Partnership to convert office building to multifamily units in downtown SLC

A partnership of the Perpetual Housing Fund of Utah and the Rocky Mountain Homes Fund has purchased the 515 Tower, a 171,193 square-foot office building in downtown Salt Lake City with the intention of converting it to multifamily housing. The building is located at 515 E. 100 S. Nearon Enterprises, a privately held real estate investment company in Walnut Creek, California, sold the property.

“When a tenant occupying nearly 50 percent of the building vacated in 2022, and the office market conditions deteriorating, Nearon directed it efforts at an adaptive reuse conversion of 515 Tower to a multifamily asset,” said CBRE’s Patrick Bodnar, who represented the seller along with CBRE’s Eric Smith. “Fortunately, the building possessed several key attributes that are favorable to resident, mixed-use conversion. As a result, there was considerable interest by several well-qualified bidders.”

The buyer plans to convert the office building to a variety of uses, including 100 units comprised of low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) affordable housing and moderate-income condos, impact-focused coworking space and street-level uses such as a locally operated coffee shop or a boutique restaurant. A future inline-addition phase of the project is planned to include a daycare and additional low- and moderate-income housing units including both apartments and condos.

Bodnar said renters will have an opportunity to participate in ownership based on their time renting at the property, providing an opportunity to earn a healthy down payment for the purchase of a home.

Investments from Salt Lake City, Intermountain Health and other investors have made the project possible. Further leverage of the development opportunity is achieved with the current parking garage that will be razed, providing for additional apartments and condos in a second phase.