Dakota Pacific CEO Marc Stanworth says his firm has met with four or five different continuing care facility operators in the last few months.
Stanworth says Dakota Pacific, which is looking to build a development with some senior housing in Kimball Junction, has commissioned a study regarding what the demand is for senior services locally.
“Everyone [operators] is interested, believes that there is an opportunity. It's borderline,” he said at a public hearing July 28, referencing concerns about economies of scale. “Labor is a concern, for sure.”
Stanworth was speaking at a hearing where Summit County Manager Shayne Scott approved the development.
The Summit County Council approved it once before, in December, but that approval has been challenged by a citizen referendum.
State legislators subsequently passed a law during the 2025 General Session to make sure Dakota Pacific could break ground. It said the development had to be approved by county staff, which happened July 28.
The development will have 885 total housing units, about half of them for workforce, as well as an expanded transit center, park-and-ride and businesses around the Skullcandy building, which Summit County will repurpose to replace its existing library and offices.
One of the businesses could be an option that allows older residents to age in place even as their health care needs change.
But if that falls through, Dakota Pacific must then reserve 90 market rate housing units elsewhere in the development for people 55 or older.
Residents don’t currently have continuing care options locally since the only such facility in the county in Oakley shut down last year. The nearest replacements were in Salt Lake City and Wasatch County.
Meanwhile, the population continues to age. Summit County’s working age population has plateaued, but the non-working age population hasn’t.
County staff predict more residents will be over 65 than under 14 by the end of the decade.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW. For a full list, click here.
