How Wood Partners’ New Utah Community is Already Beating the Competition
Salt Lake City—Multifamily developer Wood Partners has begun construction on its first development project in Utah. Expected to start leasing in fall of 2016, Alta Gateway will be a 277-unit apartment community in Salt Lake City, situated next to a downtown urban redevelopment called The Gateway.
A hallmark of Alta Gateway will be a top-of-the-market amenity package, including a rooftop deck and cyber café. The amenities are designed to appeal to urban professionals hamstrung by an outdated downtown housing market.
Situated near EnergySolutions Arena, the home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, and near the Salt Palace Convention Center, The Gateway is a 40-acre retail, office and entertainment hub on the west side of downtown.
Included in the open-air complex are more than 100 stores, a planetarium, children’s museum, concert venue, 12-screen cinema and the Winter Games’ Olympic Plaza. Alta Gateway, at 100 South and 500 West, is steps from a light rail line stop and less than a block from the Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub.
That multi-modal transportation center is served by Utah Transit Authority’s light rail, commuter rail, bus systems, Amtrak and Greyhound.
Other area luxury apartment communities offer far fewer amenities than are planned for Alta Gateway. The property’s expansive rooftop deck will feature a resort-style pool and spa, TVs, fireplace and outdoor kitchen. A community clubroom for socializing and entertaining will also be part of the rooftop deck.
When not accessing the Internet at the cyber café, residents can work out at a private fitness center or walk their dogs through an outdoor park. An onsite workshop will allow them to tune their bicycles or skis. Finally, Alta Gateway will feature a wine cellar expressly designed for the community‘s wine aficionados.
Utah is the home state of Tim McEntee, director of Wood Partners’ Rocky Mountain and Midwest Region. His more than two-decade search for a development foothold in Utah is culminating in the development of Alta Gateway.
“I still have family and friends in Utah, so this accomplishment is personal for me,” said University of Utah graduate McEntee. “Downtown Salt Lake City is coming of age, with robust employment, sophisticated shopping and entertainment and one of the finest mass transit systems in the country, thanks in part to the 2002 Winter Olympics.”
Director of the Alta Gateway development Clay Iman predicts Alta Gateway will be “hugely attractive” to young professionals and couples who want to partake of an active urban lifestyle. “The housing market in Salt Lake City has traditionally been suburban, but we believe job growth and infill development have fueled a strong demand for housing downtown, and capital is available to fund it,” he said.
Added McEntee: “This is Wood Partners’ first development in Utah, but we certainly hope it won’t be our last. We are absolutely interested in building a stronger presence in this market and becoming an active part of the community my family has called home for more than 50 years.”