University Healthcare at Daybreak

Kennecott Land released a statement today about a new medical care facility that will be built right here in Daybreak. While this facility is not as massive as the hospitals located near the University of Utah or in Murray, the statement indicates that the facility will only be the first phase of a medical “campus” to be built in the coming years as Daybreak is built to completion.

This first phase will feature a 150,000 square ft. building that will be situated on about 10 to 15 acres. To get a perspective of the size of this first facility, the Rio Tinto Corporate Center that presently stands next to Oquirrh Lake is 175,000 square ft. So it will be a little smaller, but not much. Within this space the University plans to incorporate primary and specialty care along with radiology. They will also have a pharmacy and vision care center there as well. Not a bad start to what will be a regional medical center.

Future plans include an expansion of the campus that will take up to 50 acres to be situated near TRAX and the Mountain View Corridor. This future medical campus will include a full-service hospital, surgery and imaging center and an AIRMED base. From my perspective this facility and future campus will be a major boost to Kennecott Land’s Daybreak plans. Having quality medical care nearby is an attractive proposition to the massive demographic wave of baby boomers. These are people who will need medical care close at hand and will move to a neighborhood like Daybreak to be near it. Hundreds of workers will be employed and will be spending their lunch breaks at nearby cafes and might decide that it would be nice to be able to walk to work. While many of the workers will be support staff, other employees will include doctors, nurses, technicians and managers. Professionals that will seek a nice neighborhood nearby to live in.

All of these benefits along with the impact it will have on the local economy and tax base has convinced me that this move is a true stroke of genius by Kennecott Land. However, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, this medical facility will need to be integrated into the community seamlessly. This can be accomplished with good planning and design of which Kennecott Land has certainly demonstrated so far with Daybreak. Hopefully this trend will continue. However, I can’t help but notice a peculiar yet increasingly common sequence of events in this case. First Kennecott donates a mass of money to support the new Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah and now the University plans its new regional care facility to be in Daybreak. Of course we have seen this with many other capital projects in which Rio Tinto has an interest. You scratch my back and I will scratch yours.

Oquirrh Lake

Oquirrh Lake is the central organizing feature and amenity in Daybreak. It was named after the Oquirrh Mountains (pronounced O-Ker) that are just to the East of Daybreak. The name Oquirrh came from local Native American tribes. In the Goshute language, Oquirrh means "wooded mountain" while in the Ute language the word means "The Shining Mountains" or "Glowing." Many people believe they named the mountains this because sunlight strikes the Oquirrhs first in the morning before anything else in the valley.

Oquirrh lake was designed and created by a variety of firms and has been a massive undertaking. 35 million cubic feet of earth was moved and used in other areas of the development. Once they had dug a massive hole they constructed a dam and lined the lake with three layers: High Density Polyethelene to keep the water from going into the ground, gravel, and silt to make a natural lake bottom. Twenty-five thousand tons of rock were also put in place to create a shore line and habitat for the ecosystem.

The lake is home to minnows, bluegill, channel cats, large-mouth bass and eventually trout. While there has been some rumors about who will stock and maintain the lake in the future, I have not heard any definitive announcements on the subject. The water that these fish live in comes from Utah Lake and natural runoff. As these two sources are not the cleanest, a computerized filtration system cleans the water to acceptable levels. The most noticeable residents of the lake are the ducks and geese. These birds love the lake even though the lake is designed to detract them from staying for long periods of time. I think the main reason that the ducks and geese come is because kids feed them despite the signs posted around the lake. The lake isn't bad when compared to the pond at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. If you go there at this time of year you will see hundreds if not thousands of these birds wandering the banks.

One question that I get asked a lot is why residents are not allowed to swim in the lake. I have heard people make up a lot of reasons why, but the real reason is that the liability for Kennecott Land would be enormous. Considering the current legal climate I don't blame them. The reason that they seem to state publicly is that it would inhibit the ecosystem. Which is also true, but I believe this to be a secondary reason. All residents are allowed to operate non-motorized watercraft on the lake. Canoes and row boats are common on the lake. I also like the idea of being able to walk a few blocks from my doorstep to go fishing. Overall it is a great amenity for Daybreak.

One of the controversies surrounding the lake is the rumor that Kennecott Land will not build the lake to be as big as the originally planned 85 acres. It seems that future plans have relegated the lake to a smaller 65 acres with the planned third phase being eliminated. This third phase of the lake is an extremely complicated design. It would stretch an arm of water toward the Town Center. This arm would slither through the urban environment much like the canals of Venice, Italy or Amsterdam in the Netherlands. This is truly a grand idea, but would definitely be difficult to implement. The possible reduction in size is an issue that many residents feel strongly about. However, Kennecott Land will ultimately decide on the size of the final product.

The island in the middle however will become a reality in a couple of years. Apparently the homes constructed on this piece of real estate will range from semi-custom to completely custom homes. Waterfront property is hard to come by in Utah so I imagine these homes will fetch a price premium beyond what we have seen so far in Daybreak. I have talked to a few people who claim that several home builders have already been contacted by Kennecott Land to build these custom homes. Needless to say these homes will be the showcase homes of Daybreak.