Salt Lake City's housing is 'out of whack.' This new complex seeks to help
by Carter Williams ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- Latitude Apartments in Salt Lake City offers 105 affordable units.
- Units are slated for people earning 30-60% of median income or less.
- City officials hope projects like this keep families in the rapidly growing area.
SALT LAKE CITY — Lynda Davison's journey to Utah wasn't easy or quick.
Her husband of 45 years' health began to fail, creating the need to move him into a nursing home. That was costly, and it forced her to move to Utah and in with her sister so she had somewhere to live while trying to call and visit her husband as many times as possible.
Trying to find a place of her own was nearly impossible. Everything was seemingly out of price range until she was contacted about a brand new affordable housing apartment complex opening up in Salt Lake City's west side.
She talked to a representative from Latitude Apartments, 940 W. 200 South, who said she qualified for the low-rent options that the complex provides. She was thrilled, moving in a few weeks ago, months after her husband died.
"I feel at home here," Davison said. "I feel at peace."
Her struggle to find housing isn't uncommon, especially for people in the Fairpark and Poplar Grove neighborhoods, where the apartment complex is located, said Salt Lake City Council Chairman Alejandro Puy, whose district covers the area.
Many residents of Salt Lake City's west side have always struggled to afford housing, but the city's housing shortage has only added complexity over the past few years.
Residents recently told him how it was difficult to buy a home 50 years ago with one family member working full-time. Now, every member can work full-time and still struggle to afford a home.
"Things are out of whack in society right now," he said. "While the city cannot control wages, we can invest in housing."
That's why he's thrilled that Latitude is open after a quick construction that only began in the spring of 2025.
The complex added 105 new affordable housing units to the area. All of the units are set aside for residents making 60% of the area median income or less, including 16 set aside for people making 30% of the median income, which is considered "deeply affordable."
It also features a fitness center, shared laundry spaces on every floor, bike storage, community lounge, dog washing station and some electric vehicle charging areas within its parking garage.
The complex aims to help working adults, families and seniors in the neighborhood, said Jonathan Olson, senior development manager for Chelsea Investment Corporation, the building's developer and owner.
Approximately 30% of the units feature two or three bedrooms, catering to the need.
"We are not just building small units; these are family-sized units that can be here for people to grow and really become part of the neighborhood," he said.
Salt Lake City directed about $2.8 million toward the nearly $39 million project, per the city's affordable housing dashboard. More than $13 million was raised through federal tax credits and another $3 million from state tax credits, among other sources, project officials said.
A neighborhood bucking trends
Project officials know 105 new units won't solve Utah's shortage, which is now estimated to be approximately 44,000 affordable and available rental units, on top of homeownership challenges.
But what helps is that it's one of several new affordable or at-market housing projects that have either opened over the past few years or are currently under construction just in the section of the city between North Temple and I-80, between I-15 and Redwood Road.
It's a section of the city growing much faster than most other neighborhoods, largely because the land is cheaper at a time when construction costs are high, Puy said.
Yet, its growth also contributes to rising costs that residents face, which is why the city has thrown in funds from various sources to help ensure affordable units are constructed in the city, like the ones offered at Latitude Apartments.
Approximately 1,000 units are being built right now within a few blocks of each other, which is part of an evolution of the neighborhood to keep it affordable, he said.
"Projects like this are a miracle for a lot of families," Puy told KSL. "Paying for a home today is very different than what it used to be, unfortunately. ... This is a great opportunity for affordable homes very close to downtown."
The city hopes it either keeps families on the west side or helps bring them in, as it has struggled with that in recent years. It also wants to provide homes to people like Davison.
She told KSL it's difficult to find affordable housing because of the number of people who need it. She feels lucky that everything worked out for her to move into Latitude Apartments.
"It's a blessing to have these places," she said, adding that it's surprisingly quiet even though her window overlooks I-80. "I like it. I'm going to feel really good here."
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.