A new affordable housing development designed to attract teachers, first responders and other professionals opened in Francis last week as part of Ivory Innovations’ initiative to research and install low-cost homes throughout the state.
“We’ve heard from a lot of people, a lot of research, a lot of everything, that Summit County needs affordable housing,” said Ivory Innovations President Abby Ivory. “You see this with any resort community as we look across the United States. You have one community that’s driven up the cost of housing to an insane amount, but they also require a workforce that needs to be in that community, and where does that workforce live?”
Specifically, Ivory said the Park City area is driving up the cost of homes for East Side residents, even though the resorts are largely centered in western Summit County. The increased prices make it more difficult for families on the East Side to stay in Summit County, but it also limits commuting workers’ ability to become full-time residents.
“Nobody wants affordable housing, but they need it. At a certain point, the need overcomes this desire to push out development and everything else,” Ivory said. “We’re kind of at that point, to be honest, especially if you look at Francis.”
Ivory Innovations is a nonprofit center connected to the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business. The organization works closely with its parent company, Ivory Homes, to scout, acquire and develop land to create affordable housing communities.
“Ivory Holmes had a subdivision in Francis, and they donated the land for the building of these affordable housing projects to Ivory Innovations,” Ivory explained. “That’s how this all got kicked off, and it’s been a really amazing process. We built 16 townhomes, and we have a different, second phase coming for more affordable housing.”
The 16 townhomes are rental units priced 40% below market rate, or 60% of the area median income. The area median income in Summit County is $118,000 for one person or $168,600 for a family of four, according to Mountainlands Community Housing Trust.
“We want to protect any of the housing that is built there and have a focus on making sure the units are lived in by someone and they’re not something like a vacation property or something where people are coming in and out,” Ivory said. “As we look to build and develop in that community, I think that’s been an important thing as we’ve been talking to the mayor and to other people who live there, to build units that are building their community.”
The next phase of the development includes a commercial space in addition to more homes, and Ivory said her team works to personalize the business based on each community’s specific needs.
“Typically, when you build a community, they’ll ask you to build an amenity,” Ivory explained. “In Lehi, instead of a tennis court, we built a tutoring center alongside the affordable housing we put in down there. It’s been awesome. It’s actually gotten so much use, and it’s been a really great resource for the families that live in that community, so as we look at Francis and as we’re building out this next phase, we’re looking at that specifically.”
Ivory said she’s had multiple conversations with Francis City Mayor Jeremie Forman and members of the Francis City Council, who suggested the commercial space be used to bring a daycare to the area.
“That’s not something that we’ve done before, but it’s something that I would love to look into and see if we can do it, especially if that’s a big need for that side of Summit County,” Ivory said.
Ivory Innovations has another project in progress in eastern Park City that is similarly tied to an already existing Ivory Homes community, but the nonprofit organization is constantly looking for other opportunities to develop more affordable housing in Summit County.
“We’re trying to put in as much housing as we can if we have space or get land donations,” Ivory said. “We’re super interested in doing more in these areas because we know there’s such a need for it.”