PROVO, Utah — Some residents say the Provo Towne Centre was once a vibrant spot for shoppers, but it doesn’t get as much attention now.
Developers are trying to change that.
At a Provo District 5 Neighborhood meeting on Wednesday night, Brixton Capital and Provo-based PEG Companies showed the neighborhood their proposed plan to redesign the Provo Towne Centre. The plan includes adding a more dining and changing the layout to an outdoor design.
The plan also includes different amenities like spas and fitness centers.
Residents in the area like Jorge Perez said he was really excited to see the new plan come to life.
“I was actually really excited. I wanted to see the mall get their life back,” Perez said. “Like I said this mall used to be the mall. Everyone used to come here.”
After the meeting on Wednesday night, people are also sharing their concerns about the redevelopment plan.
The visuals of the plan show townhomes and apartments in the spot that Shady Acres Mobile Home Park is right now.
Brixton Capital and PEG Companies proposed plan would also add more than 80 townhomes and 1300 apartments.
“Within the housing project itself, we will be providing an element of affordability,” Robert Schmidt, Managing Director of PEG Companies said in Wednesday’s meeting. “9% of the units that we anticipate will be affordable at an 80% AMI level.”
Jorge Perez said he is still excited about the mall aspect of the plan, but this part made him worried.
“I was not too happy. We’re still paying off our mortgage,” Perez said. “We just moved here, so we just got here, just to kind of like get booted out.”
Tasha Keele went to the meeting Wednesday night to voice her concerns. She’s been in the neighborhood for about a year and isn’t sure what she’d do if they take away their homes.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do about that,” Keele said. “It’s going to be gone. I can’t move it. They’re too old to move.”
The developers said they plan to build new units in five phases over eight years, but residents and community members say many unanswered questions for those living in the community remain.
“We’re kind of at the beginning of the process. The timing of this process is a little bit uncertain, but as we work our way through this we would anticipate that if we were to receive approval to move forward with the project, somewhere between six months and 12 months after that is when we would anticipate beginning the very first portions of constructions of the project which would mostly be around the modification to the infrastructure,” Brixton Capital Project Executive, Justin Long said.
“In the meeting it was discussed that there would be 9- or 12-months’ notice that they were expected to give,” chair of the District Five Neighborhood executive board, Daniel Friend said. “The developer said they were going to talk to each of the residents here individually but just talking to someone individually doesn’t necessarily change what the message is going to be or what help is going to be given to them.”
Residents say there’s still no timeline, so they’re just going to have to wait to see what will happen next.
“I’m 50 years old. I don’t want to do this, a lot of people don’t,” Keele said. “There’s people who have been here for 20 something years…what are they going to do?”
You can read more about the rezoning plan, the designs and share your thoughts on the city’s website.
