FARMINGTON - A developer hopes to finalize financing for a $5 million industrial park in this community by mid-week, and could break ground for the project by the weekend.
Brad Park said he expects to have funding in place for construction of phase one of Farmington Bay Business Park at approximately 1200 South and 650 West later this week. He hopes to obtain a permit and be ready to move on the project within the week.
Phase one will consist of four buildings estimated to cost more than $1.2 million each, he said.
Kent Whitehead, the contractor for the project, originally obtained a conditional- use permit and site plan approval for construction of office/warehouse buildings on the 6 acre site in September 2008.
In approving the project, the city's planning commission deferred approval of the remaining phases of the project to city staff, giving city staff the authority to determine compliance with each of the requirements of the original site plan approval. The area is zoned for light manufacturing and business use.
Park said he already has sold more than two-thirds of the space in the new buildings. He estimated the structures could be completed by early this fall.
The project has been delayed only by financing concerns, said Park, who defined the current financial climate for development as "brutal."
"We would be in the ground and maybe be built by now, if we had financing," Park said.
The city's first industrial park is being built in an area where a Legacy North highway could be constructed. Park acknowledged the shadow of that possibility was considered in moving ahead. He suggested the park has been in the planning for almost a decade.
He said the park's location has drawn a great deal of interest from local businesses.
"The greatest interest comes from people who live in the area who don't want to have to go to North Salt Lake or Layton," he said of potential industrial park locations in Davis County.
David Petersen, director of community development for Farmington, said the project adds something new to the city.
"This is our backyard. We don't have many uses like this," Petersen said.
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