The public is invited to learn more about the plans for the property formerly known as the Park City Tech Park at Kimball Junction. The property owner, Dakota Pacific has a new website and one mor online open house scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
The Zoom online open house is scheduled Tuesday afternoon, from 2 to 3:30 The property owner’s representative Jeff Gochnour says Dakota Pacific is a real estate investment firm and also has a development arm. It purchased the property in 2018.
“We've done development in the area before and had always had our eye on Park City Tech Center because we knew it had been entitled in 2008," Gochnour said. "But it seemed like it had struggled getting any traction with the research park concept. So, we had been in conversation with the Boyer Company over those years, to say if they ever had any interest in selling it or doing something else, we would be interested in talking to them and that’s sort of how it all came into play.”
He says Dakota Pacific intends to be the developer and long-term owner of the property with no plans to flip the property if they get the entitlements they’re proposing, approved.
“We're going to be in this for the long haul," he said. "We’d love to hold this forever, if we could, because we think it’s such a fantastic site and perfect location.”
In 2008, the Tech Park was approved for 1.4 million square feet of development and 150 residential units. Today, Dakota Pacific is proposing a 122,000 square foot hotel, about 255,000 square feet of commercial, retail, and office space as well as 1100 residential units. 306 of the units will be deed restricted.
Giving the timing of theTech Park approval in 2008 at the start of the recession, he says it was difficult to get anything going... Since then, other places in the Salt Lake valley are being developed as Tech Parks – bypassing this location.
Gochnour says the project would provide needed housing and get people out of their cars if they can live where they work.
“A challenge that Kimball Junction has is that most of the people that work in Kimball Junction or even Park City are community up from commuting up from the Valley and we've been told that between 60 and 70% of workers are commuting and that in part is what creates a challenge in that area. And so, by providing housing - both workforce housing and market housing - we think it will give the opportunity for these people that are commuting up from the valley to live. If they live in this residential component of our project, we’re right at the transit center I don't know why they would ever – and they work in Park City - I don't know why they would ever drive in. They just hop on the electric bus and commute. So, we feel that there’s a benefit to housing because it'll help take cars off the road and it satisfies one of the objectives of the County to provide housing - in particular, workforce housing.”
The first online open house was last Thursday. Gochnour says they had good discussion and questions. Participants can submit their questions via the chat function on Zoom. The link to the Zoom session will be posted online at www.HeyKimballJunction.com
Please click this URL to join. https://us02web.zoom.us/w/89298412286?tk=F7Hqeu-5ANbw8IYwNnKVzs1oxTav0HHEdslgZ-9ejfU.DQIAAAAUypmi_hZZdE85NFR6RFNwLUVXOERmVGktSHdBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&pwd=U1BvWVd1bGhsRGhHYm5TV1JlaFpHUT09&uuid=WN_oRyqlOj4RuOCemdTOETdLA
The next meeting with the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission is set for June 23 – at which public input will be accepted - also via zoom.
He hopes to have some direction from the planning commission within the next 60 days. He believes their proposal meets what the county envisions for the Kimball Junction area.
