Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
In 2018, the Utah State Legislature passed a bill creating a new land authority to guide the future development of 600 acres of state-owned land in Draper, Utah (just south of Salt Lake City). It's near an area called The Point of the Mountain and so that's what's this project is now being called -- The Point. Here's a map to help you get situated:
As many of you know, I am working on a new build in Park City, Utah. One of the things that I have had to get up to speed on are earth retention systems. Building in the mountains is challenging. Here are a couple of photos from this morning of a new single-family home under construction near the lot that I am working on.
In 2018, the Utah State Legislature passed a bill creating a new land authority to guide the future development of 600 acres of state-owned land in Draper, Utah (just south of Salt Lake City). It's near an area called The Point of the Mountain and so that's what's this project is now being called -- The Point. Here's a map to help you get situated:
As many of you know, I am working on a new build in Park City, Utah. One of the things that I have had to get up to speed on are earth retention systems. Building in the mountains is challenging. Here are a couple of photos from this morning of a new single-family home under construction near the lot that I am working on.
In addition to this being a big and meaningful development opportunity with an estimated 7,400 new households being contemplated, the land authority also wants this to become an innovation hub and a model "15-minute city."
There has been a lot of talk about 15-minute cities over the course of this pandemic, but the idea is simply to have all/most of your daily needs within walking distance of where you live and to not have to always rely on a car. This is a difficult thing to achieve in many cities, but I think it's one the greatest urban amenities out there.
A big part of this is creating the right street network and planning for enough density, which is why this can be so challenging to do after the fact. Street grids, in particular, tend to be extremely sticky and mostly immutable. In this case, the plan is to create car free zones (or limited vehicle zones) across the various centers of the development.
Developing walkable communities from scratch is a lot harder than slotting into existing urban fabrics, particularly when you have a contrasting context all around it. You have to get a bunch of different things right for it to be successful. But we continue to see lot more of these urban-focused masterplanning efforts and I think the trend will only continue.
If you're a developer who would like to participate in The Point, the RFP door is currently open.
It looks to be a combination of cast-in-place concrete and precast blocks (right side). We are looking at a similar strategy. To give you a sense of the magnitude, some of the concrete blocks we are looking at are 1,800 lbs each. As is the case with many construction projects, a lot of the costs here end up going towards things that most people won’t ever see or think about.
In addition to this being a big and meaningful development opportunity with an estimated 7,400 new households being contemplated, the land authority also wants this to become an innovation hub and a model "15-minute city."
There has been a lot of talk about 15-minute cities over the course of this pandemic, but the idea is simply to have all/most of your daily needs within walking distance of where you live and to not have to always rely on a car. This is a difficult thing to achieve in many cities, but I think it's one the greatest urban amenities out there.
A big part of this is creating the right street network and planning for enough density, which is why this can be so challenging to do after the fact. Street grids, in particular, tend to be extremely sticky and mostly immutable. In this case, the plan is to create car free zones (or limited vehicle zones) across the various centers of the development.
Developing walkable communities from scratch is a lot harder than slotting into existing urban fabrics, particularly when you have a contrasting context all around it. You have to get a bunch of different things right for it to be successful. But we continue to see lot more of these urban-focused masterplanning efforts and I think the trend will only continue.
If you're a developer who would like to participate in The Point, the RFP door is currently open.
It looks to be a combination of cast-in-place concrete and precast blocks (right side). We are looking at a similar strategy. To give you a sense of the magnitude, some of the concrete blocks we are looking at are 1,800 lbs each. As is the case with many construction projects, a lot of the costs here end up going towards things that most people won’t ever see or think about.
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
Share Dialog