By Karen Sorenson
Drivers on State Street in Orem may have noticed that the gaping hole on the west side of the road has started to fill up.
The development taking its place isn?t a traditional shopping center. It?s not a business plaza either. Rather, the new Midtown Village will combine retail, business and residential components to create an ?innovative community space.? The first level of the eight-story complex will be used for shops and restaurants, the second for business offices, and the third and up as luxury condominiums, with plenty of amenities including work out facilities and a rooftop pool and garden.
The residential and mixed-use development is not the first of its kind. Similar facilities, like the Wells Fargo Building in Provo, which has 24 residential units, are becoming more common.
The Village will be approximately 7.87 acres in size, and is projected to cost $75 million. The 96-foot-tall development will be the tallest in Orem and the second-largest development of its type in Utah, second only to the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City.
Project developer Larry Myler said he is excited about the project and thinks the people of Orem will be too.
?Early on we had some concerns from neighbors about traffic and the loss of a mountain view,? Myler said. ?But we were able to resolve those issues.?
Myler also said the people of the community were able to give ideas on how to improve the development, making it a greater project for the community.
The community has responded with interest ? before construction reached ground level, 80 percent of the 243 vacancies were sold.
Considerations for the comfort of the residents aren?t the only factor in building Midtown.
Mark Sheanshang, the project manager from Big D Construction, said his company is using a new technology in building Midtown Village that will help it help resist earthquake damage.
?The core braces will absorb movement and can be replaced after a seismic event,? Sheanshang said.
According to a Midtown Village press release, the new earthquake technology is only about three years old but is being used across the nation for projects of this size.
Construction is scheduled to be completed in December 2007.
(For comments, e-mail Karen Sorenson at Karen@sorenson.org)