LaraDean Townhomes
14 for-sale townhomes in the Marmalade neighborhood · Salt Lake City, UT
LaraDean is 14 for-sale townhomes on 800 North in Salt Lake City's Marmalade neighborhood, in two buildings of seven. Every home has three bedrooms, two of them with their own bathroom, a two-car garage and a private roof deck of about 600 square feet. Big roof decks are hard to find in Salt Lake townhomes, and the views from these are great.
The name comes from the two neighbors who sold the land. Lara and Dean had lived next door to each other for more than 20 years. They always told each other that if they ever got a certain price for their two lots together, they would sell and move on. That was the price they were offered, so they sold, and the project carries both their names.
We designed LaraDean from the first concept in June 2021 through the city's planning process, the building permit and construction. The last homes were finished in May 2025.
Project Stats
Status | Completed - May 2025
Location | 365 W 800 N, Salt Lake City, UT
Building Size | 30,028 SF
Site Size | 0.44 acres
Number of Units | 14 for-sale townhomes
Buildings | 2, seven homes each
Home Size | About 1,800 SF, 3 bed / 2.5 bath
Garages | Two-car garage in every home
Stories | Three, plus a roof deck
Construction Type | Wood frame townhouses (IRC)
Systems | All-electric, fire sprinklers in every home
Zoning | MU (Mixed Use), Planned Development
Design Schedule | June 2021 - April 2022
Permitting | March 2022 - April 2023
Construction Schedule | April 2023 - May 2025
About the Design
Two Suites for Roommates
Most of the people who buy the townhomes we design are not families with kids, but more often it is roommates. So two of the bedrooms each have their own bathroom, which keeps things even between the people sharing the home.
Keeping the Two-Car Garage
The hardest call on this project was the garage. The homes are narrow, and fitting two cars takes a 16-foot door. Doors that wide leave very little wood wall between them to brace the building. A 14-foot door turned out not to be a real option, and going down to a 9-foot door would have meant a one-car garage. Making the homes wider would have cost us units. So we kept the 16-foot doors and put a concrete wall between each of the garage doors. It cost more, but every home still has a garage that fits two cars, and the project kept all 14 homes.
A Street Front With Depth
We wanted the side facing 800 North to be more engaging than a plain flat wall. A black frame wraps the street end of each building with white between, and balconies on the second and third floors look out over the sidewalk. The frame sticks out about three and a half feet, the same as the balconies, which is why the front setback needed relief.
Working With the City
Townhomes, Not Condos
Under the zoning at the time, a project in this zone was treated differently depending on whether it was split into condos or into townhome lots. We could have built these same buildings as condos without any planning process at all. But condos are harder for buyers to finance, and that can pull down the sale price. So we took the project through a Planned Development to create 14 townhome lots.
That needed three changes from the zoning: 12 of the lots have no street frontage, the rear setback dropped from 20 feet to 15, and the front setback dropped from 10 feet to 6'-5" so the balconies and the frame could reach toward the street. The extra five feet at the back is what makes the third bedroom fit. Salt Lake City has since changed its zoning, so this would not come up today.
The Community Council
We presented the project to the Capitol Hill Community Council in November 2021. Their biggest concern was that the buildings were too tall, and they wrote to the city about the frame and the setbacks. The buildings were within the height the zoning allowed, and none of the concerns pointed to anything in the code, so we didn't change the design because of them. The Planning Commission approved the Planned Development and the plat in January 2022.
Glass Where It Counts
City staff first asked for more glass on the ground floor of the street side. That floor is mostly garage, and we didn't want a row of windows into garages. That doesn't do anything for the street, which is what that part of the code is about. The code also lowers the requirement for ground-floor residential, and the design already met the lower number. Staff agreed, and the project went to the Planning Commission as designed.
Sprinklers Instead of a Fire Road
The fire code wants fire department access within 150 feet of every side of a building, plus a road a ladder truck can use. Building that much fire access on a lot this size would have been a real hardship for the project. So we asked the city for an alternate means and methods approval to put fire sprinklers in every home instead, and the fire department signed off in February 2022.
Checking for Faults
Before the city would issue a building permit, we had to show there were no faults under the site. Gordon Geotechnical dug a trench across the entire property and checked it. There were none, and the permit was issued in April 2023.
A Collaborative Effort
LaraDean took a Planned Development, a fault study, a structural fix to keep the two-car garages and two years of construction. RT Engineers, Epic Engineering, Landform Design Group, Galloway & Company, Gordon Geotechnical Engineering and Peace of Mind Houses each had a hand in it.
Thanks to everyone who worked on LaraDean. Their names and links are below.
Design Team
Structural | RT Engineers
MEP | Epic Engineering
Landscape | Landform Design Group
Civil | Galloway & Company
Geotechnical | Gordon Geotechnical Engineering
Construction Team
General Contractor | Peace of Mind Houses
Stakeholders
Owners | Whitworth Ventures, Korador Development
Architecture Project Management
Architecture Team
Principal in Charge & Architect of Record | Jarod Hall
Project Manager | Tyler Froelich
Support Staff | Mike Smith, Chris Wheeler, Ethan Barley, Jeremy Larsen, Stephanie Davis
Project Scope
Building Design | Full design from the first concept through construction documents, modeled in Revit.
City Approvals | DRT pre-submittal, the Planned Development and subdivision plat, and an Alternate Means & Methods approval for the fire sprinklers.
Building Permit | The permit set through review and approval.
Construction Administration | Through construction to the final punch list.
Looking Ahead
All 14 homes at LaraDean are finished and sold. If you have an infill lot and want to know whether townhomes or condos make more sense on it, we would be glad to talk it through. For more of our townhome work in Salt Lake City, see Chicago Townhomes and Matson Hill, or the townhome page.