Walking Between Two Towers

The Aster showcases the mighty potential of mixed-use development in Salt Lake to generate a new wave of downtown buzz.

By Taylor Larsen

Traveling back in time just five years ago would have revealed something far different than what stands today at 255 South State.

What “stood” five years ago wasn’t standing but idling. Unfinished concrete and steel floors and the death rattle of a fourth floor were a better testament to street art and graffiti than the built environment. That previous project, Plaza at State, was ultimately scrapped a few years after its 2012 groundbreaking once poor financial planning and subsequent engineering reports revealed that the project was doomed to collapse.

Salt Lake City’s Redevelopment Agency (RDA) repurchased the land in 2017 before launching an RFQ the following year in hopes of transforming the property into something financially accessible for residents, thereby energizing this pocket of downtown just east of Gallivan Plaza.

In stepped Chicago-based Brinshore Development, designers at KTGY’s Los Angeles office, and Ogden-based general contractors Wadman Corporation to bring forward The Aster, a two-tower, mixed-use development overlooking above State Street.

For Whitney Weller, Senior Vice President of Brinshore Development, the chance to build something unique—downtown, mixed-use, mixed-income, pedestrian-centric, connective—made The Aster a “must-build” project for their team. “Creating a vibrant and engaging space was a compelling draw.”

Keith McCloskey, Associate Principal at KTGY, appreciated the broad vision and program required by the RDA to bring forward such an ambitious project. He said the RDA’s specific expectations, affordable housing, underground parking, and a mid-block walkway, provided the initial direction for the design team to work.

But broader constraints of utilizing high-level architectural and urban design principles would be where design and construction would work wonders. These would mesh with a site plan and building design to promote active street life and integrate into its local context—the project’s ultimate goal.

A New Standard in Affordability

The project requirements started with the housing component, crucial for Salt Lake’s emergence as a livable, vibrant city. The Aster brings in 11 units per floor in the north high-rise tower and 10 units per floor in the south mid-rise tower, totaling 190 units—168 reserved for residents earning between 20% and 80% of the area median income.

Design and construction would also need to preserve Cramer House, a historic piece of Salt Lake on the property’s eastern boundary. But the requirement to create a mid-block walkway connecting the project’s western boundary on State Street and its eastward boundary on Floral Street would test the KTGY team and their design mettle.

McClosky said his team began by designing the connective paseo walkway running through the site and then allowing the remaining triangulated geometries to act as starting points for the two mixed-use towers.

“Our goal [as architects] is to take something irregular and bring order to it,” he said of the challenge of taking the resulting area and creating a transformative mixed-use development. While design called for towers at two different heights—12 stories for the north tower; eight stories for the south tower—construction began in earnest to remedy the site and build up the mixed-use development.

Construction and design teams created vibrant, engaging spaces that set a new standard in downtown affordable housing. (photos courtesy Wadman, by Red Shift Media) Amenities include a public paseo and special events area, as well as various outdoor spaces that offer downtown views.

Tight Site, Collaborative Neighbors

The project is property line to property line, explained Wadman’s north tower Superintendent Isaac Mittelstaedt, making on-site laydown areas nearly nonexistent. On-time deliveries and work from the project’s various scopes required the highest level of scheduling and coordination.

“Working downtown is definitely a whole different animal than working just about anywhere else,” said Shawn Conroy, Wadman’s Superintendent for the south tower. “We had to think outside the box almost daily in order to complete this project.”

Both explained how friendly neighbors in the nearby offices and commercial spaces aided the project’s success. While one tenant allowed the construction team to utilize a portion of their property, another gave the project team vehicles access to the nearby parking garage, even allowing the Wadman team to place their temporary internet satellite on top of the garage.

Work between the public entities and the project team closed State Street during nightly concrete pours and allowed Baker Concrete to supply the pump trucks run by Frontline Concrete. But getting the concrete placed throughout the towers was an example of the high-wire act of downtown multifamily development, especially as concrete shortages took their turn in wreaking havoc on construction schedules in 2022.

“We were pouring over a thousand yards a day,” Conroy said of the concrete flow going to the job site before material shortages and plant closures slowed the flow to a trickle. After that, suppliers informed the construction team they would be lucky to receive a ready-mix truck on site every day.

Mittelstaedt said that the dearth of concrete kept the superintendents on their toes. “We had to break the pours up into smaller areas. We also redirected work until we could get the quantity of concrete needed for the next pour.”

Concrete and Steel Build Up

Structural reinforced concrete columns and post-tension (PT) decks on the north tower extend from the underground parking garage to the third-floor transfer deck. Infinity Structural Systems and their Epicore MSR concrete and metal decks rise from third through twelfth floors and round out the extent of the concrete used there.

The south tower utilizes more wood framing but still contains structural concrete and PT decks from that shared parking garage until the fourth-floor transfer deck.

