University Place apartments on the rise, office building next | Orem News

OREM -- If you think you've been hearing about the University Mall development becoming a major development called University Place for a long time, you're right.

As early as April 2013, members of the Orem City Council and department heads were informed of preliminary discussions on the development and were asked to sign non-disclosure statements. All the council members except Brent Sumner signed the agreements.

It wasn't until the cat was let out of the bag at the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Summit in September 2013 that people finally got an idea of what was in the works.

At that summit, Coldwell Banker executive agent Brandon Fugal announced University Mall would undergo a huge transformation, introducing its own business park and housing developments along with additional retail expansion.

"It will be Utah County's equivalent of City Creek," said Fugal at the time, comparing the Orem project to the redeveloped mall in downtown Salt Lake City.

Comments on social media instantly took the mall project out of the realm of hush-hush, and had Realtors warming up their client lists.

Since that time, residents have had snippets of the project introduced to them. A Commercial Development Area project (CDA) that provides post-performance subsidies and rebates caused a major stir and was challenged by some residents, threatening to bring it to the voters via a referendum. The effort spearheaded by City Councilman Hans Andersen and resident Wayne Burr seemingly fell short of the required number of signatures, and the petition was never submitted to the city.

In the meantime, the five taxing agencies involved with the CDA voted on the project. By late November, all had approved the 133-acre project.

That means Woodbury Corporation and Ivory Homes can now pick up the pace and go full-steam ahead on their $500 million worth of projects, developing what will officially become University Place next month.

The most visible project at present is apartments being built on the northeast portion of the University Place campus. Demolition and clearing of ground between 900 and 1000 South has given way to construction of 238 units. Next year, construction is scheduled to begin on another 240 units. In all, 478 apartment units will be built in that area of the campus. 

According to Arty Woodbury of the Woodbury Corporation, building plans have been pulled and are ready for construction.

"We're excited about this joint venture with Ivory. Both are Utah companies," Woodbury said. "The key thing is these apartments really are a quality-type new offering to the community."

Woodbury said while the descriptions of the new homes sound out of this world, the corporation isn't trying to build the Taj Mahal. Woodbury and Ivory Homes are trying to mostly target young professionals and empty nesters with very high-end luxury.

"These apartments are upscale, urban and high‐tech rental residences unlike anything else available in Utah County, providing corporate apartments and attracting young professionals and second lifers seeking a walkable, mixed‐use community lifestyle," Woodbury said. "Some things that set these residences apart are floor-to-ceiling windows, each unit will have a private balcony or patio, 9-foot ceilings throughout with some upper-level units having 12-to-16-foot vaulted ceilings, walk-in closets and granite/quartz countertops."

The project amenities include a large clubhouse with a great room, serving kitchen, Internet café, conference room, theater room and two fitness centers. Just outside of the clubhouse will be a resort-style swimming pool, and a large double-diamond shaped hot tub. Each building will have an interior court with fire pits, barbecue areas and full landscaping. All buildings include controlled access garage parking (at grade level but under the buildings), cart caddies for groceries, bike storage lockers and dog wash areas.

The luxury apartments are comprised of 50 percent one-bedroom units, 40 percent two-bedroom units and 10 percent three-bedroom units.

"This type of housing improves the neighborhood, and brings positive traffic rather than negative," Woodbury said.

Some Orem residents may have noticed homes have been demolished around 800 South and 750 East. Rob Kallas, University Mall manager, said those homes were owned by either Woodbury or Ivory but are not a part of the apartment project.

The few remaining homes and opened areas could remain in place for several years. Kallas said the homes were taken down to offer a visual corridor.

In January, construction will begin on a five-story office building just east of the Texas Roadhouse restaurant on the corner of University Parkway and State Street. Further east along the parkway on the mall campus, ground will be broken for three eateries -- Potbelly's, Chipotle and a new Starbucks location with a drive-up window. Residents can also expect to see a good portion of the Mervyns wing of the mall come down to make room for a large park and other amenities.

Next year will also begin the reconfiguration of the main mall road between 800 East and State Street, infrastructure construction, other office buildings and mixed-use development. As the market demands there are also plans for more high-rise office buildings, a four- or five-star hotel and senior housing.