Village starts to take shape
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Michele Howey
Standard-Examiner correspondent
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strong>Groundbreaking was held in Bountiful
BOUNTIFUL -- Groundbreaking on the Village at Main Street means that, after more than a year of delays, the mixed-use development is starting to take shape.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place Tuesday, with footings and foundations scheduled to be poured next week.
The project will bring four stories of retail businesses and luxury rental apartments to the site, which formerly held a JC Penney call center. That building was demolished to make way for the development.
"That has been a real blighted area. This brings some great retail and residential to the city. It will be a real boost for Bountiful," said Larry Kocherhans, president of the development company IDG.
The project began last year but was quickly halted after crews digging footings and foundations hit ground water much higher than expected.
"We hit water 15 feet above where the engineers told us there would be," Kocherhans said.
Kocherhans said that was because between the time the engineering study had been done and the first groundbreaking, the water table had risen significantly.
"We had to re-engineer the whole site to make it work. The city engineer told us that the water table had gone up and that city wells had risen 15 feet, too," he said.
Those initial delays, coupled with rising construction costs, delayed the project for an entire year.
"In the meantime, prices continued to rise and we didn't have our contracts locked in. That added a couple of million (dollars) to the price of the property," he said.
Several retail tenants have already signed on, the biggest of which will be a health food grocery store, which Kocherhans said will be like Wild Oats with a farmer's market. He and his IDG company also will be relocating from Salt Lake City to the building.
"Along two sides of the building, Main Street and Pages Lane, will all be commercial retail. Then there will be 192 apartments, 96 of which will be for senior living," Kocherhans said.
Prices for the rentals will start about $700 for a one-bedroom and will be around $1,000 for units with two bedrooms and a den.
"We think that will be a good mix," he said. Kocherhans said the buildings will be secured with card readers, and the senior-living apartments will be separate from the regular apartments.
There will also be a courtyard with a smaller building for an indoor swimming pool and a large meeting room with a kitchen that will be available for residents to use.
"It will be a great gathering place for them," Kocherhans said.
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