Garbett Realty has agreed to buy the 3.58-acre property at 660 N. Redwood Road from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for $5 million. The developer is seeking to change the site’s zoning from Institutional to RMF-35, a request that could allow 88 rental townhomes to replace the church building in Salt Lake City’s Fairpark area.
Developer Files Plans for Church Property
According to Building Salt Lake, developers filed the rezoning proposal last week and submitted plans to the city on October 21. Garbett Homes is listed as the developer and Think Architecture as the architect on the project. County property records cited in the report show the land is still owned by the LDS Church, with the sale currently in process.
The purchase agreement, signed by an authorized church agent on September 9, allows a 90-day feasibility period from its effective date and an additional 30 days to close after that period. Building Salt Lake estimated the feasibility window would end in early December, with a possible closing around early January 2027. The outlet also reported that the building appears to be out of active use and is not on the church’s online list of active churches.
88 Units, Mostly One- and Two-Bedroom Layouts
The proposal calls for 88 townhome units for rent, ranging from one to three bedrooms. The breakdown includes 28 one-bedroom units, 29 two-bedroom units and 31 three-bedroom units, per the site plan described in the Building Salt Lake report. Three-bedroom units would be concentrated along the southern and eastern sides of the parcel, while two-bedroom units would largely sit along the northern and western edges; the remaining units would be one-bedroom, apart from three additional two-bedroom units mixed in.
The development is planned to be fully electric, and would add open community space along with 191 total parking stalls — 176 in garages and 15 for guests. A connection to Riverside Drive at the parcel's northeast corner would give residents an alternate way in and out besides Redwood Road, the outlet reported.
A Transition Zone Between Commercial and Residential
The project narrative frames the RMF-35 district as a tool for moderate-scale infill that bridges lower-density neighborhoods and busier commercial corridors, and argues the site's Redwood Road frontage and surrounding mix of uses fit that role. Parcels south of the church are already zoned for multifamily housing, while those to the north are zoned MU-3 and include retail space, according to the report. The development would sit south of a Maverik gas station and near fast-food restaurants and a Lucky grocery store, close to the Redwood Road and 700 North intersection.
Applicants told the city the project would add housing units where none currently exist, per the project narrative described by Building Salt Lake. Developers also say they plan to include affordable units on site, though the narrative does not specify how many units would qualify or what income levels would be eligible.
Jordan River Open Space and a Pending Area Plan
Beyond the housing itself, applicants proposed working with Salt Lake City to potentially activate public open space on adjacent, city-owned land along the Jordan River. The narrative suggests that activating the space could help address drug use and homelessness in the area while giving the community a new amenity, the outlet reported.
The timing intersects with a broader planning effort already underway nearby. Salt Lake City is in the process of updating its Northwest Community Plan, which was first adopted in 1992 and is meant to guide development in the area for the next 15 years. A draft version of that plan indicated the Redwood Road and 700 North intersection could eventually support buildings up to six stories, according to Building Salt Lake's reporting, though that broader plan update remains pending separately from this rezone request.
Developers plan to apply for funding from the Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency in 2027 to help finance the project, though no such funding has been secured at this stage. The agency has backed other affordable housing efforts in the city before — it approved funding earlier this year for four developments expected to create 595 homes, including more than 200 deeply affordable units, according to the City of Salt Lake City.
The Remaining Decision
The requested zoning change and other required approvals remain outstanding. The proposal has been filed.
What Prior Decisions and Funding Do—and Don’t—Show
A Salt Lake City Planning Division report dated April 8, 2020, considered an RMF-35 rezoning request for 261 N Redwood Road. That was a different property and proposal, so it does not establish the status or outcome of the Fairpark application. Salt Lake City says its Housing Development Loan Program awards low-cost loans through a competitive Notice of Funding Availability process, funded by tax increment revenues, according to the city. The developers’ plan to apply for city funding does not mean an award has been secured.
Developers say construction could begin as early as 2028 if the rezone and other required approvals are granted. The land sale is also still pending.
