Dirt is moving on the site of the old state prison in Draper. Work is now underway on phase one of the massive new development known as “The Point.”

Crews were working Friday to install natural gas lines around the 600-acre site. Within a few months, other infrastructure, including roads, water lines, and parks, will be installed.

Utah Business has just named Alan Matheson, The Point executive director, CEO of the Year. This award honors CEOs who have led their organizations with strength, courage and endurance. Appointed in July 2019 by the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority (Land Authority), Matheson has brought a wealth of experience to the most significant development in state history.

Each year, we celebrate Utah’s most accomplished professionals—the CEOs who have led their organizations with strength, courage and endurance and have made it their mission to change the way we do business in Utah. Congratulations to this year’s honorees.

It may not have a second Olympics, yet, but at least the group organizing the push to bring the Winter Games back to Utah has a roof over its head. Maybe even a Red Roof.

The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games has secured more than 85% of the 24,000 hotel rooms it is required to have on hand if it hosts the 2030 or 2034 Olympics. The hotels range from The Grand America to a four-room bed-and-breakfast. And the footprint spans as far south as Nephi and as far north as Logan.

Some rooms are even in Wyoming.

More than 21,000 Utah hotel rooms are already booked for a 2034 Winter Games, including some that have yet to be built.

Even though the International Olympic Committee won’t make the final decision on a site for 2034 until July, the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games has been signing contracts with hotel properties along the Wasatch Front and beyond.

Recognized as one of the most important economic opportunities in Utah’s history, The Point consists of 600 acres of state-owned land that is being built into Utah’s Innovation Community.

The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority (Land Authority) and their private-sector master developer The Point Partners (comprised of partners Lincoln Property Company, Colmena Group, and Wadsworth Development Group) recently signed an agreement for Phase 1 development. The first 100 acres will include a walkable promenade; Central Green; regional trail connections; transit-oriented development; a balanced mix of jobs, housing, retail, shopping, entertainment; and more.

VIDEO: The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority is releasing details on their plans to develop an innovation community.

The new year is an opportunity to reflect on past endeavors and establish goals for the future. As co-chairs of the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority, we have had the distinct honor and privilege to serve on the board overseeing redevelopment of the 600 acres of state-owned land in Draper known as The Point. As longtime Utahns who are raising our own families here, we are committed to ensuring this development benefits Utahns today and for many generations to come.

An empty field and a historic chapel are now all that remain on the Draper site that was home to the Utah State Penitentiary for more than 70 years.

The now scrubbed-bare site is a blank screen where Utah’s federal, state and local government officials are projecting a vision of a thriving new urbanist, technology and research community.

The Point will start taking shape this spring after a development agreement was signed for Phase One. Leaders attribute that progress to fewer regulations in Utah allowing for innovation and people working collaboratively.

The redevelopment of the area that was formally the site of the old Utah State Prison took a big step forward Monday with the signing of an agreement to bring a multi-billion dollar housing, office, shopping and entertainment venue to Draper.

Redevelopment for the former site of the Utah State Prison is about to begin with the building of over 3,000 residential units, a multi-use entertainment center and more.

According to details released by the Point of Mountain State Land Authority (POMSLA), Phase 1 of the redevelopment will establish “the heart” of the new community at the point of the mountain.

The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority (POMSLA) has released detailed plans for the first phase of redevelopment for The Point that reflect Utahns’ vision. For redevelopment efforts to start in earnest, POMSLA will sign a landmark agreement with its private-sector development partner, Innovation Point Partners.

On a site that for more than 70 years housed thousands of men and women in the custody and care of the Utah Department of Corrections, the innovative mixed-use development The Point has reached “a major milestone.”

The Point aims to be a living-working community that will feature high walkability, with everything within a 15-minute walk from its heart, a river-to-mountain range trail accessible from the community, which will include retail, entertainment, innovation, educational, office and residential spaces all within approximately 600 acres, according to the plan’s framework.

Right now, it’s just an idea freshly arrived on the radar of state officials, but a plan to build a 300-foot statue at the former Draper state prison site, described as a companion piece to New York’s Statue of Liberty, has taken its first steps toward a potential home in Utah.

KUTV 2News broke the story this week that officials leading the development of the old prison site are considering building what’s called a “Statue of Responsibility.”

The statue is envisioned as a supplement to the east coast’s Statue of Liberty. Efforts to build it in California have failed, so now the group pushing it wants to try constructing it in Utah, somewhere on a 600-acre area known as The Point.

Gov. Spencer Cox is convinced Utah, and other Western states, can set an example for the country on how to tackle the mental health crisis.

In a gathering of Western governors Tuesday, Cox displayed his knowledge of mental health research and shared examples of what he saw as Utah putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to expanding options and improving mental health outcomes.

Sustainable practices and second chances are happening at the site where the prison once stood. The majority of the materials from the old prison have been recycled, the historic prison chapel has been saved, and some of the demolition workers are former inmates who’ve turned their lives around.