From dairy farm to silicon slopes: the thanksgiving point interchange.

AuthorDobner, Jennifer

When the first shovels of dirt started turning at the Thanksgiving Park construction site in Lehi back in 2007, developers had their fingers crossed that the 14O,000-square-foot bet on a then-sparsely populated spot in northern Utah County would pay off.

"It was like the middle of nowhere, and I'm sure people thought, 'these guys are crazy,'" says Nathan Ricks, Thanksgiving Park managing partner. "We even thought we were a little bit crazy."

It was a good bet. Since then, Lehi has become Utah's hottest development site and ground zero for the state's rapidly growing technology hub, often dubbed "Silicon Slopes" for its location at the foot of the dramatically beautiful peaks of the Wasatch Range.

Among the tech giants to open up shop: Adobe, AtTask, IM Flash, Microsoft and more, each bringing with it hundreds of higher-than-average paying jobs.

Thanksgiving Park--which leased its first 140,000-squarefoot building to Microsoft--has played a key role in the boom. CBC Advisors is the exclusive agent for the development, which encompasses the vast majority of commercial space in the area. Today, five Thanksgiving Park office buildings provide some 720,000 square feet of space for companies large and small. A sixth building is already under construction and two more projects are planned at sites nearby.

The secret to Lehi's success? Its location. Once a tiny farming town known best for the local flour mill's starring role in the Hollywood classic Footloose, Lehi sits almost evenly between the major metropolitan areas of Salt Lake City and Provo. That allows companies the ability to draw highly skilled workers from counties north and south.

"Governor Herbert has talked about it being the epicenter of Utah's economic development," says Derek Todd, Lehi's city administrator.

Also in the works for the area: a new 40-bed community hospital, a luxury automobile dealership, more hotels and a handful of restaurants. Additionally, an expansion project is under way at the 225,000-square-foot Traverse Mountain outlet mall east of Interstate 15, which splits the city in half, and many of the larger corporations already settled here are planning to add second facilities and more workers.

"It's a wonderful problem to have," says Todd, who notes the city has also seen a significant boom in population and residential development as well. "We love seeing this area develop so quickly, because we love seeing these jobs come to Lehi."

CLOGGED ARTERIES

But with jobs...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT