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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall's dream of a tiny-home village to provide housing for Salt Lake City's chronically homeless seemed to come to fruition Wednesday, with a groundbreaking at the 40-acre lot at 1850 W. Indiana Ave.
The lot sat empty for a decade, unable to attract commercial business. After slowly grinding through the city's planning process, with public hearings and rezoning requests, the vacancy will be filled with the Other Side Village. The pilot project will house 60 chronically homeless individuals, but is eventually projected to house approximately 400 individuals.
"Two years ago the village was little more than a conversation. Twelve months later, it became this overlooked and undervalued piece of land," said Joseph Grenny, the Other Side Village chairman. "A few years from now it will blossom like a rose, but far more prominent than the homes and the greenery that will beautify this land will be hundreds whose names we don't know yet who will find their way in their future here."
The single housing unit at the groundbreaking represented more than what is to come. At Wednesday's ceremony, Grenny announced the unit would be named Mendenhall Manor. The gesture drew an emotional reaction from Salt Lake City's mayor, who wiped away tears.
"This is the first of its kind in the state of Utah," Mendenhall said. "Never have we had a tiny little village that is focused on serving those who are, right now, shivering in the cold — not because they're sitting outside for a groundbreaking but because there isn't a community and a unit waiting for them.
"To my friends who are waiting for their houses to open, we finally get to move some ground, symbolically today, but the wheels are in motion. We love you. We want you in Salt Lake City."
Other speakers included Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, State Homeless Director Wayne Niederhauser, Salt Lake City Council members and the unofficial mayor of the Other Side Village, Tim Stay.
"We're excited about the outcomes here. We see this as a missing element in our response to homelessness here in Salt Lake County," said Niederhauser. "This is an example of how we can work together. The state has money in this city, the county, the philanthropic community. We've all come together to make this happen."
The push from state and city officials to increase affordable housing is part of other efforts to address homelessness. Ahead of the groundbreaking, Mendenhall and others attended the opening of Colony B, a mixed-income, transit-oriented, residential development in the Ballpark neighborhood.
Colony B features 140 housing units, with 106 rented at rates affordable to those making 25-50% of the area's median income; 11 are reserved for young people aging out of the foster care system and 15 are Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible.
"I believe this is the year of affordable housing in Salt Lake City," Mendenhall said at Colony B's opening. "The ball is rolling and you're going to see many more groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings. But really, it's so much more than the ribbon cutting and groundbreaking — it's about housing stability and space in place for everyone else."
