Salt Lake County will pump $25 million of federal pandemic-rescue money into helping to preserve or build upward of 1,500 affordable homes across Salt Lake City, Millcreek and Midvale.
Calling housing “a critical lifeline for all,” county Major Jenny Wilson said this week the move would mean new or renovated places for more than 1,500 residents and families, including seniors, low-wage earners, those with disabilities and others who might be struggling to find a home.
“The lack of affordable housing,” Wilson said in a statement, “is among the most pressing issues our county faces.”
The grants to a total of 17 projects draw on the county’s share of nearly $1.9 trillion allocated nationwide under the COVID-19 stimulus bill, approved by Congress in 2021 and known as the American Rescue Plan Act.
The county expects the projects to be completed by the end of 2026.
The announcement came after the County Council endorsed a list of recipients of the one-time cash, put forward by a selection committee overseeing the county’s housing trust fund.
“It is an honor for us on the Salt Lake County Council to partner on this important investment,” County Council member Laurie Stringham said in the same news release, “and make an immediate impact on those affected by the housing situation.”
The tally of apartment and town house projects ranges from new construction and transit-oriented developments to conversions or rehabilitations of existing office spaces and other nonresidential structures.
Many of the projects have also received city and state money. Wilson praised the county’s local governments, in particular, for what she called their “innovative solutions” in lowering costs, boosting funding, reducing regulations and offering incentives to developers of affordable housing.
Recipients include:
• Phase one of 515 Tower, 515 E. 100 South in Salt Lake City — A remake of an old 14-story office building for shared work spaces, retail outlets and affordable homes.
• 9Ten West, 910 W. North Temple in Salt Lake City — A six-story transit-oriented development of 175 studio and one-bedroom apartments.
• Alliance House, 1805 S. Main in Salt Lake City — A 16-unit apartment complex going up as a planned development on the site of the to-be-demolished Main Street Motel.
• Three phases of Citizens West, 509 W. 300 North in Salt Lake City — A transit-oriented, carbon-neutral, mixed-used development of 80 units in the Guadalupe neighborhood.
• East 72, 380 E. Fort Union Blvd. in Midvale — Replacing 12 duplexes known as Sunset Gardens with a new three-story apartment complex of 89 units.
• The Howick, 4101 S. Howick St. in Millcreek — A five-story building of nearly 150 town homes.
• Two phases of Liberty Corner, 1265 S. 300 West in Salt Lake City — About 200 two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments catering to families.
• MODA Griffin Apartments, 380 E. Fort Union Blvd. in Midvale — An apartment complex with 136 units.
• The Morrissey, 4047 S. West Temple in Millcreek — A four-story, 64-unit apartment complex in the Meadowbrook Center catering to low-income seniors.
• New City Plaza Apartments, 1992 S. 200 East and 1966 S. 200 East in Salt Lake City — Renovation of two towers with 299 units of housing for seniors and residents with disabilities.
• Platform 1500, 1512 S. 300 West in Salt Lake City — New construction of a 60-unit apartment building meant for low-income families.
• Project Open 3, 529 W. 400 North in Salt Lake City — The third phase of a transit-oriented, mixed-use and mixed-income development to include 233 apartments and town houses.
• Recovery Housing Project, 518 E. 600 South in Salt Lake City — Purchase and renovation of 17 housing units for those with substance-use and mental health challenges.
• Silos Affordable, 515 S. 500 West in Salt Lake City — An affordable housing project planned on 8.5 acres west of the newly built Post District.
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