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Holladay Journal

Let's try this again: Former Cottonwood Mall site to be redeveloped

Apr 03, 2020 01:35PM ● By Zak Sonntag

Project rendering of one block of the Royal Holladay Hills. (Courtesy of Woodbury Corp)

By Zak Sonntag | [email protected]

The planning commission in December gave a green light for the initial phases of Holladay Hills, a mixed-use development coming to the former Cottonwood Mall site with construction to begin this spring. 

The plan will include a mixture of commercial and residential areas, with up to 614 dwelling units and up to 714,000 square feet of commercial space, including office space, dining and entertainment, along with an open park area.

“One of our top priorities with this project is to create meaningful amounts of green space that is available to the community for gatherings and events to enhance the quality of life in our remarkable city,” said Steve Peterson, the president of Millrock Capital, who is undertaking the project in a co-partnership with Woodbury Corporation and Ball Ventures.

Developers for Holladay Hills made diligent efforts to include the community, hoping to overcome the odor left behind from the city’s 2018 crash-and-burn attempt to redevelop the mall site in collaboration with the Ivory-Woodbury Corporation. “We have learned so much from meeting with Holladay residents, and we continue to learn from their ideas and comments on this property,” said Jeff Woodbury, vice president at Woodbury Corporation. Developers have worked with community members hoping to create a site that will “blend into the beauty of the city of Holladay.”

The 2018 project, known as the Holladay Quarter, relied on a broad rezone that was so unpopular citizens battled it by a referendum. Residents voted the redevelopment down, with 58% voting against, but the city insisted it was not a referable issue and that the rezone fell within their administrative prerogative. The fate of the Holladay Quarter was ultimately decided by the Utah Supreme Court, who ruled that the rezone entailed “laws of general applicability,” and was based on the “weighing of broad, competing policy considerations,” and was therefore a legislative decision rather than administrative, which meant it was indeed subject to a referendum.

The city then fell back on the previous zoning parameters from its 2007 Site Development Master Plan (SDMP), which imposes more restrictions on height, usage and density. Project developers have worked within those guidelines in the hopes of creating a space that will bring economic opportunity without putting too much burden on residents’ way of life.