Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Salt Lake City's new affordable housing complex, 144 South, officially opened.
- The project faced numerous challenges, including financial hurdles and site issues.
- It offers 110 units for residents earning below 60% of the area median income.
SALT LAKE CITY — Peter Corroon became emotional as he recalled the long journey that led him to the lobby of a new affordable housing complex where he stood.
Corroon, the former Salt Lake County mayor and the project's final developer, signed on in 2017 to become a minority partner of what was supposed to be a market-rate apartment development in Central City. Initial planning started at least two years before that, but it had already gone through many hurdles, and there were many yet to come.
"It was a rough project," he said.
A hard-money lender took over after the original majority partner filed for bankruptcy; another partner dropped out after personal issues. Eventually, Corroon's business — the only one left — bought out the lender's share and assumed control of it, turning it into an affordable housing project — a rarity of its kind in the market — as he gained new partners.
It then endured through a COVID-19 pandemic, record inflation and interest rates, and site challenges with getting funding that delayed everything and raised costs.
After overcoming those hurdles, he and representatives of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County gathered together Wednesday morning to formally open the 144 South affordable housing apartment complex, 144 S. 500 East. The complex offers 110 one-bedroom and studio units for people earning at or below 60% of the area median income.
It also comes with the same bells and whistles as many of the other new apartment complexes, including a gym, an outdoor patio with a hot tub providing a partial view of the city's building skyline, and a club area. There's also a remote working area, as well as a retail space that will be open to the community once a tenant is found.
"It's a labor of love," Corroon told KSL.com after a ribbon-cutting ceremony. "These things are a pain in the rear-end to build, try to get financed and leased up. ... But you do it for the affordable housing and good it does for the community."
A long time coming
Gary Knapp, a project manager for JZW Architects, remembers working on 144 South's initial building designs in 2015. Everyone involved was excited, but the original developer sold it off. It went through ups and downs after that, but Knapp said many developers were spooked off by issues with the site such as all the power lines in the area tied to when the lot was just one home.
"It had quite the cost to remedy and so, again, we thought the project was dead," he said.
Flash forward a few years later, when Carroon and his team — now in charge — were ready to go from planning to construction.
The project team had attempted to receive a loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, but that effort was scrapped over issues the federal government had with parts of the project. Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust Company jumped in after that, serving as the primary lender while other investors jumped in with the project still securing housing tax credits.
Interest rates soared by the time the project reached the financing stage. It's one reason why the $40 million project ended up costing about 48% more while providing 33% fewer units than another recent comparable complex, Carroon said.
The project did, however, receive support from government agencies. The Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City's Housing Development Loan Program provided a $1.7 million loan, while federal, state and county sources also provided assistance.
Ground officially broke on the project in April 2023, but it hit more snags as it went through construction that added to cost and time, largely tied to power lines again. Construction wrapped up toward the end of 2024.
It was topped off with a pair of murals funded through the Salt Lake City Arts Council's public art program. One features a red cougar outside of the building designed by the artist Shae Petersen, while the other, designed by Chuck Landvatter, features two hands reaching out to each other.
144 South's first residents began moving in about a week ago.
Reaching a major need
Projects like 144 South are also rare because many lenders aren't interested in affordable housing projects as much as luxury units, and there are more government regulations, Carroon says. In this case, it took a mix of government sources to help get projects like it to happen.
Our incomes are too low, and our rents are too high. The housing crisis is real, and it's putting families at risk.
– Mike Akerlow, Salt Lake County housing
City and county leaders say projects like it are worth it, though. Mike Akerlow, director of housing and community development for Salt Lake County, said there's still a housing shortage of "tens and tens of thousands" within the state that has driven up costs.
Rising costs have made it difficult for working-class residents to pay for housing, he added. Meanwhile, there are now nearly 4,000 people unsheltered in Utah as more people are maxed out of housing.
"Our incomes are too low, and our rents are too high," he said. "The housing crisis is real, and it's putting families at risk."
All 110 units are designed for people making 60% of the area median income or less, which is less than $50,000 per year. It keeps rents at about $1,160-$1,250 plus utilities, but there aren't additional fees attached. The average rate is $1,205-$1,411 for similarly sized units before fees, per Apartments.com.
City funding has helped fund projects that have now added 1,256 new affordable units, including 127 "deeply affordable" units since July, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said. About 6,400 affordable units have either been created or stabilized since 2020. More projects are also on the horizon.
"We look forward to many more," Akerlow said
