This artist’s rendering illustrates a multi-family 75-unit residential housing project planned for construction on the corner of 100 South and 100 West.
LOGAN – Acting in their capacity as the Logan Redevelopment Agency (RDA) on Tuesday, the members of the Logan City Council approved a $500,000 grant to a proposed multi-family residential housing development in the city’s downtown area.
The six-story housing unit is planned for construction on the now vacant property on the corner of 100 South and 100 West, across from Logan High School.
The so-called Mill Creek development is one of several projects that Logan mayor Holly Daines is now proposing to broaden the scope of downtown revitalization efforts.
City officials say the addition of residential housing on 100 South will contribute to Logan’s community development goals by growing the city’s property tax base, increasing population in the downtown area and encouraging additional redevelopment projects.
Kirk Jensen, the city’s economic development director, took pains during the RDA session to clarify that the grant was limited to first phase of the proposed development advocated by Paul Willie of Mountain States Property Development.
That first phase of Willie’s proposed project will be constructed west of the ruins of the former Thatcher Milling and Elevator Company at 68 West, 100 South in Logan.
That site has been previously judged by state officials to be historically significant because of its age and contribution to the early economy of Cache Valley.
A more advanced version of the residential development plan that would straddle those ruins and stretch east along 100 South got a chilly reception from members of the city’s Historic Preservation Committee (HPC) on Sept. 8. HPC members indicated that they would only approve the expanded development if it included plans to preserve and honor the mill ruins.
During a public hearing prior to the RDA vote, Logan resident Paul Davis questioned whether a grant from the agency’s affordable housing funds was appropriate for the Mill Creek project.
While acknowledging that the cost of apartments in the project would be based on market rates, Jensen countered that state law authorized grants from affordable housing funds to developments being constructed in areas that have been officially recognized as blighted.
On Sept. 1, Willie told members of the city council that his firm is eager to move ahead with the Mill Creek project, but potential obstacles still remain.
In addition to the issue of the Thatcher ruins, Willie said that a canal that flows along 100 South may have to be re-routed to make the Mill Creek project feasible.