Historic 25th Street apartment building work halted due to wood issues
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- The Union Walk 55-unit apartment building taking shape at 144 25th St. in Ogden, photographed Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023.
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- The Union Walk 55-unit apartment building taking shape at 144 25th St. in Ogden, photographed Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. This image shows the rear of the structure.
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- The Union Walk 55-unit apartment building taking shape at 144 25th St. in Ogden, photographed Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. This image shows the rear of the structure.
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- The Union Walk 55-unit apartment building taking shape at 144 25th St. in Ogden, photographed Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023.
OGDEN — Construction of a five-story apartment building on Historic 25th Street in Ogden has been on hold since late March due to use of wood framing that is insufficiently fireproof, according to city officials.
“They didn’t use the proper fire-rated materials,” said Barton Brierley, the Ogden planning manager. That is, the fireproofing of some of the wood in the unfinished structure — with a shell and framing that appears to be made largely of wood — doesn’t comply with guidelines set by the city.
The development at 144 25th St., dubbed Union Walk, had already been the focus of ire of some due in part to its large size relative to the one- and two-story buildings around it. Now comes another hiccup as construction unfolds.
Brandon Cooper, Ogden’s community and economic development director, said the problem is with the wooden “framing members” used in the building, including wall framing, roof trusses, rafters and girders. The issue came to city officials’ attention during a routine building inspection, he said, and the city subsequently issued a “stop work order” on March 29 calling for a halt to work pending resolution of the problem.
Springville-based Summa Terra Ventures is the developer of the 55-unit structure taking shape in what had been a vacant, grassy lot before work started in late 2021. In a statement Friday, the firm said AE Urbia, the project architect, submitted “a comprehensively drawn solution” to city officials on Thursday addressing the issue.
In fact, Friday was the deadline for submission of a proposed fix, according to Cooper, and city officials had been waiting for something from the project developers
“All parties are excited for the city to review and approve these pre-discussed solutions and for construction to begin anew,” reads the Summa Terra statement. The developer didn’t provide details of the proposed fix, but Cooper said he thought a remedy was possible that wouldn’t require tearing down the building.
As it stands, the large wooden structure is a fire hazard, Cooper said, but those involved in the project, he added, have taken steps to guard against the possibility of a blaze. The structure — to feature a brick facade when complete — sits close to the adjacent structures on either side of it to the east and west and bumps up nearly to the sidewalk on Historic 25th Street.
“(They) have boarded and secured the first floor and have placed security and a camera,” Cooper said.
Likewise, the Summa Terra statement alluded to security measures in place at the site, fenced off from the public. “During this delay, the building has been completely secured and armed with a state of the art detection system monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” the developer said.
Two apartment structures under construction have been destroyed in blazes in Ogden in the last two years, a four-story structure in the 300 block of 28th Street on June 28, 2021, and a three-story building in the 3400 block of Washington Boulevard on Aug. 20 last year. Developer Elite Craft Homes was building both.
Cooper deferred to the developer and contractor for comment on what led to use of the insufficiently fire-rated wood. The Summa Terra statement pointed to the contractor, Salt Lake City-based Makers Line.
“Early on in the construction process on our Union Walk project, we now understand that the general contractor believed they had a viable alternative to the fire-treated lumber needed for construction in the city-approved construction drawings. They decided then to proceed with this option during construction,” the statement reads. “Once ownership, the city and the architect learned of this and that this option would in and of itself not be considered a viable alternative, the architect, builder, city building officials and owners have jointly and consistently worked tirelessly to provide a solution to get this building back on track.”
Those who work around the project site took note last spring that work on the building had stopped, but never heard why.
“You just started hearing people ask questions,” said Andrew Shorts, a host at Two-Bit Street Cafe just west of the new development. “It started looking like it had been for the most part fully halted.”
Sue Wilkerson, owner of Lighthouse Lounge, also west of the apartment building site, said she only learned last week that city officials had ordered a halt to work. At any rate, she suspects the building will “look great and fit in” once complete. She’s a member of the Ogden Landmarks Commission, which had signed off on the building design after numerous proposals from the developer.
Still, she has worries, notably where the tenants of the structure, once complete, will park their cars. “Our biggest concern about the building is lack of parking behind it,” Wilkerson said.
The lot north of Union Walk is meant for patrons of the restaurants and other businesses along 25th Street and can get packed at busy times.
Summa Terra officials, meantime, are eager to resume work. “Summa Terra couldn’t be more excited for this iconic downtown project to start moving again toward a successful completion,” the developer’s statement reads.