PROVO, Utah – At a recent Park City Council meeting, PEG Companies, the developer of the projects replacing the parking lots at the base of Park City Mountain Resort, presented a new plan for affordable housing that will double the number of units originally proposed.
The new plan also makes up the deficit of 23 units of affordable housing that weren’t built after the construction of the Legacy Lodge and the Marriott Mountainside hotel.
The development agreement for the resort expansion requires deed-restricted affordable housing for 80 employees – about 10% of the workforce that will be needed to service the new development.
In its latest submission, PEG is now proposing 161 units. Twenty-four of them are split between three dorm-style facilities containing 8 beds, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living area, laundry, and storage. Rent per room, including utilities, is proposed to be $624 a month.
The rent for the 86 – 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units would run from $900 a month to more than $1,100 a month using a 45% AMI (average median income in Summit County) metric. 84 of the 161 will be rental units – the other 77 will be for sale.
The developer’s priority is to serve the employees of the development first and will they’re willing to open the units up to others, if available. PEG spokesperson Kristin Williams says the housing will reach a broad base of employees.
“What we found especially in resort housing development in providing that variety between rental for sale, and workforce in that dorm-style, seasonal-type situation has really been effective to ensure … with those varying AMI calculations that you’re really trying to reach as broadly as possible, and potentially create that stair-step of, you know, maybe you start out in the seasonal dorm-style, and as you get promoted and as you decide to stay in town and your income level goes up that there is actually somewhere for you to go from a housing standpoint, over time,” she said.
In response, Park City Councilor Becca Gerber said she was glad to see the number of beds go up and that they meet the requirements of the city’s housing resolution. She questioned however whether this will be enough in the long term.
Councilor Steve Joyce called it a win-win. He asked that something be worked out to ensure that when the units are built, people can get moved in with any HOA or punch list problems. Councilor Max Doilney agreed.
“Punch-list problems are the most arduous and biggest pain in the butt for developers, as you know probably better than anybody,” he said to the presenters. “And so, addressing that verbiage I think would be a really nice sort of bow on the box that already looks like a pretty good present.”
While the PEG development is still being considered by the Park City Planning Commission, the city council serves as the housing authority. Park City Manager Matt Dias said the new housing plan would need approval by the authority – so it was brought to the council to see if the developer is headed on the right track.
