Little movement on Ogden Wonder Block project while city works out financing
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- The site of the former Wonder Bread factory between Grant and Lincoln avenues, north of 26th Street, is shown on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. Plans for the Wonder block include a multistory urban development with mixed commercial and residential buildings and two parking garages.
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- The site of the old Hostess/Wonder Bread factory site in downtown Ogden is pictured in December 2018. The city is planning a large redevelopment effort there called the Continental Community Reinvestment Area.
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- This is a rendering of a mixed-use development Ogden City is planning for the land surrounding the old Wonder Bread factory downtown.
Deborah Wilber, Standard-Examiner
The site of the former Wonder Bread factory between Grant and Lincoln avenues, north of 26th Street, is shown on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. Plans for the Wonder block include a multistory urban development with mixed commercial and residential buildings and two parking garages.
OGDEN — Phase 1 of the downtown “Wonder Block” project is in limbo while Ogden City scrambles to figure out financing needed to break ground on a planned eight-level parking garage. Greg Montgomery, Ogden City planning manager, said Deputy Director of Community & Economic Development Brandon Cooper is currently trying to find ways to finance the parking structure.
The former site of the Wonder Bread factory in the block between Grant and Lincoln avenues, north of 26th Street, remains fenced and bare with no movement on construction.
Ogden City Councilwoman Marcia White said there is a lot happening behind the scenes right now with zoning changes and financing. “We’re not flush with cash,” White said. “If we were, we would be building already.”
Last month, Cooper said he was hoping to have the administrative and City Council approval process regarding finances completed by the end of January.
“Still grinding away at it,” Cooper said.
BEN DORGER, Standard-Examiner file photo
The site of the old Hostess/Wonder Bread factory site in downtown Ogden is pictured in December 2018. The city is planning a large redevelopment effort there called the Continental Community Reinvestment Area.
JF Capital, the city’s developer for the Wonder Block plan, was not immediately available for comment on the financial status. However, Cooper previously told the Standard-Examiner that the developer had spent approximately $1 million in consulting, legal and design fees.
Plans for the full Wonder Block project include approximately 300 apartments, 67,000 square feet of ground level retail space and two parking garages with a total of 804 parking stalls.
Ogden City Mayor Mike Caldwell approved the overall master plan in January 2021. The project is part of the city’s Continental Community Reinvestment Area Plan, drafted in 2019 to promote a downtown mixed-use neighborhood complementary to Ogden’s General Plan.
The Continental CRA and the General Plan are expected to improve housing stock, diversify the city’s economic base and improve streets and parking, among other areas.
White said while some Ogden residents do not believe a city should own and/or sell property, it is one way for a city to shape a community with a more wholistic vision.
Image supplied, Ogden City
This is a rendering of a mixed-use development Ogden City is planning for the land surrounding the old Wonder Bread factory downtown.
