Affordable housing to be developed at current site of prison in Draper
Jun 16, 2022, 5:03 PM | Updated: Jun 17, 2022, 9:57 am
The men’s general population building is pictured at the new Utah State Prison in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021.
DRAPER, Utah — Draper’s mayor is hoping for a stadium to be built to host an NFL or MLB team at The Point. He also says affordable housing will be part of the massive project, which is set to begin when the prison moves locations sometime in July.
What is The Point?
The Point consists of 600 acres of state-owned land.
“The new community will foster innovation and technological advancement, provide parks and open space, support economic growth and enhance Utahns’ quality of life,” The Point describes itself.
Plans for The Point
Alan Matheson, executive director of The Point, lays out the timeline and what features are planned for the massive project with KSL NewsRadio’s Dave & Dujanovic.
“Later this summer, early fall, you’ll see.. demolition [of the old state prison] start,” Matheson said. “We think that by next spring, we’ll have infrastructure going in. You’ll see buildings going up 2024, 2025.”
“How much retail will there be and how many homes?” host Debbie Dujanovic asked.
“You’ll have residential, retail, entertainment, office. Right now we’re talking about roughly 7,400 housing units — a total of 15 million square feet of development throughout the site — that could have 30,000 jobs on the site. So it’s a significant development and will make a difference in our community,” Matheson said.
NFL or MLB? Mayor’s hopeful
Draper Mayor Troy Walker joined Utah’s Morning News with Tim Hughes and Amanda Dickson to say the prisoners will start to move out of the old state prison in Draper and into the new $1 billion facilities in a remote area of Salt Lake City’s westside.
A guard tower at the Utah State Prison in Draper. Scott G Winterton | Deseret News
“The inmates are getting ready to move in a couple of weeks. And so I think by the middle of July, you’re gonna see inmates moving to the new prison facility,” Walker said.
Phase I also includes selecting a master development partner(s) of The Point.
“We’re just about ready to select a master developer for Phase One, which will happen around the 28th of June. And so it’s exciting that things are really happening there,” the mayor said.
Walker added he would to see some Fortune 500 companies or professional sports teams move into The Point.
“I keep hoping, and I’m not going to stop talking about having a stadium out there. I don’t care if it’s NFL or Major League Baseball, either one or both,” he said. “So we’re hopeful that things like that are gonna come there. That’s something I’ve always wanted to see.”
Affordable housing coming to The Point
“Any talk of affordable housing now that you’ve got open space to do some of that?” Hughes asked.
“There’s actually going to be some affordable housing as a component of The Point,” Walker said. “And the state owns the land. So there’s a unique opportunity to really do actual affordable housing. We’ve got that worked into our plan and working towards it. It’ll definitely occur out there.”
Transit at The Point
“What kind of role does public transportation play in this area because it’s pretty close to everything?” Dave asked.
By keeping jobs and homes closer together, Matheson said the overall goal is to reduce traffic generation in the area by 30%.
“There are plans actively underway to develop a transit line through the site and down into Utah County,” he said. “We’re also looking at internal circulators that would get people within a five-minute walk of any place in the site. There’ll be car-sharing, micro-mobility to go to different hubs and get a scooter or an electric bike. . . . We’ll reduce traffic generation by we think over 30%.”
