1 week Ago
Note to readers: As a community-funded paper, The Salt Lake Tribune has chronicled Utah’s housing crisis for years, but also looks to find solutions. In this series of stories, “ Building Options, ” we’ll look to outline the issue and why it matters, but also how a state program is showing signs of chipping away at the affordability crisis. Waived building fees and a “super streamlined” process helped get what’s known as The Howick — for now — off the ground, said Todd Reeder.
“We want to work in places that want us”, said Reeder, the CEO of Community Development Corporation of Utah , the nonprofit building the 150-unit complex on South Howick Street off West Central Avenue in Millcreek And Millcreek showed interest, going above and beyond in implementing strategies as part of the state’s moderate-income housing program. “The Howick” — a name that could change later — was possible, city planner Francis Lilly said, because Millcreek’s zoning laws, with density maximums and reduced parking minimums in the area, made it enticing for developers. Millcreek hasn’t seen many affordable housing projects, he said, but that zone is an exception with two “reasonably significant affordable housing complexes.
” The complex, which is near Trax between the Meadowbrook and North Murray stations, will serve people making 30% to 60% of the area’s median income, Reeder said. According to the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development , that’s between $25,770 and $51,540 for an individual or between $36,810 and $73,620 for a family of four. The federal agency defines 50% of area median income as “very low income.” (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Howick housing project in Millcreek, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Reeder said with three- and four-bedroom units, the complex is “really a family project.” Millcreek officials took steps to help the CDCU project and the other complex, Lilly said. The city, he said, has made it easier to subdivide a duplex for more affordable ownership, made it easier to build an accessory dwelling unit like a granny flat and eliminated the waiting period for subdividing multifamily projects.
Those actions are all strategies cities and counties can enact as part of Utah’s moderate-income housing program , which offers incentives for implementing different housing initiatives. And Millcreek has done more than required. “We’re actually giving some thought to making it easier for affordable homeownership to occur,” Lilly said.
That matters, Reeder said. “It really does make a difference to have the city wanting your product, wanting affordable housing,” he said. (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Howick housing project in Millcreek, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Some communities like their large home lots, he said, and it isn’t “worth our energy to go through that battle.” But other places are streamlining construction by opening up the permitting process and easing requirements, he said – and it makes a difference for developers and those looking for a home. Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position .
The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions..
