By Cory Stahle,
Regional Economist
A recently released report from real estate firm Cushman
& Wakefield | Commerce, describes a record breaking construction trend
occurring around the border of Salt Lake and Utah counties. In the past decade,
the entirety of Salt Lake County and northern Utah County (900 plus square
miles) have averaged less than one million square feet of new office
construction annually. Over the past nine months this annual average has been
dwarfed by a five square-mile area along I-15 between Draper and Lehi. With nearly
two million square feet of new commercial construction projects underway,
primarily in behalf of technology companies, the area is being coined by some
as Utah’s “Tech-Highway.” A visual of the growth in construction is illustrated
in the following image:
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| Image Property of: Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce |
Construction
is a driver and manifestation of the economic growth occurring in the Salt Lake
City and Provo metropolitan areas. With a combined job growth rate of 4.2
percent from June 2014 to June 2015, Utah and Salt Lake counties are seeing
significant increases in the number of jobs available. A significant portion of
these job gains, in line with the Cushman report findings, are occurring in
professional/technical service occupations and in construction. In comparing June
2015 to the previous year, nearly 14 percent of total job gains in Utah and
Salt Lake counties were in professional/technical fields. Similarly,
construction accounted for 10.8 percent of jobs in the two counties during the
same period.
According to the report
from real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce, there are several
reasons why businesses may be choosing the Tech-Highway as a location for
expansion or relocation. Among these are lower business and living costs relative
to areas like San Francisco and the Bay Area, the allure of workforce interconnectivity
through mass transit, and the State of Utah’s high economic expansion rankings
relative to the United States.
The report also included a list of the businesses settling
along the “Tech-Highway” and their objectives, which include:
o EMC anticipates
creating an additional 700 jobs, currently constructing 100,000 square feet of
expansion space at Vista Station.
o Prosper Marketplace plans to create an additional 500 jobs. They currently lease
space in Draper while awaiting completion of their new 150,000 square-foot
expansion in Lehi's Thanksgiving Station 4.
o MaritzCX is
expanding in Lehi, expecting to add an additional 425 jobs.
o Thumbtack is a
Bay-Area company that settled in Draper to grow their staff to 300 soon.
o Jet.com is a New
Jersey based, e-commerce start-up expanding its member services group into
75,000 square feet of preleased space in Draper.
o Vivint Solar is
undergoing a massive expansion, planning for as many as 3,000 new Utah
employees.
o Academy Mortgage is relocating from Sandy to Draper, continuing Utah's
employment growth.
o Ancestry is moving
its headquarters from Provo to Lehi, seeking broader access to the area's
growing talent pool. Ancestry's 200,000 square-feet project will complete
construction next year.
Source: The Enterprise – Utah’s Business Journal, Cushman
& Wakefield | Commerce
Image: Cushman & Wakefield | Commerce
