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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Harrisville home to new DI building
By SCOTT SCHWEBKEHARRISVILLE -- Deseret Industries plans to shed its well-worn thrift store in downtown Ogden for a new, upscale $7.2 million building in Harrisville.
Work on the 55,000 square-foot structure west of the intersection of North and Wall avenues is expected to be completed sometime this summer, Harrisville City Administrator Bill Morris said Monday.
Deseret Industries is closing its Ogden store at 2048 Washington Ave. because it has outgrown the facility, he said.
Richard McConkie, who is Ogden's deputy director of community and economic development, said Deseret Industries has apparently been looking for a new store location for quite some time.
Deseret Industries officials contacted by phone Monday refused to comment on plans for the Ogden store or the new facility in Harrisville.
Harrisville has received about $35,000 in building permit, business license and impact fees for the new store, but will not reap any property or sale tax revenue since Deseret Industries is a nonprofit operation, Morris said.
However, the city could receive taxes from new businesses that may spring up around the store, he said.
Deseret Industries, which is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, provides vocational rehabilitation training and operates thrift stores at 46 locations in Utah, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
In addition to a thrift store, the Deseret Industries building in Harrisville will also house operations for LDS Family Services and Church Distribution Services, said Eric Sadler, an official with Architectural Nexus, a Logan firm overseeing the facility's design and construction administration. The Deseret Industries component will employ about 130 workers and the entire building will have parking for 293 vehicles, Sadler said.
An area on the north side of the building will serve as a merchandise drop off point for Deseret Industries patrons that won't interfere with traffic flow, he said. The building will be similar to a new Deseret Industries facility that opened in October at 930 W. Hill Field Road, Layton. That facility includes a thrift store, Bishops' Storehouse and home storage center, LDS Family Services, Church Distribution Services and LDS Employment Resource Services.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints carefully considers whether to undertake building projects, which allows it to move forward even during economically challenging times, Sadler said.
"The church is slowing down (new construction) a little, but it's still doing projects," he said.
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