Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. Announced Monday that it is taking over much of Daybreak, the master-planned community in southern Jordan.
The Miller Group real estate arm is purchasing more than 1,300 undeveloped acres in the eclectic residential community on the west side of Southern Jordan, including ownership interest in existing commercial properties and future commercial and residential development.
Terms of the transaction have not been released. The purchase, officials said, does not involve existing Daybreak homes.
The substantial deal for the Utah residential markets was unveiled by Steve Starks, CEO of the Sandy-based Larry H. Miller Group, and Brendan Bosman, president of Värde Partners, the Minneapolis investment firm that bought most of Daybreak from Rio Tinto Kennecott. .
Brad Holmes, president of Larry H. Miller Real Estate, said the acquisition will increase the company’s real estate footprint, within a portfolio that now focuses on sports, auto dealers, a chain of movie theaters, finance, insurance and healthcare.
“We are a community builder and are committed to the continued success of this nationally ranked and thriving master-planned development,” said Holmes in a written statement. The company hoped to “creatively and proactively address regional growth through mixed-use planning and development”.
Larry H. Miller Group continues to branch out
This is the second purchase of its kind that the business empire has announced since it sold its majority stake in the Utah Jazz in October to Ryan Smith, founder of Provo-based customer management technology company Qualtrics.
Managers of the company founded by the late Jazz owner Larry Miller, who died in 2009, said in January that they were Advanced Health Care Corp. purchased an Idaho-born chain of quality nursing care, home care and hospice centers located across Utah and seven other states.
Daybreak was built in 2004 and opened under the Oquirrh Mountains on a cleaned up portion of Kennecott’s Bingham Canyon Mine operations. It is designed to be sustainable and pedestrian-friendly, combining a variety of housing types in denser neighborhoods and smaller yards than is typical in most Utah suburbs, with home clusters surrounded by ample open spaces.
Kennecott’s parent company, Rio Tinto, sold Värde Partners the community’s finished homes, approximately 2,500 acres of undeveloped land, Oquirrh Lake and several large commercial buildings in June 2016, saying the divestment would “ generate cash flow and flexibility as we continue our business and our streamline focus’. on mining. “
The sale also coincided with a drop in commodity prices, prompting the layoff of Rio Tinto’s Utah operations.
Since its opening in 2004, Daybreak has exploded to more than 6,000 homes with approximately 21,000 residents. It is now among the most successful master-planned communities in the country.
Home sales in the 4,000-acre development have grown dramatically in recent years, especially with increased demand for housing and a national flight to the suburbs during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We look forward to building on the already established success of this community with the remaining undeveloped commercial area and the thousands of homes that will be built in this regional zoning area,” Starks said in a press release.
Elected officials welcome the Daybreak sale
The deal was praised by elected officials, including Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, who noted that much of the county’s population growth took place in that southwestern portion of the Salt Lake Valley.
Wilson said in a written statement that she “looks forward to working with Larry H. Miller Real Estate and other stakeholders to develop plans that support job growth, open spaces and recreation, strong infrastructure and community destinations.”
South Jordan Mayor Dawn Ramsey added that, with a significant portion of Daybreak still undeveloped, she was “excited” to welcome the Larry H. Miller team to her town “for the benefit of current and future homeowners, employers and businesses. . “
Holmes said the acquisition “is a perfect fit with our property development and property management capabilities.”
Under his ownership, Värde has sought to boost Daybreak’s mix of housing options, while also investing in key suburban commercial spaces, including an expansion of a University of Utah Hospital campus, opening a veterans outpatient clinic, and baiting of a new Salt Lake County library, to open this fall.
The real estate investment firm has also planned a large network of interconnected water channels and lakes within Daybreak, known as the Watercourse facility.
Värde said his investment approach has also boosted the sale of homes in the community. While Daybreak already accounted for a significant portion of total home sales in Salt Lake County prior to COVID-19, recent data indicates those sales increased from 452 in 2016 to 1055 last year.
“We are proud of where the community is now,” said Bosman, Värde’s CEO, “and we look forward to following Daybreak’s continued success under the leadership of the Larry H. Miller Group.”