minimized by the FrontRunner commuter rail station that will be across the street from the eBay campus.
"It is going to encourage people to take mass transit," Colbert said. "Whether [employees] are coming from downtown, or Ogden or Provo, they can get on the train and come in."
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