On this week’s “In the Hive” we try to get to the bottom of the question “why do all of the new apartment buildings going up have to look like that?” The short answer is that building codes were adjusted in the early 2000s allowing developers to expand the use of so-called “podium and stick” construction methods. And that resulted in a kind of cookie-cutter design that maximizes building height (and turns a higher profit). But there’s more to the story, including the fact that rising real estate prices tend to incentivize new projects over historic properties.
Guests:
Nick Norris, planning director for Salt Lake City
Rachel Quist, author of Rachel’s Salt Lake City History
Luke Garrott, editor with Building Salt Lake
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