Cottonwood-based Mint Construction and Mint Architecture teamed up to deliver a cool tenant improvement project in May with the completion of Taylor Derrick Capital's new headquarters in Salt Lake's Marmalade District, restoring a building more than a century old in the process.

The $1.3 million, two-level, 2,840 SF T.I. included a host of challenging construction tasks, including restoring the original vaulted barrel-shaped ceiling with bow trusses and wood joist, constructing a new roof, adding a roof top deck, and significant seismic reinforcement of the masonry structure.

The new HQ was a labor of love for owner Rocky Derrick, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Taylor Derrick Capital (TDC), who founded the firm in 2011 with Mark Taylor. Taylor passed away from a rare lung disease in 2015, but Derrick has soldiered on along with four new partners and has guided the company to great heights in recent years.

TDC provides equity and debt capital to real estate developers in the Western U.S., with Utah-based projects accounting for roughly half its investments. To date, the firm has provided over $2.8 billion in loans since 2011, including nearly half a billion alone ($492 million) in 2022.

So, this project was especially important to Derrick on all levels, considering the company he keeps in the world of real estate, development, and construction.

"That is our primary business—construction lending," said Derrick, an Olympus High graduate ('94) who earned degrees at the University of Utah (Bachelor of Communication, 2000) and University of Southern California (Master of Real Estate, 2004), and worked in real estate in Las Vegas and Southern California for a couple of firms before teaming up with Taylor. "It was important to have an office we can enjoy and show off to our clients. We're excited how the project turned out—it was definitely a passion play project."

Derrick was praised by Brandon Weaver, Business Development Director for Mint, for his hands-on approach and for contributing many ideas to the overall process, particularly exposing the barrel ceiling, the sleek conference room, natural daylighting throughout the office, and having a uniform concrete floor.

"Rocky gets a lot of credit for having so many great design ideas," said Weaver, adding that Mint's construction and design teams worked well together on this project, and typically combine on about 30% of Mint's annual volume. Weaver believes design-build work on private development projects will continue to grow in Utah as the market matures. He said combining design and construction services under one roof offers more risk, but more control over a project's direction while hopefully results in greater profitability.

"For us, we own so much more of the liability," said Weaver. "If our architect makes a mistake, you have to eat it as the contractor. Not every firm is willing to assume that liability. It forces us to find subcontractors at that level that are also going to assume that same (risk); it forces all us to be better."



Weaver continued, "There is real beauty in the true design-build process. Having the architecture in-house allows us to have more contact with the owner—we own the plans, so that number (budget) doesn't go up. No matter what happens (with change orders), it's on us. Owners appreciate that."

Weaver said Mint holds a monthly meeting where "we bring our architects and field superintendents into a room, and they talk about the plans and what works and what doesn't work. So, the next time, the architect is better—he knows what the field guys are seeing and wanting in the plans."

Other building restoration items included restoring the structural brick in the executive office, adding new windows, metal awnings, and parapet caps to bring out the highlight of the original brick, installing a stately 9 ft. x 4 ft. metal pivot entrance door, the creation of new focal point at the reception desk with a Shou Sugi Ban treated wood feature, and burned and polished concrete floors highlighted with white oak wood stairs. Attractive and creative custom artwork is another hallmark throughout the space, including a couple of paintings by Derrick's wife.

Of exposing the vaulted barrel ceiling, Derrick said, "When we found this building during Covid we saw the back half, which was built over 100 years ago, and knew it had a lot of character. They had insulation stapled (to the ceiling) and a white plastic membrane. We hoped we could expose the wood and put a new roof on, and we did. It turned out amazing."

Derrick's firm has invested in some notable construction developments in Utah the past few years, including funding several projects for Centerville-based C.W. Urban, along with Paragon Station and Broadway Park Lofts multi-family projects in Salt Lake. He expects business to remain solid in Utah and the other western states the firm operates in, including Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, and Texas.

"We finance homebuilders, multi-family, townhomes, industrial, retail, self-storage, some medical office—we're involved in most product types," said Derrick, who has also been an adjunct professor at the University of Utah the past 13 years teaching a Real Estate Development Life Cycle class and is on the Advisory Board of the U's Ivory-Boyer Real Estate Center.

"We're a private lender, so we can fill a lot of needs for our borrowers and can readily provide more leverage than a bank. If we can push some of the equity of the deal, that's where we can be a really good fit," said Derrick.



He added, "We do close to half our work in Utah right now; Salt Lake is the core of that. We love the diversity of Utah's economy and its growth."

Taylor Derrick Capital HQ

Location: Salt Lake City

Cost: $1.3 M

Delivery Method: Design/Build

Levels: 2

Size: 2,840 SF

Design Team

Architect: Riley Young

Electrical Engineer: JT Electric

Mechanical Engineer: JTB HVAC & Plumbing Engineering

Structural Engineer: BHB Engineers

Interior Design: Riley Young

Construction Team

General Contractor: Mint Construction       

Concrete: Iron Horse Concrete & Construction       

Plumbing: Blue Line Plumbing

HVAC: Temperature Difference

Electrical: JT Electric  

Masonry: Blackburn Design and Build

Drywall: B Green Drywall     

Painting: Fisher Painting       

Tile/Stone: Popp Flooring     

Millwork: Jim Isaac Construction

Flooring: Popp Enterprises   

Roofing: Chipman Construction

Glass/Curtain Wall: LKL Associates Inc.

Steel Fabrication: Ivey League  

Steel Erection: Ivey League

Demolition: Red Rock Demolition

Landscaping: Landscape Specialties Inc.