South Jordan hires Forest City to study land near FrontRunner

Now that commuter rail connects South Jordan to several Wasatch Front communities and universities to the north and south, the land around the city's FrontRunner station is getting a second look.

South Jordan officials recently signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Cleveland, Ohio-based Forest City Enterprises to conduct a $300,000 transit-oriented development study of approximately 1,000 acres surrounding the rail platform near 10351 South and approximately 500 West.

Results of the study should be available this summer, said Brian Preece, city commerce director for South Jordan.

Most of the land, with the exception of the city-owned Mulligans Golf Course, is privately held, Preece said. The area under study extends west from Interstate 15 between 9800 and 114000 South to residential areas that begin at 900 to 1100 West.

"We don't want to duplicate what's on the other side of the freeway in Sandy," Preece said, noting that another mall is not in the works. "We want to find out what is feasible and marketable."

On land directly adjacent to the station, Preece expects to see office space and service-oriented retail uses, while housing and more traditional retail will be likely uses for land further out, he said.

The Jordan River winds through a portion of the land, and current open space and trails will continue to be preserved, Preece said. The study is expected to provide a "pro forma" analysis that will help prospective developers determine their costs and returns on investment.

"We'll be able to show them from a dollars and cents aspect why it makes sense to develop in these areas," Preece said. The 1,000-acre area has yet to be named, but he expects such branding to result from the study as well.

Forest City Real Estate Services President Emerick Corsi said in a statement, "Transit-oriented development is of growing interest for many communities as a way to catalyze economic growth in a sustainable and beneficial manner."

Forest City, founded in 1920 and publicly traded since 1960, touts a portfolio of more than 200 retail, office and apartment properties in core markets throughout the country. Its most notable projects include Denver's Stapleton community, the New York Times Building in Manhattan and Victoria Gardens in California.

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