People driving along Highway 224 over the last year may have seen the transformation of an empty parking lot into a village at The Canyons. The buildings being constructed at the base of the resort are a workforce housing project called Slopeside Village that’s been planned for nearly 25 years.
With two out of seven buildings set to open this fall, John Simmons, Planning and Operations Commissioner for Canyons Village, says they are accepting applications for roughly 600 units. The application and qualification process is a tiered system with Canyons Village employers and employees first in line.
“We've opened it up to all of the employers within Canyons Village, not just the resort, so everybody has a chance if they want to, to try to get a block of rooms and do some master leasing," he said. "But there's plenty of opportunities outside of that. So we're not we're not master leasing the whole project, there's still a lot of rooms available for other employees, as well.”
Simmons says one requirement that needs to be met to live there is related to salary. According to a 2018 master agreement, Canyons Village employees need to earn less than 80% of the area’s median income, which in 2022 is about $74,880 for a one-person household.
“And so once you meet that, the salary requirements and also the work requirements, there's also some background checks and things," Simmons said. "So that whole application process is being finalized right now.”
The apartments in the project will range from pod to three-bedroom units. All of them are furnished and include trash service, cleaning service and ski gear lockers.
Rents have not been determined yet, prices are coming in late August based on operational budget and costs.
“One of the ones that are kind of unique, there are two buildings that will have a pod-style configuration were you have single lockout units that open up into a large common area," Simmons said. "And that's actually been modeled after one of the kind of unique dormitory styles at the University of Utah.”
Slopeside Village is encouraging a car free environment, emphasizing access to public transit and including an e-bike station that will be part of Summit County’s e-bike share program.
Construction of all seven buildings and close to 1,200 units is set to be complete by winter 2023.