West Valley City’s council has unanimously approved a new development agreement clearing the way for 158 townhomes and single-family homes on a 26.34-acre parcel at 5035 West Lake Park Boulevard, finally putting long-vacant land back into play nearly two decades after an earlier deal for the site fell apart.
The council’s vote creates a fresh agreement for the project, known as Highbury, according to Building Salt Lake, which first reported the approval. The new agreement replaces one drafted back in 2008 that was never executed, leaving the parcel undeveloped for years even as the surrounding neighborhood filled in around it. The land is zoned single-family residential R-1-8, and Wasatch Group acquired the undeveloped parcel with plans to build it out.
The site has a history: Ivory Development originally planned a 98-acre project that included this parcel, and built out the majority of that larger development over time, per the same outlet’s report. The 26-acre piece now going to Wasatch Group appears to be the portion left over from that earlier plan, bordered by Sandwell Drive and Redbridge Way, both established streets in the built-out neighborhood around it.
What's Actually Getting Built
The approved mix includes 69 townhomes, 67 rear-loaded single-family homes and 22 front-loaded single-family homes, the outlet's report states. Front-loaded homes will carry three-car garages and a larger footprint as a result, and those larger-footprint units are slated for the southern exterior of the parcel along Sandwell Drive and Redbridge Way. Those exterior-lot homes will be the only ones in the development built with basements, featuring two floors and walk-out basements.
Rear-loaded single-family homes and townhomes will sit in the development's interior, where the single-family homes will have two stories, two-car garages and smaller lots, with dedicated open green space behind them. Both front-loaded and rear-loaded single-family homes carry a minimum of 1,350 finished square feet and average around 1,700 square feet, according to the project narrative described by the outlet.
Townhome buildings will range from three to six units apiece. The smaller tri-plex buildings will have two floors and three bedrooms per unit, while the larger buildings of five or six units will rise three floors and range from roughly 1,500 to 1,900 square feet, with two to three bedrooms depending on the unit.
Why Builders Got a Basement Exception
Developers sought an exception to West Valley City's rule requiring basements in new single-family homes, and the project narrative said that exception was needed because multiple soils reports showed a prohibitive water table on the site. The new agreement also sets updated design standards and larger minimum unit sizes, and adds shared amenities including a pool and pickleball courts.
One notable shift from the earlier proposal: the new agreement requires all roads in the development to be public, whereas a previous proposal had specified private roads. West Valley City's municipal code states that the purpose of its development-plan requirements for new single-unit or two-unit dwellings is to create more variety of housing options in the city, according to the West Valley City Municipal Code.
Council member Lars Nordfelt, who moved to approve the agreement, said he was excited about the development. The construction start date and home delivery timeline remain unclear, and no pricing, rental terms or affordability details have been disclosed as part of the approval.
Part of a Broader Building Wave
Highbury adds to a growing list of residential projects moving through West Valley City. At least four housing developments are currently underway in the city, including two gated communities for residents age 55 and older, according to West Valley Utah News. Those include the 65-unit Cottages at Pearce Farm near 3500 South and 6800 West and Arcadia Homes' Heather on Parkway, which will bring 84 single-level fourplex homes to 6081 South Parkway Boulevard.
Other active projects include Alpine Homes' 21-home Kiowa Court at 5143 West 3500 South, planned with walking trails, a park and a pavilion, and Edge Homes' development of 244 townhomes, 40 condominiums and 16 single-family dwellings near 3800 South Redwood Road. The outlet reported that builders remain bullish enough to keep pursuing projects despite high prices and 30-year mortgage rates that hovered around 6% in December.
That construction pace tracks with longer-term trends. West Valley City has ranked among Utah's leading cities for housing permits over the past three decades, according to an analysis by The Salt Lake Tribune, which found that Salt Lake and Utah counties together accounted for roughly 46% of all new housing permits statewide over that period. Most of that growth, the Tribune noted, has landed in suburbs surrounding the Salt Lake City and Provo-Orem metro areas — exactly the kind of infill the Highbury project represents after sitting dormant since its original 2008 agreement.
