Utah County: Ground zero for the state's burgeoning population growth.

• Author: Coon, John
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT: UTAH COUNTY

A cavernous mall filled with vacant stores on one of the busiest city blocks offered a nightmare scenario for Orem. When The Woodbury Corporation approached city leaders with plans to do a major revitalization of University Mall that mirrored similar mall redevelopments in Salt Lake County, they quickly embraced the idea.

Turning University Mall into University Place called for adding office buildings, new housing, a new park and additional retail space. The Woodbury Corporation wanted to reinvest $200 million into this 120-acre mixed-use redevelopment project. Orem passed a $500 million community development agreement (CDA) to back the project.

The transition to University Place is bringing some dramatic changes. The Orchard, a large outdoor park, replaced an empty anchor store. An office park with five buildings totaling 700,000 square feet is in the works. Upscale housing can be found on the east side of the mall campus at Aston Apartments, and other new apartments are on the docket. More restaurants and a hotel are also in future plans.

Full development of University Place is forecasted to add $412 million to the local economy and create more than 4,000 new jobs.

"What's happened is it's brought a sense of energy to the community," says Orem Mayor Richard Burnst. "It's brought a sense of excitement. Orem has a 25 to 50 percent lead-in on retail from other communities. That means many people from other places come to shop here."

What is happening at University Place mirrors the transformation taking place all across Utah County. A growing number of businesses are setting up shop within the county and multiple communities from Lehi to Payson are in the midst of a housing boom.

A thriving hub for industry

Silicon Slopes has drawn the spotlight for driving Utah's high-tech boom. But it isn't the only industry in Utah County that is enjoying healthy growth.

Utah County added 13,471 jobs from August 2016 to August 2017, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services. That's a 5.8 percent increase over that 12-month period. Education and healthcare is the largest industry in the county, with Brigham Young University, Utah Valley University and Utah Valley Regional Medical standing out as the largest employers in this industry.

Significant gains are being felt in other industries. In March 2017 alone, five different industries added more than 1,000 jobs in Utah County with education, healthcare and social services (2,303) and trade...