EPHRAIM\u2014A proposal to build a large, mixed-use development called Ephraim Crossing, is coming close to fruition.<\/p>\n
Ephraim Community Development Director Bryan Kimball said his office has been deliberating seriously for the past six months or so with the developer Mike Ballard, managing director of Camino Verde Group (CVG).<\/p>\n
Ballard\u2019s company from Henderson, Nev. is proposing to build a 90-acre mixed use development over 10 years on property near 400 South and 200 West.<\/p>\n
The development is a mix of single- and multi-family residences, town homes, office and retail space, Kimball said. \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty broad spectrum of mixtures there,\u201d Kimball said.<\/p>\n
Ballard\u2019s expectations are to build residential dwellings first, with commercial development to follow.<\/p>\n
Although the city might want to attract a grocery store, Ballard was clear about the sequence of the development.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore a grocery store could come in, we still need hundreds of new residents, if not thousands, in the city,\u201d Ballard said. \u201cWe\u2019d like to put a grocery store as soon as we can, but it\u2019s not our decision. It\u2019s the grocery store. We\u2019re not in the grocery business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ballard said that Ephraim is an attractive place to do the development because Snow College has a four-year software engineering program that is appealing to technology companies and because Ephraim is relatively close to Provo, Orem and Spanish Fork.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are already hundreds of people that commute an hour or more because of the quality of life,\u201d Ballard said.<\/p>\n
Ballard also said that CVG likes \u201ccollege towns.\u201d Ephraim has a lot of opportunity from educational programs, the arts and sports, he said.<\/p>\n
The federal government has identified Ephraim as an \u201copportunity zone,\u201d a program that offers significant tax incentives for new development, and the state of Utah has created incentives for companies to locate in Ephraim.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, the COVID pandemic seems to have spurred a lot more relocation to rural areas from major metros all over the country,\u201d Ballard said.<\/p>\n
Kimball appreciates that Ballard\u2019s company has asked what the city needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not always the case where people come in and say, \u2018What do you need?\u2019\u201d Kimball said.<\/p>\n
CVG has \u201cbacktracked\u201d so it is not \u201cmissing any pieces to the puzzle,\u201d said Devan Fowles, Ephraim city planner.<\/p>\n
The developer has \u201cpaid a lot of attention\u201d to the overall traffic plan as dead-end roads that come into U.S. 89 will become intersections, Kimball said. He agreed that it would be a big deal for Ephraim to have more intersections and a second traffic light, as a result from Ephraim Crossing. \u201cThis will definitely drive traffic,\u201d Kimball said.<\/p>\n
Kimball said the city will be looking to approve the first phase of the development, which will probably be the construction of single family homes. The project will need the approval of the planning and zoning commission and the city council. For more information, visit EphraimCrossing.com.<\/p>\n
This Article was initially published on July 23, 2020 at http:\/\/sanpetemessenger.com\/<\/p>\n