What’s The Point?
In 2018, the Utah State Legislature passed and Governor Gary Herbert signed into law House Bill 372, The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority (POMSLA). The law created a board to guide future development at the 600 acres of state-owned land near the Point of the Mountain. Per state law, the board seeks to plan, manage, and implement development that does the following:
- Maximizes the creation of high-quality jobs and encourages and facilitates a highly trained workforce.
- Ensures strategic residential and commercial growth.
- Promotes a high quality of life for residents on and surrounding the site.
- Strategically plans for jobs close to where people live.
- Facilitates vibrant urban centers and housing types that match workforce needs.
- Creates parks, connected trails, open space, and recreational opportunities.
- Complements the development on the land that is in the vicinity of the site.
- Improves air quality and minimizes resource use.
- Enhances mobility and protects the environment.
- Researches and explores the feasibility of attracting a nationally recognized research center.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will the Utah State Prison be relocated?
The new Utah Correctional Facility is currently being constructed. Inmates will be relocated to the new facility in the summer of 2022.
When will development start to occur at The Point?
Subject-matter experts are continuing to analyze current and potential future market conditions. In 2020, the Board underwent a competitive procurement process to select Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as The Point’s planning firm to help create a framework plan for the site. The framework plan has been approved and can be viewed here. The next steps for the project are to select a development partner for phase one of development. This selection will be made in July 2022. After the selection, site preparation will be underway and the plans will begin to be implemented by 2023 and beyond.
Who gets to decide what is built on The Point?
The Point is state owned, so it is owned by all Utahns. All Utahns will have an opportunity to provide input on how the site is planned and developed. The Land Authority officially oversees decision making and considers advice from the subject-matter experts serving on The Point’s five working groups.
What is the difference between The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority and The Point of the Mountain Development Commission?
The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority is different from The Point of the Mountain Development Commission. The Commission was established by the Legislature during the 2016 General Session to construct a vision of growth for the Point of the Mountain area while preserving the state’s elevated quality of life.
The Commission’s goal was to formulate a strategy to maximize the opportunity provided by development of the state-owned land that is currently the site of the state prison and to incorporate that strategy into a wider vision for the entire Point of the Mountain area. Because development of the land will have statewide impact, the Commission solicited community and stakeholder input in developing a shared vision for the surrounding area and formulated a strategy for implementing that vision.