Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Provo plans to build 74 affordable housing units for essential workers by 2026.
- The development will mix income levels, with half the homes for essential workers.
- The targeted price for these homes is $400,000, below the median market value.
PROVO — A Utah city is working on a plan to make housing more affordable for its essential workers like police officers and firefighters.
That plan calls for 74 housing units to be built on a 12-acre lot near Lakeview Parkway and Bulldog Lane in Provo, the largest city in Utah County.
Provo City Development Services Director Bill Peperone said the city-owned lot, which is located right across from Provo High School, is in an "up-and-coming area."
Peperone said about half of the new housing units will be for essential workers – like police officers and firefighters, teachers, and nurses – with the rest being sold at market rates.
"We have found that mixing income levels and housing product types and sizes makes for a more stable community, makes for a more stable neighborhood," Peperone said.
Housing is expensive in the Provo area and beyond. The median sales price in Utah County in September was $515,000, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.
Caleb Asbell, who works as a Provo EMT and firefighter, told KSL-TV he would like to buy a house in the city where he works, but it's not easy to do that.
"Interest rates are high, prices are high, and it's going to be difficult to afford," Asbell said.
That's why he's intrigued with the city's plan for new affordable housing for workers like him.
"It'll be a good thing for first responders – those of lower income that are serving the community – to be able to have affordable housing," Asbell said.
Provo officials said there's already a waitlist for the affordable units. The city is still looking for a builder for the development, which will contain mostly single-family homes and a few townhomes.
The targeted price range for the affordable units will be around $400,000, Peperone said, which would be well below market value. He said the first houses in the development are expected to be finished by the end of summer 2026.
"Increasing owner-occupied housing is a huge priority to the city council," Peperone said. "To not only have owner-occupied housing but housing that goes to our essential workers, that's just good for all of us."
