Stalled 1.4MSF Orem Mixed-Use Project Inches Toward a Restart

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor, and Paul Rosta, Senior Editor

For years, the once-promising Midtown Village project has been a sore point for Orem. Midtown Joint Venture L.L.C., the original developer, planned a 1.4 million-square-foot residential, retail and office project featuring three mixed-use towers. But the developers completed only a seven-story condominium and office tower and a small, stand-alone office building before running out of money about half a decade ago.

As recounted by the Daily Herald of Provo, construction of the second tower got only as far as completion of the shell, and the third tower never proceeded beyond excavation. Those woes eventually tied up Midtown Village in a foreclosure action by the project’s lead lender and a lawsuit by its contractors, who placed a lien on the property.

But now the stalled project is taking steps the first steps toward revival. Salt Lake City-based Blackstone Financial Group L.L.C., which acquired the property through foreclosure last fall, settled the lawsuit with the contractors in February. Then last month, Blackstone Financial—which is unaffiliated with the Blackstone Group L.P., the giant private equity firm–retained Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc. to market the property.

Located on a 10.3-acre site at 320 South State St., Midtown Village has two completed components: a residential tower with 79 units—about half of them occupied—39,942 square feet of office space and 27,863 square feet of retail. Also complete is a 4,493-square-foot stand-alone building. In November, Blackstone Financial executives told the Daily Herald that the North Tower can be finished despite standing neglected for several years. The first developer’s plans called for 77 residential units, 29,000 square feet of retail and 38,101 square feet of office space. And if the future owners move ahead with the original developer’s plan, the final phase would consist of West Tower, a 171-unit residential building with 38,279 square feet of retail.

Image courtesy of rentv.com