Matheson to leave his position running the show at The Point in Draper
The man who has spearheaded The Point, a major development involving 600 acres of state-owned land in Draper, is stepping down.
Alan Matheson, who has served as executive director of The Point since mid-2019, will leave to serve in a position managing land and water resources at Rio Tinto Kennecott, where he will lead a team to create and implement a strategy for the use of the company’s 90,000 acres of land and water rights in the Salt Lake area.
Plans for The Point, site of the former home of the Utah State Prison, include a 100-acre first phase at the heart of the property that call for it to eventually be home to housing, parks, trails, roads, offices, hotel rooms, an event venue, retail, an “Innovation District,” parking, a new Frontrunner station and 14,000 jobs.
Phase I is envisioned to be the springboard for development of the 600 acres, which in turn is expected to lead to development of more than 20,000 undeveloped acres nearby.
In an emailed “Director’s Message,” Matheson thanked the people who have contributed to the project with their ideas, feedback and time.
“Working with so many of you on this project over the last five years has been a highlight of my professional career,” he wrote. “I will continue to champion The Point as a key driver of economic development and quality of life in Utah. Construction at The Point will soon be underway and I look forward to watching Utah’s Innovation Community rise from the ground.”
He noted his work alongside state leaders, including the members of the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority, the organization’s development partners and its team.
“We have sought and received a historic volume of public input on this project, engaged world-class planners and designers to develop our initial framework plan, secured funding for critical backbone infrastructure, completed demolition of the former prison facility, planned for future transit and road improvements and signed the historic Phase I development agreement,” he noted.
Phase I at The Point will feature more than 3,300 multifamily residential units, including approximately 400 affordable housing units; 16 acres of parks, including a Central Green gathering area, where every home is within two blocks of a park or a trail; six miles of roads; 10 miles of sidewalks and trails; more than 2.3 million square feet of office space; 381,000 square feet of hospitality space in the form of 540 hotel rooms; a 60,000-square-foot events center seating 2,000 people; 356,000 square feet of shopping, restaurants and grocery stores; 12,650 parking-garage stalls; and a “Convergence Hall” that will be the first piece of the Innovation District at The Point.
The Point authority has signed a 20-year Phase I agreement with its private-sector development partner, Innovation Point Partners, which is a partnership among Lincoln Property Co., the lead developer for The Point; and two local firms, Colmena Group and Wadsworth Development Group. If IPP meets the conditions in the agreement, it will have the exclusive option to develop Phase II of The Point. That phase will consist of at least 99 acres, although its location at The Point has not yet been determined. IPP will invest more than $2.3 billion in private-sector financing to construct the buildings and amenities at Phase I.
Before becoming The Point’s executive director, Matheson served as director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, where he had been for four years. He also served as senior environmental advisor and state planning coordinator there.
Matheson also was executive director of Envision Utah from 2004-2011, director of the Utah Water Project in 2001-04, a partner at the law firm Ryley Carlock & Applewhite in 1999-2001, senior attorney and environmental policy advisor at Arizona Public Services in 1993-96, an associate at Brown & Bain in 1991-93, and a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in 1989-90.