The light and heavy-gauge metal studs that frame interior and exterior walls, respectively, combine with the rebar and make up just some of the metal found in and on the building. Issac explained the work to incorporate the Infinity Structural System and pre-panelized metal studs on the north tower were essential differentiating factors on the project.

It worked so well on this project that it turned Mittelstaedt into an evangelist for the framing and decking system, especially with the work between Wadman and trade partner MDA Construction, who installed the Infinity Structural System.

From helping with ceiling heights and sound attenuation to the product’s superb fire, smoke, and gas protection ratings, the system is a cost-efficient way to bring those benefits while allowing for greater unit density than other methods, according to McCloskey, the Infinity Structural System helped to keep the project moving at the brisk pace necessary to meet funding and budget goals while providing the project with a bit more steel.

Building Home

Metals on the building façade installed in varying colors and panel types rise from ground level across the two towers. Conroy said the exterior facades consist of Reynobond aluminum composite panels, steel “R Panels” from Corrugated Metals, AEP’s metal wall panels, and ground floor window walls with an aluminum storefront.

Inside that storefront, McCloskey said the architectural team designed the exact fit and finishes for each of The Aster’s units, whose mix runs the gamut from studio to four-bedroom and even live-work units on the south tower’s ground floor.

Whether it is market-rate or income-based housing, McCloskey added, “The goal is to create a place where people want to go home to […] where they can be proud of where they live.”

To create an appealing living space, interior community areas have a kitchen and plenty of seating for friends, family, and neighbors. Brilliant daylighting throughout the project combines well with the wood grain in cabinetry and elsewhere to draw out a homey level of comfort. Colorful BAUX wood wool panels in the two community rooms add an energy that matches the same lighting features found in the lobbies.

“[KTGY] created a great area, and they really put a lot of thought into what they were building,” said Isaac of building one half of the project. Instead of focusing on profit, he continued, “[Brinshore] created something unique that wasn’t just for the residents but also the community as a whole.”

Strollin’ Down the Paseo

The paseo walkway is a significant programming element that invigorates the site and ushers in opportunities for residents and the general public.

“The key to urban projects such as this,” McCloskey said, “is ground floor activation and being able to create a permeable ground floor that allows pedestrian connections along the majority of the frontages.”

In the case of The Aster, the ground floor comprises a large, diverse grouping of uses that face the paseo and public street, including residential lobbies, a food hall, live-work units, a community room, and event space.

McCloskey stated that walkability and the proximity of commercial spaces work as another amenity for residents, especially with a TRAX station just a short walk down the view corridor that extends through the paseo to Gallivan Avenue. Residents can stroll downstairs and enjoy a meal or coffee—or just sit and enjoy the surrounding energy from the paseo benches.

Ground floor retail options span the north tower’s walkway side, while the south tower houses two live-work units on its east side. McCloskey said these units are a great fit in mixed-use developments due to their flexible nature, with space befitting enterprises as varied as an ad agency, nail salon, or jewelry store. He said these units are invaluable for increasing housing density while creating an inviting commercial space buzzing with activity.

At the very end of the paseo stands another crown jewel—the 133-year-old Cramer House. The construction team fully renovated the historic building with structural, HVAC, and MEP upgrades to ready it for the incoming food and beverage tenant.

With the paseo functioning as a view corridor, the Cramer House can be the “active terminus,” as the path connects with Floral Street, McCloskey said. The hope, the architect continued, is that the excellent work done with the paseo helps to connect State Street further with the different bars, restaurants, and activity on Regent Street just to the east.

“When we get that commercial component up and running and all residents moved in, it will be a destination,” said Weller. With the Salt Lake Film Society joining in as the property’s first commercial tenant, new residents moving into their new homes, and other commercial tenants arriving and bringing in new flavors and ideas, there is buzz again at 255 State.

THE ASTER

Owner/Developer: Brinshore Development, LLC

Architect: KTGY Architecture + Planning

General Contractor: Wadman Corporation

Civil Engineer: Anderson Wahlen & Associates

MEP Engineer: Royal Engineering

Structural Engineer: Fortis Structural, LLC

Geotech: GSH Geotechnical, Inc.

Interior Design: SAINT Studio

Landscape Architect: ArcSitio Design

Concrete: Baker Concrete/Green Construction/STAPP Construction

Plumbing: Utah Mechanical Contractors

HVAC: Utah Mechanical Contractors

Electrical: K2 Electric Incorporated

Masonry: Allen’s Masonry/RJ Masonry

Glass/Curtain Wall: Mountain Valley Glass

Steel Fabrication: Forge Metals

Steel Erection: Forge Metals/Infinity Structures/MDA Construction

Other Specialty Contractors: K&K Drywall, Keith Pulham Painting Inc, Ron J Peterson/Wesley Wilcox Finishing, Redd Roofing, WeatherSealed Inc., TEC Excavation, A-Core, Impact Demolition, Construction, Kevin Hull, CP Build Enterprises

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