Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Spark Apartments opens in Salt Lake City, offering 200 affordable housing units.
- The project includes a child care center and various amenities for residents.
- Funding came from multiple public and private sources, transforming a blighted area.
SALT LAKE CITY — As David Brint and others with his development team continued to plan out a new housing development at the site of a rundown motel along North Temple in Salt Lake City, his daughter noticed the Rocky Mountain Power headquarters across the street.
"She saw that there was a plant across the street, and she said, 'Why don't we name it 'Spark,'?" said Brint, founding principal of Brinshore Development, as he recalled the moment on Wednesday.
He wasn't sure about it, but with time, the project eventually became Spark Apartments, a massive mixed-use complex with 200 affordable housing units that could be seen as the ignition for a section of the city destined to grow in the coming decades. After a few speeches, Brint and other dignitaries, including city leaders, cut the ribbon to open the new complex.
The complex offers 200 affordable units, nearly a quarter of which are dedicated to people earning as low as 20% to 30% of the area median income. About another quarter is dedicated to people making 40% to 50% of that threshold, while the remaining half is dedicated to people making 70% to 80%. Units range in size from studio to two bedrooms.
Each unit comes with a washer and dryer, but the facility includes a gym and a playground for children. A pair of large courtyards include play areas for dogs, including one that provides residents a view of the Wasatch Mountains in the distance. It comes with a dog wash facility, as well.
Commercial space has been set aside for a ground-floor business. And while it has a secure parking garage, electric vehicle charging stations and a bicycle storage room, it's also located next to a Utah Transit Authority bus stop and a TRAX station.
Its top amenity, however, might be its on-site child care center, operated by the Neighborhood House. A crowd huddled to celebrate the building's opening broke out into cheers when Jennifer Nuttall, director of the nonprofit, said it would be the site of its first preschool expansion. She explained that families pay what they're "able to afford" to help offset the daunting challenges tied to the rising costs of child care.
Construction on the $99 million project began in 2023 after years of planning.
Funding came from a mix of sources, including $14.5 million from the Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency and $3.7 million combined from the Salt Lake City Housing Stability Division, Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund and Salt Lake County. Developers also received tax credits from the Utah Housing Corporation, as well as other state and federal sources, on top of the private funding poured into it.
Meanwhile, it's the start of drastic changes in the Fairpark neighborhood. Spark was constructed on the site of the Overnighter Motel, which was known more for its problems in the Fairpark neighborhood than anything else.
"It wasn't getting a lot of five-star ratings," said Danny Walz, director of the Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency. "I'm not sure if it was ever cracking two stars, probably for the police investigations. ... It had fallen into a state of disrepair."
Conditions were so bad that the city agency ultimately stepped in and acquired it in 2017. Even after it closed, fires plagued the property, which is the type of nuisance that people behind Spark are hoping to avoid.
"We sort of went from blight and instantly made it right," added Daniel Nackerman, director of the Housing Authority of Salt Lake City, as he looked toward the new complex.
Rocky Mountain Power still plans to redevelop its headquarters and other facilities across the street into the Power District.
Salt Lake City leaders approved the Larry H. Miller Company's rezoning request late last year, which could bring more mixed-use developments across the street from the new complex. It's also the site of a possible Major League Baseball stadium, should Utah land a team.
"The Power District's happening, perhaps baseball is coming along with it, but the spark is here," said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.
