North Ogden has buyer for detention pond site, Patriot Pointe taking shape
NORTH OGDEN — North Ogden officials have found a buyer for a 6.7-acre city-owned plot off 2600 North, a deal that bears on the sprawling Patriot Pointe development taking shape just to the south.
The would-be buyer, Perry-based developer Leading Tech Development, has the land under contract as the sides await completion of an appraisal of the property — now used as a stormwater detention pond — before finalizing the deal.
Whatever the case, development of the replacement basin that will possibly double as a recreation facility for kayakers and paddleboarders is still a work in progress. The replacement site sits amid the 33-acre Patriot Pointe housing development taking shape to the south of the existing stormwater basin.
“The current timeline for the Patriot Pointe pond is to be under construction in the next 12 months,” said North Ogden City Attorney Jon Call, who provided the details of the pending deal with Leading Tech. The new detention basin must be in place before the land where the current detention pond sits can be developed.
The future of the existing detention pond, which sits between 2550 North and 2600 North, west of a pair of privately owned properties abutting the west side of 300 East, has been the focus of discussion and debate dating to at least 2019. That’s when North Ogden leaders started digging into the future of the detention pond and details of the Patriot Pointe development, which calls for as many as 365 housing units in a mix of apartment buildings, townhomes and twin homes.
“The city has been passively marketing the (detention pond) property with a sign and being in contact with developers who are actively working in the city,” Call said. “We are really excited to have this area of the city starting to develop.”
Indeed, the housing portion of Patriot Pointe is moving forward.
Kyle Crockett, associated with the developer, Patriot Pointe LLC, as well as the project contractor, Crockett & Koehler, said the first phase of work — 87 townhomes in 13 buildings — should be done within three months. Some units are complete and already occupied.
“It’s moving along quickly,” he said.
The 33 acres to be turned into housing extends north-to-south from 2550 North to about 2225 North. Crockett and his partners are handling the first three phases of development on the southern half of the land mass, where 197 housing units are to be built, and he said that part of the project should be done by the spring or summer of 2024.
Including the northern half of the land, to be developed separately, plans approved by the city in late 2019 call for 197 townhomes in 38 buildings, 24 twin homes in 12 structures, six apartment buildings holding 144 units and 2 acres of commercial space.
The new detention pond, largely surrounded by Patriot Pointe housing, would hold overflow snowmelt and rainwater and also take secondary irrigation water meant for residents in the growing area.
As city leaders debated the pond back in 2019, some neighbors expressed concern it posed a drowning risk to children. But city leaders, after much debate, approved plans that include the small body of water. It would potentially serve kayakers and paddleboarders while plans for an adjacent park preliminarily call for a shelter, trail and playground.
Crockett doesn’t have details of the pond development plans since that’s a city initiative, but he thinks it’d be a lure to tenants. “I would sure think it would be a nice feature to have in that community,” he said.
Call said Leading Tech Development also has a deal to develop the vacant land on the southwest corner of 2600 North and Washington Boulevard, east of the city parcel the company is to buy.
Leading Tech reps didn’t immediately respond to a query Thursday seeking comment. The company’s website says it’s active in a range of development fields.
“Over the past 19 years, we have developed, financed and constructed over 230 commercial, residential and industrial real estate locations from the ground up,” the website reads.