The latest mixed-use development in downtown Salt Lake City pays homage to the city's past with the preservation of historic grain silos and the addition of distinctive rooflines on new apartment buildings.
MVE & Partners created a design for Silo Park that echoes motifs at the Post District apartments across the street, a project the architecture firm also designed. At Silo Park, mid-rise multifamily buildings are clad with a special type of brick crafted to look like textured concrete, rooftops are steeply pitched in a sawtooth pattern and windows are distributed across the facade in asymmetric patterns.
The silos are a relic of Utah's history and current status as a major source of wheat, corn and barley, according to federal agriculture statistics. The white concrete silos were used by Cereal Food Processors, a company that operated a wheat mill on the site, and stand out among a collection of otherwise generic industrial buildings, a convenience store and a self-storage facility.
The underlying point that MVE and the developer wanted to make is that Silo Park's distinctive design creates long-term value for a property, said Pieter Berger, a principal and architect at the Irvine, California-based firm.
“We established this precedent at Post House,” two of the residential buildings at Post District, Berger told CoStar News. “We said this is a neighborhood that values architecture differently. It makes you feel like you’re in a different kind of place.”
Lowe Property Group, Blaser Ventures and Catalyst Opportunity Funds are partnering to develop the $300 million Silo Park. Plans call for the construction of two buildings and the conversion of two existing buildings. Construction began last month with the first phase estimated for completion by the end of next year. The entire project is scheduled to wrap up at the end of 2027.
It’s located in the Granary District of Salt Lake City, a former industrial area now experiencing a commercial renaissance.
“People want to be in the Granary District because they like its character,” Berger said.
The Salt Lake City area's population is projected to grow 8.2% from 2023 to 2028, up to about 1.4 million people, according to Site Selection Group, an economic development consulting firm. That's the seventh-fastest rate among large U.S. metropolitan areas.
In anticipation of that growth, Salt Lake City is rerouting one line of its mass-transit rail system and plans to add a stop in the Granary District near Silo Park. The Salt Lake City passenger rail network also includes stops at Salt Lake City International Airport, the University of Utah and a major hospital.
Silo Park is a short walk to Delta Center, home arena of the NBA's Utah Jazz and the newest team in the National Hockey League, the Utah Hockey Club. Some groups in Salt Lake City have discussed replacing the 33-year-old Delta Center, though no plans have been finalized, Berger said.
If a new arena is developed, Berger hopes it will be located downtown. That’s not guaranteed, however. The Salt Lake Bees, a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels, are building a stadium in Daybreak, about 20 miles south of downtown.
The Salt Lake City Council in July approved a participation agreement with Smith Entertainment Group to spearhead a renovation of the Delta Center and the creation of a new entertainment and commercial district surrounding the arena, according to the Deseret News. The proposal would be funded through an increase in local sales taxes to generate about $1.2 billion.
New apartments
But downtown Salt Lake City has enough new commercial developments to help the district compete with other rapidly growing areas throughout the booming Salt Lake Valley, Berger said. A recent spurt of new apartment construction has flooded the downtown Salt Lake City market with units, leading to a current vacancy rate of 14.5%, according to CoStar data. That's higher than its historic average of 9.3%.
Luxury apartment development has also surged with about 1,700 units in the pipeline after 2,000 units were completed over the past 12 months, according to CoStar data. That's one of the most aggressive rates of luxury apartment development in the country.
Some recently completed downtown projects include Brinshore Development's The Aster and Ritchie Group's The Charles.
The residential component of Silo Park is slated for a mix of affordable units and residences priced at market rates for a total of 741 apartments. The project is also set to include 58,750 square feet of commercial space that could be adapted for retail, entertainment venues or other uses.
Long-term plans call for a possible hotel, though the hospitality element has not been finalized, Berger said.
The 100-year-old concrete silo structure has been vacant for years. While the developers and MVE discussed converting the silos into a boutique hotel, Berger said it would be “incredibly expensive” to retrofit for modern safety standards.
For the record
MVE & Partners created the master plan for Silo Park and is the project’s design architect, architect of record, interior designer and creator of branding and signage. Wasatch Commercial Builders is the general contractor for the project’s first two buildings.