Wasatch County houses are the second most expensive in the state, with the median buyer spending just shy of $1 million for a single-family home in 2024.
That’s according to new data from the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. The research also shows home prices are rising faster in Wasatch County than in the state overall.
In response to those cost pressures, Wasatch County Manager Dustin Grabau said he and other local leaders are looking for creative ways to increase the community’s affordable housing stock.
That includes looking north to Park City, where leaders are forging public-private partnerships to facilitate affordable developments.
Grabau said Wasatch County staff and elected officials attended the recent Wasatch Back Economic Summit to learn about Engine House, a workforce housing project under construction in Park City’s Bonanza Park neighborhood.
Park City owns the land, which is a little under two acres. It leased the land to the developer at the rate of $1 for 99 years. The developer is using state and federal tax credits to make the project financially viable. When complete, Engine House will have 99 affordable units and 24 market-rate apartments.
Grabau said that kind of agreement could be a model for Wasatch County to follow.
“Public-private partnerships are one area that I don’t know that we’ve explored very thoroughly yet,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Tuesday.
Grabau said staff studied how Engine House was planned and funded and how similar projects could be created in Wasatch County.
“And we talked about other properties that might be available for this type of use and where they should go,” he said.
He said the county is also trying to keep in mind that the best place for affordable units might be within Heber City, where there are more services and amenities, rather than on unincorporated county land.
Grabau said he’s not yet sure what Wasatch County’s equivalent to Engine House would look like, but that’s why county staff are exploring different approaches to solving the affordability problem.
“Affordable housing is such a big issue, it’s going to need an ‘all of the above’ kind of an approach,” he said. “I think educating ourselves and generating some of the political will to tackle some of these hairy issues was part of the discussion.”
Meanwhile, in Heber City, leaders say they’re working behind the scenes to acquire property that could be home to deed-restricted units in the future.
On July 1, the city purchased the Wasatch Wave property downtown. Heber City Manager Matt Brower has said plans for the property are still up in the air, but the city is considering options including mixed-use development and housing.
Park City Municipal and Heber City are financial supporters of KPCW. For a full list, click here.
