Salt Lake City Mixed-Use Development Gets $170M Refi
The project will add nearly 600 units to a voluminous development market.
A joint venture between Bridge Investment Group, Blaser Ventures and Lowe Property Group has refinanced Post District, a four-building Class A, a 580-unit mixed-use community in downtown Salt Lake City with a $170 million loan from Fannie Mae’s near stabilization program.
The financing was arranged by Walker & Dunlop. The firm’s New York Capital Markets team led by Aaron Appel, Sean Reimer, Keith Kurland, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz, Dustin Stolly and Jackson Irwin served as an exclusive advisor to Bridge Investment Group.
The New York Capital Markets team also arranged a $157.5 million loan from Affinius Capital and Clarion Partners for the joint venture to refinance Post District in November 2023.
Construction on Post District began in June 2020, taking shape on 13 acres within a federally designated Opportunity Zone in the city’s Granary neighborhood. Post District opened in December 2023 and includes five buildings located between 500-600 South and 300-400 West in downtown Salt Lake City. The development has four residential buildings with a wide variety of layouts that range from micro-studios with about 375 square feet of space to three-bedroom penthouses spanning more than 2,000 square feet. The property also features nearly 26,000 square feet of retail space and 498 parking spaces.
The two largest residential buildings are Post House North and Post House South, which total 474 units. Located at 550 S 300 W and 570 S 300 W respectively, the buildings have studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in addition to townhomes. 801 Flats at 575 S 400 W has 73 units that are primarily micro-studios and studios. The Register, located at 510 S 300 W, is a boutique building and the most elevated of the residential offerings featuring 33 units with one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans.
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Community amenities include an 8,000-square-foot gym, a resort-style indoor-outdoor pool deck and glass infinity-edge spa as well as a movie theater, golf simulator, game room, grill area, coworking lounge, club room, market, multiple rooftop lounges and shared electric bikes.
Live-work-play offerings
“Post District represents the evolution of Salt Lake City’s urban core, offering a vibrant, mixed-use redevelopment that reflects the growing demand for well-designed, community-focused spaces,” Sean Reimer, managing director of New York Capital Markets at Walker & Dunlop, told Multi-Housing News.
“We saw strong interest in the financing from a wide range of capital sources, including agencies, life companies, and credit funds, which speaks to the strength of the project and its long-term appeal.”
MVE + Partners designed the pedestrian-friendly development that encompasses the complete block from 500 South to 600 South and from 300 West to 400 West. Post District is close to Salt Lake Center Station, Route 89 and interstates 80 and 15, providing easy access across the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. It’s also 10 minutes from Salt Lake City International Airport.
The new buildings were interwoven with existing adaptive-reuse structures that reflect the area’s historic industrial nature, including the former Newspaper Agency Corp. Building, which now houses the headquarters for Traeger Pellet Grills.
Adding to the live-play-work vibe at Post District are numerous food and beverage establishments including Urban Hill restaurant, Level Crossing Brewing, Urban Sailor Coffee, Mensho Ramen, Dangerous Pretzel and Melancholy Wine & Cocktail Lounge.
Robust development in market
The Salt Lake City market is seeing robust development. Yardi Matrix reports 1,226 units came online through February this year. An additional 19,639 apartments are under construction. The city’s strong employment growth has sustained demand but the record supply volume did result in some slight rent decreases. The average rate was down 0.3 percent on a trailing three-month basis. It also slid 1.2 percent year-over-year to $1,538 in February, according to Yardi Matrix’s April multifamily market report.
Sales totaled $444 million in 2024, above 2023’s volume behind every other year in the past decade, the report showed.
Last month, the city saw the largest multifamily transaction in nearly five years. Centerspace entered the Salt Lake City market with the $149 million purchase of Sugarmont Apartments, a 341-unit luxury community. The seller, Cottonwood Communities Inc., will stay on as manager of the Class A asset located at 2191 S. McClelland St. in the Sugar House neighborhood.
