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Utah-based Mountain America Credit Union has broken ground on a new and visually dramatic 11-story corporate headquarters next to Interstate 15 in Sandy.
In a landmark addition to the already-booming corridor that includes the Silicon Slopes, the glass-clad building at 9800 S. Monroe St. just east of I-15 will be among the state's tallest office towers outside Salt Lake City's urban core.
Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan called the 327,000-square-foot office block, slated to open in early summer 2018, "everything that we'd hoped for for that area" and a major advance in the city's goal of building out its suburban downtown.
"We couldn't be more pleased to welcome their corporate headquarters," Dolan said Friday.
Officials with Mountain America said the tower adjacent to the new Hale Centre Theatre will accommodate 1,700 employees, largely executive, administrative and support workers serving the firm's 86 branches spread over Utah and four adjacent states.
In a statement, Mountain America President and CEO Sterling Nielsen said the building's modern design "mirrors our bold vision for the future success of the credit union."
A spokeswoman for the company, formed in the 1930s as a credit union for Salt Lake Telephone employees and currently headquartered in West Jordan, said it had grown dramatically in recent years, particularly since the Great Recession.
The new headquarters will include a fitness center and tree-lined outdoor amenities, with close proximity to TRAX and FrontRunner. The site offers easy access to Sandy's downtown and recreation venues in the Wasatch Mountains, considered a significant draw for new employment recruits.
The building will share an 1,800-stall parking lot with Hale Centre Theatre, set to open in fall 2017.
To be wrapped in high-performance, reflective glass, the new high-rise was designed by San Francisco-based WRNS Studio. The same architectural firm also produced Adobe's striking headquarters farther south along I-15 in Lehi.
The builder of Adobe's office campus, Salt Lake City-based Okland Construction, will also erect this one.
The broad, rectangular Mountain America office tower and adjoining 12-acre campus will be a build-to-suit project, with developer Gardner Co. buying the land from Sandy and then overseeing construction to specifications set by the credit union, which will own the end product.
Though a dollar figure was not disclosed, a real estate broker who represented both Mountain America and Gardner in the deal said it shattered Utah records for transactions of its kind.
"It is illustrative of a continued dynamic economy along the Wasatch Front," said Brandon Fugal, chairman of Coldwell Banker Commercial Advisors.
With its height, design standards and high visibility along the freeway, Fugal said, the project also "sets a tone for the type of development we will see in the future."
Twitter: @TonySemerad