Politics & Government
Revised Thanksgiving Station project proposed with fewer units, Clubhouse Drive extension nearing reality
Nearly two months after being denied and sent back to the drawing board, the Thanksgiving Point Station (transit-oriented development) developers presented an update of their proposal to Lehi City Council on Tuesday.
“We’ve done a lot of really good work the last month or two since we were last here,” said John Bankhead of the Slopes Residential developer team.
Slopes Residential, a company that includes STACK Real Estate, Greer Company and Thanksgiving Point, has been at odds with the City over current and future infrastructure funding. Both parties have repeatedly disagreed about which entity would finance specific road and utility needs, as well as the quantity of units the area can support.
The original concept plan included 5,837 residential units and office and commercial space.
The most recent Area Plan released in December of 2021 proposed new housing units of slightly fewer than 5,400, including a range of residences from studios to three-bedrooms. The housing would bring an estimated 12,190 additional residents to Lehi.
The proposal also included 11 acres of park and open space, nine acres for a school, 500,000 square feet of office space, 52,000 square feet for a church, and 300 hotel rooms on 115 acres at Executive Parkway and Ashton Boulevard. The building would occur in phases over the next 20-25 years. The City Council unanimously denied that plan.
On Tuesday, developers presented a plan with 2,000 units which garnered more consensus from the developer, City staff and the City Council.
“The things we took away from the last meeting were–It was clear that 5,400 units was too much, and we need to look at something in the 2,000 range. A desire to have more detailed and thorough infrastructure plans with how it will be paid for. This development also needs to ensure Thanksgiving Points future long-term success,” said Bankhead in his status update.
The new plan, which won’t be officially presented until next month is expected to have 1,800 units in the transit-oriented development (TOD) area which includes the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) property, the soccer fields north of the FrontRunner Station and the Cornbelly’s site. The remaining 200 units will be outside of the TOD zone on property in the southern area of Thanksgiving Point.
The new plan will preserve Electric Park and Farm Country which were casualties in the last plan. The updated plan also creates ongoing funding for Thanksgiving Point as each rental unit will include a family membership to the venue. The cost will be included in monthly rent and disbursed to Thanksgiving Point.
The new proposal will also include a new traffic study and significant progress surrounding the Clubhouse Drive extension project.
“We are still highly focused on the Clubhouse Drive extension. There is a bill currently in the legislature that will transfer ownership of Clubhouse Drive and make it a part of SR92 all the way across the river and connect through to 2100N. That will then become a UDOT road, and it will be funded this year. We want to get that in as soon as possible,”said Bankhead.
The bill to change Clubhouse Drive (SB13) from a City road to a State road will transfer the cost of the extension from Lehi and pass it to the State. The bill, which is making its way through the current legislative session, passed unanimously in the Senate and will soon be taken up by the House.
To conclude the discussion, Bankhead asked the Council for an exception to the building permit pause in the Thanksgiving Point area to allow an indoor climbing gym to begin the building process. The Council granted that request after denying it nearly two years ago.
The updated Thanksgiving Station concept plan is expected to be reviewed by the Planning Commission in early March and then pass to the City Council for approval by the end of March.
