What’s The Point?

Utah’s Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity

What do you do when 600 acres of land become available in the heart of a world-class technology hub? In Utah, you develop it into a sustainable and innovative community that will attract new businesses and residents for years to come. That’s exactly what’s happening now in an area of Draper known as The Point.

The 600 acres currently house the 70-year-old Utah State Prison. When the prison was built, Draper was considered a rural part of Salt Lake County with less than 4,000 people. By 2020, Draper had close to 50,000 residents and was also home to several large businesses. Pluralsight, for example, just relocated its headquarters to a new 350,000-square-foot building in the nearby foothills.

To make way for more economic development and bring the prison into the 21st Century, the Utah State Prison will relocate to the Salt Lake Valley’s far northwest corner in mid-2022. And that means the sky’s the limit for development at The Point.

The Point is part of a larger strategic development area called the Point of the Mountain, which covers 20,000 acres and spans several cities and two counties. In 2016, the Utah Legislature appointed 18 people, known as the Point of the Mountain Development Commission, to oversee the larger site’s development. The commission enlisted Envision Utah to help create a complete and comprehensive vision for the area, taking into account transportation, air quality, job growth, housing, open spaces, and recreation areas. The commission also worked with local governments, existing employers in the area like eBay and Adobe, transportation agencies, economic development groups, landowners, and educational institutions.

The vision was released in 2018 and includes a vast array of signature elements, including:

• A diverse and highly-trained workforce • Improved air quality and reduced natural resource use • Vibrant urban centers; and • Jobs close to where people live

This vision will help shape further development at The Point.

“We are committed to making The Point a sustainable innovation community and an accessible destination for everyone,” said Alan Matheson, The Point executive director, who was hired in 2019 to oversee the development of the 600 acres. “We have a duty to make prudent decisions that will directly benefit current and future generations of Utahns. We intend to plan and develop The Point in a way that facilitates mobility, creates economic opportunity, improves air quality, and ultimately enhances our quality of life.”

Along with Matheson, an 11-member board, known as The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority, guides The Point’s development. The board has assembled five working groups composed of public and private sector subject matter experts who are providing advice and technical expertise. As the board moves forward with developing a master plan, it is soliciting robust input from the public, especially since some recommendations made by the commission and the board will be up to cities and counties to implement on their own.

Utah has long been known as the Crossroads of the West, and the Point of the Mountain now has the potential to transform the state into the Crossroads of the World with The Point at the very center.

“There is nothing quite like The Point anywhere else in the world,” said Matheson. “Utahns have a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a sustainable, future-focused development of national and global importance.”

The Kem C. Gardner Institute at the University of Utah projects the Point of the Mountain region will attract up to 150,000 higherpaying jobs in the next 30 years. Sales and personal income tax revenues generated from the area are estimated to range between $12 billion to $19.7 billion, not including corporate taxes or revenue from outside the area.

As a framework for the site emerges, the potential is truly skyhigh, and a world-class community is beginning to take shape right in the heart of Utah.