Salt Lake City—CBRE has arranged the sale of 515 Tower, a 171,193 square-foot office building that will be converted to multifamily housing at 515 East 100 South in Salt Lake City.
Patrick Bodnar and Eric Smith of CBRE represented the seller, Nearon Enterprises, a privately held real estate investment company out of Walnut Creek, CA, in the transaction. The Perpetual Housing Fund of Utah purchased the property in partnership with Rocky Mountain Homes Fund.
“When a tenant occupying nearly 50% 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 Bodnar. “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 this 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 co-working space, and street-activating 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.
Additionally, renters will have an opportunity to participate in ownership based on their time of renter ship, providing an opportunity to earn a healthy downpayment for the purchase of a home. This unique approach seeks to encourage future home ownership, the one determining factor for generational wealth. 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.
Located near downtown Salt Lake City, tenants will have convenient access by walking, biking or riding TRAX light rail to employment, restaurants, entertainment options and retail centers. The historical Capital District, the unique Avenues District, the Salt Lake City CBD, and The University of Utah campus, make it a uniquely desirable place to live and work.
Despite the anticipation of next year’s historical peak deliveries in Salt Lake County of apartment units totaling 7,404 units, affordable rental options remain in short supply according to CBRE Research. This project will be the first of its kind providing are more dedicated affordable option that is structured to empower renters to become future homeowners.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2022 revenue). The company has approximately 115,000 employees (excluding Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
About Nearon Enterprises
Nearon Enterprises is a Walnut Creek, CA-based, privately held real estate investment firm. Nearon owns and operates a diverse portfolio of industrial, multifamily and office properties throughout the Western U.S. Current holdings are primarily concentrated in California, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Learn more at www.nearon.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.
About Perpetual Housing Fund
Utah’s Perpetual Housing Fund exists to remove the red tape, down payment, and income barriers that keep a rapidly expanding portion of our state from building equity where they live. Our nonprofit does this by building high-quality multifamily properties and allocating the majority of all proceeds and equity in those buildings and homes to resident-shareholders. You can learn more about Perpetual Housing Fund at perpetualhousing.org.