EPHRAIM—Members of the Sanpete County Chamber of Commerce gathered Tuesday, April 7, for a Lunch and Learn event focused on Ephraim Crossing and the project’s next phases.

Mike Ballard of Ephraim Crossing LLC presented an update on the mixed-use development, outlining near-term construction plans and the project’s longer-term vision.

Ephraim Crossing is planned as a mixed-use campus with business, retail and residential space.

Construction is underway on the Estates at Ephraim Crossing, the project’s first residential neighborhood. Ballard said the first residents are expected to move in by the end of July. He said the neighborhood will include four model home options of up to 3,200 square feet, with one- and two-story floor plans offering as many as six bedrooms and four bathrooms, along with optional finished or unfinished basements.

Ballard said construction on the Village at Ephraim Crossing townhomes is expected to begin this month, with rental units projected to be ready by the end of the year.

He said the development will also include retail shops and business space. The first planned business building is a two-story, 32,000-square-foot tech office and co-working facility.

Ballard said the project comes as rural Utah is playing a larger role in the state’s growth and as communities such as Ephraim look for room to expand housing and jobs.

“There jobs are being created, and companies are moving to Ephraim and the Sanpete County, and they need housing,” Ballard said. “When we first got here, we were looking to do a much smaller project. And people started saying can we help build more housing so that kids and grandkids can stay here and work here? One man said he had kids moving to Oklahoma because the housing is half the price … they have much more housing, and there is no housing here. (Former) Mayor John Scott would tell me, we want a place to have our most valued treasure, our children, to have a place, to stay here when they graduate from school, or college.”

Ballard told the Sanpete Messenger he explained how the company came to Ephraim, why it bought land there and what construction residents should expect over the next 12 to 18 months from a roads and infrastructure standpoint.

“We’re creating a diversity of housing to support people with different kinds of lives,” Ballard said. “From young couples to young families, to mature families, to empty nesters.”

The Messenger also reached out online to Ephraim and Sanpete County residents for their views on the project.

“I would like to see lots of high-safety walking and biking paths at Ephraim Crossing,” Jill Colby said. “And good crosswalks.”

Ian Gustafson said traffic is already a concern near the movie theater intersection.

“I can already see the traffic issues getting out by the movie theater intersection,” Gustafson said. “Unless they plan to put a light there. It is already bogged down during high traffic periods.”

Ephraim resident Amanda Leslie questioned how the street layout fits with the rest of the city.

“The majority of Ephraim is on a grid,” Leslie said. “I don’t understand why this isn’t.”

Ephraim City Manager Katie Witt said developments such as Ephraim Crossing can help bring opportunities a city cannot create on its own.
“Developers, in general, what they do for cities is they are able to make things happen that cities of themselves can’t do,” Witt said. “We can’t build buildings. We can’t draw companies with facilities. What Ephraim Crossing is doing is making real the whole idea of drawing businesses and having housing available … they have been working for years and years to try to bring good things here to Ephraim.”

Witt said Ephraim Crossing LLC also helped provide land for a planned hospital in the city.

The Chamber’s Lunch and Learn events are intended to keep local residents and business leaders informed about major community developments.