The Hank Condos
Affordable for-sale condos, three stories over parking · Salt Lake City, UT
The Hank is 21 condos on a narrow lot at 670 South West Temple, a block from the 600 South TRAX station in downtown Salt Lake City. It is four stories: three floors of homes over a ground floor of parking and lobby, with a deck on the roof. All 21 homes are affordable, for-sale condos for first-time buyers, financed through Utah Housing Corporation's condominium construction loan program.
This is the second building we have designed for this lot. In 2022 we designed a six-story, 45-unit rental building here for the same developer. The 2022 design was ready for its building permit when market conditions changed, and the developer put it on hold. In 2026 the developer brought it back to us to redesign as smaller homes that people can buy.
Project Stats
Status | In design - 2026
Location | 670 S West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT
Units | 21 for-sale condos (12 one-bedroom, 9 two-bedroom)
Building Size | 26,062 SF
Site Size | 0.19 acres
Stories | 4 (three floors of homes over ground-floor parking and lobby, plus a rooftop deck)
Construction Type | Type V-A
Affordability | All 21 homes, financed through Utah Housing Corporation
Parking | 18 stalls
Systems | All-electric
Zoning | D-2
Design Schedule | 2022 design: November 2021 - August 2022; redesign: 2026
About the Design
A Very Narrow Lot
The lot is 49.5 feet wide and 165 feet deep, about 0.19 acres. On a lot that narrow there is not much room on the ground floor for anything but the front door, the lobby, a bike room and the parking behind them. Every version of this building has started from that.
The 2022 Design
The first design was 45 rental apartments, mostly one-bedrooms with a few studios, in a six-story building with a concrete podium. Parking was the hard part. Salt Lake City's code cuts the parking requirement in half within a quarter mile of a fixed transit station, so we measured the distance to the new 600 South TRAX station a block away, and the site qualified. That let the building hold more homes with 18 stalls behind the lobby.
We looked at other layouts too, including stacked two-story townhomes, but those only fit 14 units. When the developer asked for a more traditional look, we worked through several exterior options and settled on brick with black trim. The 2022 design was ready for its building permit when market conditions changed, and the developer put it on hold.
Renderings of the 2022 rental design (left) and the 2026 condo design (right) from the corner of West Temple.
Same Lot, a Different Building
In 2026 the developer came back with a different plan: homes to sell instead of apartments to rent, priced for first-time buyers. The redesign started at 18 units and ended at 21, seven on each of the three upper floors, still over 18 parking stalls.
The building went from six stories to four. Instead of a concrete podium, it is wood framing over a masonry ground floor, and we worked with the structural engineer to carry the wood walls without a concrete transfer slab. That is simpler and less costly to build, which matters when the homes have to sell at affordable prices. A lot carried over from 2022, too: we already knew the site, the code and the city, and the landscape and utility work started from what was drawn the first time.
The 2022 and 2026 designs side by side, drawn to the same scale on the same 49.5-foot lot.
Accessible Homes
The developer has been having extensive conversations with Utah Housing Corporation to understand and use its condominium financing program. It is a construction loan for for-sale homes, and the buyers are first-time buyers who will live in them. That financing also brings federal Section 504 accessibility rules with it, which a typical for-sale condo project does not have to meet. When those requirements came through in September 2026, partway through design, we worked them into the plans. One home is now a Type A unit built for wheelchair users, and two homes on the upper floors are designed for residents with vision impairments. As the architect, we also sign a certification for the program covering Section 504, the Fair Housing Act, the ADA and ANSI A117.1.
Green Features
Like the 2022 design, the building is all-electric. There is no gas line to the building.
The location does a lot of the work. The 600 South TRAX station is a block away, which is why the building only needs 18 parking stalls for 21 homes, and there is a bike room on the ground floor. Some of those stalls are EV-ready, as the city now requires. And it is infill: the building goes on a lot downtown that already has streets, water and transit, in place of an apartment building from the early 1900s.
Working With the City
Fire Access on a Narrow Street
The side street, Portola Avenue, is too narrow to count as a fire department access road. From a firefighting standpoint, Portola does not exist. So the building has to be reached from West Temple alone, which is farther than the fire code normally allows on a building this tall.
We worked through it with Salt Lake City Fire using alternate means and methods, and both requests were approved in September 2026. Fire trucks reach the building from West Temple, and in exchange both stairs are two-hour rated and go to the roof, a standpipe runs to the roof, and the corridors are two-hour rated. A full NFPA 13 sprinkler system, designed above the usual density, lets the hose-pull distance stretch from 150 to 200 feet.
Making Room for the Alley
The garage is reached from a private alley that is 16.5 feet wide, and the city's transportation reviewers needed an 18-foot drive aisle. We moved the north wall of the garage in 1'-6" and cantilevered the floors above it. We also widened the West Temple sidewalk from 6 to 10 feet and cut back the corner of the building so drivers leaving the garage can see.
Design Review
The D-2 zone asks for enhanced active uses, such as shops, along 80% of the street front. On a 49.5-foot lot that is mostly the entry and the lobby, so we asked the city to accept active uses (as defined in 21A.37.050) there instead, through design review. We filed the application in August 2026 and presented the project to the Central 9th Community Council in September.
A Collaborative Effort
Much of this team has worked on this lot before. Canyons Structural and Landform Design Group were on the 2022 design too, so the second time around started with people who already knew the site. Thanks to everyone working on The Hank. Their names and links are below.
Stakeholders
Owner | Snowy River Development
Design Team
Structural | Canyons Structural
Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing | Brenkman Engineering
Civil | Wilding Engineering
Landscape | Landform Design Group
Geotechnical | CMT Technical Services
Architecture Project Management
Architecture Team
Principal in Charge & Architect of Record | Jarod Hall
Project Managers | Ethan Barley (2026), Kevin Rosatto (2022)
Support Staff | Chris Wheeler, Rebecca Ruby, Stephanie Davis, Tyler Froelich, Jeremy Larsen, Marin Smith
Project Scope
Site Studies & Options | Layouts for the lot in 2022 (apartments and stacked townhomes) and the condo layouts in 2026.
Building Design (SD, DD, CD) | The 2022 permit set for the rental design, and the 2026 condo redesign, now in construction documents.
Entitlements | The 2026 design review application and the fire department alternate means and methods.
Looking Ahead
The Hank is in design review now, and the construction documents are under way. This developer has come back to us more than once, on this lot and on other work. Mostly it comes down to knowing the site and the code, and finding solutions that do not cost much as problems come up.
For another affordable project of ours in Salt Lake City, see Promontory Place Apartments. If you have a tight urban lot, or a design that needs a second look after the market moved, we would be glad to talk it through. There is more of our work on the apartment page.