SALT LAKE CITY — Ann-Michelle Neal loves the fireplace in her 1906 home on 800 East. The original tile and other details offer reminders of the people who lived there long before she and her daughter moved in.
Now, the building is among three residential properties that could be torn down for a proposed five-story apartment project. Neal and other tenants are wondering what would happen if they had to find somewhere else to live.
“It’s both functional and beautiful, and those are things that can’t be replaced,” Neal said of her home.
Property owner Hardage Hospitality is seeking a rezone and an amendment to the Central Community Plan to allow a mixed-use development near 800 East and 400 South. The proposal, called The Viv, includes 109 apartments and ground-floor commercial space.
The three residential buildings on the lots proposed for rezoning contain seven homes. The buildings date to 1901, 1906 and 1921, and are within a National Register historic district, according to a fact sheet provided by neighbors that cites the city’s planning staff report.
The corner property is already zoned for mixed-use development. The three residential lots next to it are zoned for moderate-density multifamily housing.
Neal has lived in her home for three years with her daughter, Amelia Neal, a pre-med student at the University of Utah. Amelia said it's a five-minute walk to TRAX to get to school. It also means she does not have to pay for student housing.
“I worked really hard in high school to get a scholarship that covers my tuition, so not having that student debt is really, really nice,” Amelia said.
Ann-Michelle said the prospect of looking for another home can be overwhelming.
“When I open Zillow, that’s when I freak out,” she said. “Instead, I try to focus on making this my home while I’m here.”
Next door, Christina Linsehoten said her household has lived in its home for about five years and has started looking for another place. She said the uncertainty makes it difficult to know how long they can stay.
“We need to find a place,” she said, adding that her household does not have somewhere else to go right now.
Neighbors seek to keep existing zoning
Debora Wrathall is among the neighbors asking the city to deny the rezone. She said more than 100 people have signed on to the effort.
The neighbors said they support new housing on the corner property but want the three residential lots left under their current zoning. And they want the community plan to stay put.
“The neighbors and the city have deliberated about this community plan and come up with it,” Wrathall said. “There’s a reason for the plan and everybody knows about it."
The city’s Planning Commission made different recommendations on the two requested changes: It voted 4-3 to recommend approving the rezone and 6-1 to recommend denying the community plan amendment. The commission also tabled a separate design review, according to the neighbors’ fact sheet and city records.
The Salt Lake City Council held a public hearing on the proposal May 5. As of the latest information provided to FOX 13 News, it had not voted.
In a Nov. 6 email to a neighbor, council staff member Kate Werrett wrote that District 4 Council Member Jennifer Napier-Pearce was negotiating with the developer. The email did not say what was being discussed or identify a date for a council vote.
Wrathall said she would like neighbors to be part of the conversation.
“I would appreciate being a part of the discussion,” she said. “Seems like that would be a good thing for our community.”
Napier-Pearce was not available for an interview Wednesday and said she could speak with FOX 13 News on Thursday.
Sean Thompson, the project applicant representing Hardage Hospitality, referred questions to the property owner. FOX 13 News reached out to Hardage for comment but did not hear back before the deadline.
Neighbors plan to gather at 10 a.m. Saturday at 800 East and Linden Avenue to ask the council to reject the rezone and plan amendment.
For Ann-Michelle Neal, the discussion is about the people who live in the buildings as well as what might replace them.
“When people talk about these things and this rezoning, they talk about parcels and they talk about capacity and density,” she said. “They don’t talk about the people.
“This is where I live, and this is my home.”