Heber City leaders gave their stamp of approval to the North Village plans in January, including development agreements for land east and west of the intersection of U.S. 40 and River Road.
Now, developers have released details about plans for the southwest corner of that intersection, which they describe as a “luxury mountain village.” Previously known as Harvest Village, it’s been renamed The Slope.
Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall.
This is the latest iteration of concepts that have been discussed for over two decades.
In 2013, a version of the “North Village Resort” plans overseen by the Wasatch County Council allowed for more than 700 residential units and close to 500,000 square feet of commercial space. Old concepts also called for an indoor water park on the land.
Developer and part-time Wasatch County resident Neil Goldman said his company rejected those plans.
“By all means, we could have come in and built that,” he said. “We didn’t want to, though. We wanted to start from scratch. We wanted to read Envision 2050. We wanted to put a plan together that we thought addressed the needs of Heber Valley, and that’s what we’ve done.”
His version of the North Village includes a mix of homes and nightly rentals, open space and places to shop and dine.
Heber City Councilmember Mike Johnston said he supported the annexation this winter because the city negotiated a list of requirements to go along with the development.
“We wanted the preservation fee per unit, which we’ve required of everybody,” he said. “We wanted the workforce housing fee; we also negotiated a much higher affordable housing fee-in-lieu that we’re going to move to downtown Heber and use down here – all things that the county never had, because they can’t ask for those things.”
He said Heber wanted development in that area to be a “town center,” rather than solely single-family homes with no services or amenities.
When complete, developers say The Slope will include dozens of hotel rooms and condo rentals, 140 townhomes and 130 units of workforce housing. It will also feature 100,000 square feet of retail and an “experiential plaza” with a year-round sledding hill.
The hill will use materials similar to those at Utah Olympic Park on the aerial jumps.
When complete, Goldman expects the village will include eight to 10 restaurants.
He anticipates a mix of full-time and part-time residents in the development.
“I think that there is certainly a demographic of individuals who are going to look and say, ‘I want to live here,’” he said. “But one of the things we also know in the Wasatch Back is, a lot of homes are not primary residences for people, so I think we should expect that we will see a large portion of people who are buying a second, third, whatever number home.”
Wasatch County real estate is increasingly attracting secondary homeowners.
In the new SkyRidge development, for example, just a few miles north along U.S. 40, only about 8% of homes are primary residences, according to numbers shared in June.
And across the highway, Deer Valley East Village is rapidly transforming as hotels and condos fill the mountainside.
Goldman said his company, Angstrom Development Group, will solicit feedback from Heber locals as it narrows down what restaurants and retail should be part of the concept. He says he wants to create a community hub at the north end of the valley where families can relax and gather.
City leaders who supported the annexation have said the plans are a significant improvement from some past proposals, and it’s better for Heber to be able to control what kind of development happens there.
Others are skeptical, however.
In January, after the Heber City Council voted to approve the plans, Mayor Heidi Franco said she was disappointed in the decision.
“We’re going to be dealing with the consequences for the rest of time in the valley from what you are deciding to do,” she told the council.
The county granted the density years ago, but it took a while for a developer to stick: Goldman said his group is the fifth to enter talks with either the county or the city to develop the land.
