Two lakes added to landscape for wakeboarding

Lehi may soon have bragging rights to the state's tallest building.

Internationally renown Frank Gehry and his architectural firm created a project scheme planned for 85 acres in north Lehi. The master-planned residential and commercial development design drew statewide attention on Jan. 31 when Brandt Andersen unveiled the scaled representation of the project at the city's senior center.

"I hope the first thing that strikes you is the openness of the development," Andersen said. "You immediately see water and open spaces."

Gehry's 450-ft. skyscraper towers above two lakes, with 72 acre feet of water, and numerous parks on the mock-up made of plexiglass, cardboard and wood blocks.

The 45-story, 220,000-square-foot hotel and convention center will have up to 300 rooms, supplanting the state's tallest building to date -- the LDS Church Office Building in downtown Salt Lake, which stands at 435 feet, and the second-tallest building, the Wells Fargo Center, at 422 feet.

Following the straight lines of the dominating high rises on the miniature model, the eye naturally falls downward to the Utah landscape-inspired tumble of buildings intertwined by open green space that also cradles an expanse of water weaving the commercial and residential community together as a whole.

"It's amazing to me that they can get all of those components on an 85-acre site and still provide 23-25 acres of lake, 72 percent open space and adequate parking and have all the functional aspects work," Golden Holt, landscape architect, said. "It's a pretty amazing feat."

"I think it helps by putting the parking underground," Richard Gilbert, Arc Sitio Design Inc., said. "That's what makes it possible," Evan Gilbert, also Arc Sitio Design Inc., said. "That's what is amazing about it."

The model has undergone a complicated design process with 30 different designs so far, and actual building specifications and designs aren't available yet. The rough mockup is on display for the public to view at the Hutchings Museum, 55 N. Center St., until Feb. 22.

The 29-year-old Andersen, owner and founder of G Code Ventures, will fund the multibillion-dollar mixed-use project on a former LDS welfare farm site bordered by the Point of the Mountain and the State Flight Park, I-15 and the planned community of Traverse Mountain.

He said Gehry was inspired by the natural architecture found in Utah's slot canyons such as The Narrows at Zion National Park.

The Lehi project will include a signature 220,000-square foot, 10,000-seat arena for sports and other events. Andersen, who is also a majority owner of the NBA Development League for Utah, said he was not able to comment yet as to whether or not the arena would be home court for an NBA team.

Additionally, the design designates a site for an amphitheater, 3.6 million square feet of residential space or 2,500 condo and multi-floor residential units, nine parks, nine underground parking areas and 1.12 million square feet of retail space.

Andersen said the project will attract action sports-type tenants with its boating lake, a wakeboard cable water park, the amphitheater that could be used for meditation and yoga, and 61 acres of open space including five pocket parks. It will have high-end restaurants and upscale retail stores as well.

John Hatch said the 29-year-old Andersen enjoys hang gliding, snow boarding, snow mobiling, wake boarding, surfing and dirt biking with friends and family. Hatch, a relative by marriage, said he is excited about the wake board lake feature.

"Absolutely, I will be the first to ride it," he said.

A timeline for its construction hasn't been determined because that depends on how quickly the property can be rezoned by Lehi City for sports and entertainment, he said.

Lehi Mayor Howard Johnson, who was at the project's unveiling said he believes the project will be a "beauty spot" and "an international draw."

He said the city has seen a surge of new projects converging at the Point of the Mountain in recent years because "both Salt Lake and Utah counties are growing together at this area."

"We have Thanksgiving Point, Cabela's, Micron, the Terrace at Traverse Mountain that's literally a city in itself with 30,000 to 40,000 people, a possible lifestyle center and now, this, a Frank Gehry-designed project. This is the last major location to grow along the Wasatch Front," Mayor Johnson said.

The announcement has some Lehi property owners wondering about the project's impact.

"Obviously, it's going to send property value skyrocketing if it gets built and it probably will be built," Ted Barratt, real estate agent, said. "Just the fact that they're talking about it puts a bump in the price."

For Joel Racker, president and CEO of the Utah Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, the growth can't come fast enough. "We want to know how soon we can sell the project to trade shows, conventions, athletic events, water sports, wakeboarding events, corporate associate type meetings. It's hard to sell a place when we don't know when it'll be built."

Frank Gehry design

Place: Hutchings Museum, 55 N. Center St., Lehi

Time: Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.

Dates: Feb. 1 until Feb. 22