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OGDEN — The Historic 25th Street site that once housed the frame of a five-story apartment building is again vacant.
The unfinished structure — framed and covered with sheathing — had to be torn down before completion because of structural deficiencies, according to Ogden officials, prompting head-shaking disbelief, and more, among leaders and residents. Demolition started last December and was largely done in January.
But the developer of the site at 144 25th St. is hoping to rebuild what was originally proposed, according to a city official. Union Walk, as dubbed by developer Summa Terra Ventures, would be a 55-unit structure with a red-brick facade, with easy access to many of the key sites in the city center.
"We're still just talking with the owner," said Jared Johnson, Ogden's interim director of community and economic development. "They still want to build the same building they originally intended to build."
He said unspecified issues need to be sorted out, as well as a few possible design tweaks. There was no timeline for action. A Summa Terra Ventures representative didn't respond Monday. But Johnson's comments indicate action is afoot at the 0.36-acre site, located in the heart of Ogden's highest-profile restaurant and retail corridor.
Mike McBride, spokesman for Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski, said the city is awaiting word from Summa Terra Ventures, owner of the 25th Street site through Union Station LLC, on what happens next. The issue has spawned a lawsuit filed in 2nd District Court by Union Station LLC, which is seeking at least $9.7 million in damages from contractor Makers Line.
"That is up to them. That said, the only plan that is approved is the one (Union Station LLC) submitted last year and constructed," McBride said. "If they decide to change plans, that would restart the process. We'll know more in coming weeks."
As the five-story building was taking shape, city officials ordered a halt to work in March 2023 because the wood used in the structure wasn't sufficiently fire resistant. Later, city officials deemed the building dangerous after finding more "structural deficiencies." The developer subsequently crafted a plan to remedy the varied issues, McBride said in December, but opted to tear the building down, apparently unable to find a contractor to handle the work.
As for the vision, the Summa Terra Ventures website still contains a blurb about the project, one of many for the developer. "You can't get a better location than this one! Located right on Ogden's Historic 25th St., this project is within walking distance of Union Station, the FrontRunner station, City Hall, Lindquist Field, countless retail and restaurant options and many professional office plazas," it reads. Lindquist Field is home to the Ogden Raptors Pioneer League baseball team.
Sue Wilkerson, operator of a bar west of the Summa Terra Ventures site, hasn't heard any details about what may be in the works at the site. But if completed as had been proposed, without the defects, it had her support. She sits on the Ogden Landmarks Commission, an advisory body that had reviewed the aesthetics of the original plan.
"I think it would have been a great building when it was all done and finished," she said.
