Sunset Place Townhomes
Four for-sale townhomes on a steep Capitol Hill lot, designed but not built · Salt Lake City, UT
Sunset Place is four for-sale townhomes we designed for a steep lot at 245 North Almond Street, in Salt Lake City's Capitol Hill Historic District. The lot runs from Almond Street down to West Temple, with about 35 to 40 feet of fall between the two streets.
Each home has a two-car garage and entry on Almond, bedrooms on the second floor and the living spaces on the top floor, with decks at both ends. A walk-out basement opens to the yard on the West Temple side.
The design started at five homes. Working out what the zoning and the recorded lot sizes would actually allow brought it to four, and the historic district review shaped the materials, from the red diamond-pattern panels to real cedar siding.
Project Stats
Status | Designed - not built
Location | 245 N Almond Street, Salt Lake City, UT
Historic District | Capitol Hill
Number of Units | 4 townhomes
Stories | 3, plus a walk-out basement on the West Temple side
Site Size | About 0.25 acres
Zoning | RMF-45
Design Schedule | November 2019 - September 2020
About the Design
Fitting the Units
How many homes fit on this lot came down to which part of the code applied. As single-family attached homes, the zoning wanted 3,000 square feet of land per unit, which would have meant only three. Under the RMF-45 zone's multifamily standards it was 9,000 square feet for the first three units and 1,000 for each one after that, so we designed for five.
The two lots had been adjusted before we joined the project. When the city checked the recorded areas, the site came out 46 square feet short of the land a fifth unit needed, so we went to four. It's a good reminder to have the architect look at unit counts before a lot line adjustment, not after.
A Steep Lot With Two Fronts
The lot drops about 35 to 40 feet from Almond Street down to West Temple, and it fronts both streets. Under the zoning that meant two front yards and no rear yard. It also gave every home a walk-out basement on the low side.
Living on Top
We studied three ways to stack each home. The original plan split the living spaces and bedrooms across the top two floors. Another put all of the living space on the second floor. The one we and the owner chose puts the kitchen, living and dining room on the top floor, with the bedrooms below. It costs an extra flight of stairs, but the living spaces get the best views, the vaulted ceilings and clerestory windows, and decks at both ends.
Working With the City
Designing in a Historic District
Sunset Place sits in the Capitol Hill Historic District, so new construction there needs approval from the Historic Landmark Commission. Before the application went in, we took the design through two planning pre-submittal meetings and the city's Development Review Team.
A lot of the design came out of that process. The red diamond-pattern panels come from the diamond siding on the gables of older houses in the neighborhood. When we mentioned a cement-board product with a wood look at a pre-submittal, the historic preservation staff weren't fans, so the design went to real cedar siding instead. (Real wood won't hold up quite as well, but it costs less up front.) There is more on how we handle zoning and historic review on our Services page.
Going to the Neighbors Early
We asked to present the project to the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Council ourselves, and did in September 2020. The council's letter to the Historic Landmark Commission found the design appropriate for the location in most respects and thanked the developer for reaching out on their own initiative.
A Collaborative Effort
Strength PC worked through the options with us, from five homes down to four and from one floor-plan stack to the next. Berg Landscape Architects drew the landscape plan for both street frontages for the Historic Landmark Commission application.
Thanks to everyone who worked on Sunset Place. Their names and links are below.
Stakeholders
Owner | Strength PC
Design Team
Landscape | Berg Landscape Architects
Architecture Project Management
Architecture Team
Principal in Charge & Architect of Record | Jarod Hall
Project Manager & Designer | Ethan Barley
Support | Jeremy Larsen
Project Scope
Site Studies & Options | Four- and five-unit site layouts, two schematic options and three floor-plan stacks for the steep site.
Schematic Design | Floor plans, elevations, materials and renderings for the four townhomes.
Entitlements | Two planning pre-submittals, the Development Review Team, the Historic Landmark Commission application and the presentation to the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Council.
Looking Ahead
On a steep infill lot in a historic district, the unit count and the city path have to be settled early, and it helps to have the architect involved before the lot lines are set. Strength PC came back to us for Quincy Townhomes in Millcreek.
If you have a hard lot and want to know how many homes it can really hold, we would be glad to talk it through. There is more of our work on the townhome page.