The council is taking a few more days to consider the developer’s last offer before it votes.
Previously, it had asked Salt Lake City-based Dakota Pacific Real Estate for 700 housing units maximum, half of those affordable for people earning 80% of the median county income. That’s compared to 750 units with a third of those affordable housing.
Wednesday, Dakota Pacific countered the county’s request, saying the best it could do was 725 units at the same ratio it originally proposed.
Within the market-rate unit segment, units are also temporarily reserved for people making 100% and 120% of the median income, or “attainable housing.” The company has extended the length of those restrictions before the units would be available to anyone more than 120% of the median income.
Dakota Pacific Director of Commercial Development Steve Borup said the reduced density is a serious effort to reach an agreement.
“We felt like there's not room to give there,” he told the council Dec. 11. “We also heard that this is important to the county, and we certainly don't, we don't want it to stall out.”
The negotiations are unfolding alongside Summit County’s talks with the Utah Department of Transportation about addressing Kimball Junction’s traffic problem.
The developer has also agreed to stagger the number of units it builds until UDOT approves state Route 224 improvements.
For CEO Marc Stanworth, that means margins are now razor-thin.
“It's going to be very easy from certain perspectives, to try to look at the gap that existed and say, ‘Well wait a minute, they're not quote-unquote meeting us halfway,’” Stanworth said. “That's not a particularly appropriate way to look at this type of situation.”
Councilmembers haven’t responded to the developer’s counter offer yet.
Councilmember Chris Robinson observed that the parties still aren’t aligned on residential density, nor a plan to share the costs of redeveloping the nearby Kimball Junction Transit Center and library.
Dakota Pacific has said it needs to make enough money on its residential development to offset the costs of a public-private partnership.
The proposed partnership would create a civic plaza along state Route 224, an underground park-and-ride lot and add green space around Skullcandy’s current headquarters, which will become county offices. The new neighborhood would be added on the west side of that.
The council’s vote Dec. 18 is expected to focus on the residential portion.
It will have been five years since Dakota Pacific first applied to amend its development agreement with Summit County.
