A rendering of the 300 West Apartments, which is slated to add 154 units to the Ballpark neighborhood. Image via Chelsea Investment Company and the Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency
More funds for more housing.
Salt Lake City voted to give out over $8 million in funds from the Community Reinvestment Agency coffers for affordable housing developments, with a sizable amount of funds going toward deeply affordable housing units — a sorely needed asset in the city’s housing goals.
Of the $8,118,128 available through the CRA’s Housing Development Loan Program (HDLP), the Salt Lake City Council — acting as CRA’s board — allocated nearly all of it, voting unanimously Tuesday to set aside all but $50,000 of those funds to four projects around the city.
Browne Sebright, a project manager for the CRA, told the council Tuesday that the redevelopment agency received nine eligible applications seeking over $23 million in loan requests. Of the over $8 million the CRA had available to give, around $5.58 million came from the HDLP, while another $2.48 million came from the CRA’s Deeply Affordable housing fund. The unallocated $50,000 came from the CRA’s High Opportunity Area fund.
“Salt Lake City’s housing needs are urgent, and every dollar we commit through the Housing Development Loan Program helps expand access to housing in our community,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a statement Tuesday. “These projects will deliver hundreds of new affordable homes for Salt Lakers.”
In total, the money will go toward building 595 housing units in Salt Lake City. 252 of those units will be deeply affordable units, as the units will be set aside for households earning at or below 30% AMI.
Deeply affordable housing is categorized as housing for households that make 30% AMI or lower. Salt Lake City’s AMI is currently $122,700 for a family of four, meaning a household that size must make under $36,800 per year in order to qualify for deeply affordable housing. For a single person, that mark is $25,800.
Council members offered a handful of questions to CRA staff, with some council members noting the four projects receiving funding have homeownership or wealth-building programs, another metric where the city hopes to add units.
Tracy Tran, a senior project manager for the CRA, acknowledged the lack of ownership options. However, she added the CRA is still reviewing housing project applications for its residential wealth building program, a separate CRA program. She said that funding recommendations could be brought to the council in the coming months.
Wealth building units and deeply affordable housing will surely be a focus for the city in the near future. As part of its Housing SLC goals, the city is trying to add 2,000 deeply affordable units and 1,000 wealth building units before June 2028. The city is drastically behind on both goals, according to the latest data in its affordable housing dashboard.
To meet its goals, Salt Lake City will need to add over 1,500 deeply affordable units and over 800 wealth building units in the coming years, according to the data.
Projects receiving city funding
Receiving the most funds was the Gardens at Palmer project, located at 999 S. Main St. in the Ballpark neighborhood. The project would create 187 one-bedroom units serving people who make 30% AMI or lower. In total, Gardens at Palmer received $2,168,128 from the CRA as part of the Tuesday vote.
The Gardens at Palmer building would be constructed in the Palmer Court parking lot as part of a larger effort to redevelop the complex, which would ultimately replace Palmer Court with a greater number of deeply affordable units.
Construction is slated to start in November, with an estimated completion time being February 2028.
Project Details – Gardens at Palmer
- 187 one-bedrooms
- 187 total
AMI Breakdown – Gardens at Palmer
Palmer Court in Salt Lake City.
Another project receiving funds was The Chicago, located at 27 N. Chicago Street near the North Temple corridor. The project is currently home to single-family homes and located in the Poplar Grove neighborhood that would make way for 119 new units.
The complex was awarded $2 million by the CRA and will cater to AMI’s ranging from 30% to 80%. The bulk of units (66) would be offered to households making between 61%-80% AMI.
The building would be a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. It would be located less than a quarter mile from a TRAX Green Line stop, and it would be adjacent to Madsen Park. It would also feature 42 off-street parking stalls, a clubhouse, a gym and outdoor amenity spaces for residents, according to the project’s application.
The Chicago is expected to start construction in October, and it’s slated to be completed in Aug. 2029.
Project Details – The Chicago
- 45 studios
- 55 one-bedrooms
- 19 two-bedrooms
- 119 total
AMI Breakdown – The Chicago
- 66 units – 61%-80% AMI
- 29 units – 51-60% AMI
- 6 units – 31%-50% AMI
- 18 units –
- 119 total
A rendering of The Chicago apartment building in Poplar Grove. Image via Great Lakes Capital and the Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency
Also receiving $2 million were the Emeril Apartments, located at 37 N. 800 West. Emeril is just a stone’s throw from The Chicago, as it would be found to the east but also within the North Temple corridor and in the Poplar Grove neighborhood.
Emeril Apartments would consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, and the infill project is surrounded by other new housing developments. The building “consists of two levels of structure below a concrete podium deck, with four floors plus a mezzanine of residential on top,” the project application says.
Emeril Apartments would also feature amenities catering to young children, as the project’s application says it would have a play area and an additional unspecified area for kids. It would also include an enclosed parking area with 39 parking stalls, as the building would be within walking distance of a Trax Green Line stop.
Work on the Emeril Apartments is slated to begin in September, and its target completion is slated for June 2028.
Project Details – Emeril Apartments
- 56 one-bedrooms
- 52 two-bedrooms
- 27 three-bedrooms
- 135 total
AMI Breakdown – Emeril Apartments
- 54 units – 61%-80% AMI
- 60 units – 51-60% AMI
- 21 units –
- 135 total
A rendering of the Emeril Apartments in Poplar Grove. Image via BlueLine Development, Inc. and the Community Development Corporation of Utah
A project called the 300 West Apartments, located at 1485 S. 300 West in the Ballpark neighborhood was allocated $1.9 million by the CRA as part of the Tuesday vote.
The building would add larger and family-sized units to the neighborhood, as its CRA application says the vast majority of units would be either two- or three-bedrooms. The building would only have 5 one-bedroom units, with the other 149 consisting of two- and three-bedrooms.
In total, the project would add 154 units to the neighborhood, which has a shortage of “larger, affordable rental homes,” according to the project’s application to the CRA. The complex would be built on land zoned for MU-11, and a rendering attached to the application shows the building would consist of seven floors.
Construction is slated to begin on the 300 West Apartments in Jan. 2027, with a target completion date of October 2028.
Project Details – 300 West Apartments
- 5 one-bedrooms
- 87 two-bedrooms
- 62 three-bedrooms
- 154 total
AMI Breakdown – 300 West Apartments
- 128 units – 51-60% AMI
- 26 units –
- 154 total
