Pleasant Grove’s Valley Grove project heads vertical
Daily Herald | Karissa Neely
PLEASANT GROVE, UT (April 20, 2017) — Construction trucks lined up Wednesday for an intricately timed dance of delivering tons of cement for Pleasant Grove’s Grove Tower office building.
Despite weather delays, the crews were there Wednesday afternoon to pour the footings and foundation for the 192,000 square foot office space set to go vertical just near the northbound Interstate 15 freeway onramp and Pleasant Grove Boulevard. The building will be six stories tall, and will be able to house about 1,200 employees.
“It is the largest multi-tenanted office building between Provo and Sandy,” said Daniel Thomas, regional partner for St. John Properties. St. John is the development company behind the 65-acre Valley Grove development project that will eventually house almost 25 other buildings in addition to the Grove Tower.
The project brings an estimated $250 million investment into Pleasant Grove and will include one million more square feet of various types of office and retail space.
“We are thrilled with the investment St. John Properties is making in the gateway of our city. The Grove Tower represents the breadth, depth, and quality of their company as much as the development they are building,” said Pleasant Grove Mayor Mike Daniels. “The project firmly establishes Pleasant Grove as the business center of the valley.”
Thomas agreed that the site is a prime spot for this development, as it sits “in the heart of Utah County, with unparalleled access.” Instructure, an education company, has expanded into Utah County, and is already signed on to take the top two floors of the Grove Tower. Thomas can’t share specifics on other tenants, but he’s been excited about others who are coming in as well.
“We’re finding financial users, medical users and real estate. Pleasant Grove is a great location for a diverse group of businesses,” Thomas said. “We’re serving more than just the tech community.”
The project started with two low-slung buildings that Thomas calls the “show row,” fronting the corner of one of the busiest intersections in Pleasant Grove. Thomas said that office space allows users to have highly visible signage and direct access to their offices from the highly traveled Pleasant Grove Boulevard and North County Boulevard.
Though it will have less signage opportunities, the Grove Tower will have unobstructed 360-degree views of the valley from its floor-to-ceiling windows.
“You put windows 100 feet in the air and the view will be incredible,” Thomas said.
As with many of the buildings in the Valley Grove project, the Grove Tower is LEED designed, though it adds more than a million dollars to the construction costs. Thomas said there may not be a lot of economic benefit initially to a more energy efficient building, but it will lower the operating costs for tenants — to the tune of almost 20 percent. St. John engineers estimate the Valley Grove project as a whole will consume 39 percent less energy, 12 percent less water and 35 percent less greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’re looking at the building and economic impact over 40 years. We hope we’re helping to solve some of the smog and air quality problem,” Thomas said. “We are building a legacy project in the heart of the county. This is a project that will stand for decades, and will be a critical part of the community and fabric of Pleasant Grove.”
The footings and foundation for the Grove Tower started Wednesday, with steel erection planned for May. Thomas said he expects the first tenants to move into the Grove Tower in January.
