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Provo exploring plans to redevelop Plumtree Plaza

Posted at 6:48 PM, Mar 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-17 20:48:45-04

PROVO, Utah - Provo City is working with developers to add a mixed-use complex near the BYU campus. It’s being done to revitalize a shopping complex that has struggled to keep tenants over the years.

Corey Norman, Provo City Deputy Mayor, said they’ve been looking at ways to redevelop the Plumtree Plaza shopping center for a couple of years. The 27-acre strip mall is located off of University Parkway in an area that’s heavily traveled.

“We want to see a place where citizens are comfortable living, they’re going to be comfortable visiting, they’re going to be comfortable using the new modes of transportation that we’re going to take into there,” Norman said.

The city is currently working with Westpoint Capital Partners, LLC on a proposal that would combine mixed use retail, office space and housing. Under the proposal, many of the existing restaurants along the street will stay, but the majority will get a complete overhaul--reorienting stores to the road and putting parking behind.

“It will bring the stores to the forefront, where you’ll be able to see what’s actually in the strip mall,” Norman said. “Which is the models that are working now."

The property already has various businesses that are frequented by BYU students. Hana Buhler said she’d like to see the area turned into something that would keep folks close by.

“I know a lot of my friends go to Orem or Spanish Fork because they have those kind of places there,” Buhler said. “So that would be really nice to have that kind of place a lot closer to campus.”

The project is still pretty early in the planning stages at this point. Developers are meeting with city staff next week to see what kind of zoning changes would need to be made to accommodate a mixed use development.