SALT LAKE CITY — The mayor’s office has announced a developer for the old public safety building in downtown, with a vision to create a combined commercial/residential center in the historic building.
Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker’s office said in a statement Wednesday that the deal with Cowboy Partners/Form Development to redevelop the Northwest Pipeline Building comes with some strings attached. The developer will build two new structures on the property and renovate the historic building to create 248 residential units. Of those, 65 will be termed “permanent supportive housing” and 28 will be “affordable housing” for those earning 40-60 percent of median income.
Of the 11,200 square feet of commercial space in the project, 1,210 square feet will be rent free for a business that employs the chronically homeless.
“This will be a transformative project that effectively incorporates affordable housing units, historic renovation, neighborhood commercial space and even a half-acre of public open space right downtown,” said Neighborhood Development Division Director Mike Akerlow in a statement released by the Mayor’s Office.
The Northwest Pipeline Building recently housed the Salt Lake City Police Department and Fire Department. It fell into disrepair with broken elevators, broken pipes that spewed substances and other problems associated with the age. The developer gets tax credits to rehabilitate the building, which sits on the National Register of Historic Places.
