From the 11th floor of what was once a downtown office tower, the views of the Wasatch Front now frame living rooms and family spaces — not cubicles. The newly transformed Arbor 515, located at 515 Tower on the eastern edge of downtown Salt Lake City, is being hailed as a national model for affordable housing innovation.
Gov. Spencer Cox and members of the National Housing Crisis Task Force toured the project last week, calling it an example of what’s possible when public, private, and nonprofit sectors collaborate to address the nation’s housing shortage.
“Hopefully, we can start to scale in a way that makes a dent,” Cox said. “This shows the good that can happen when everyone works together to change the narrative around housing.”
Reimagining an Office Tower as Homes
Arbor 515 — developed by the Utah Perpetual Housing Fund in partnership with the Rocky Mountain Homes Fund — is converting the 14-story 1980s office building into 96 apartments ranging from studios to four-bedroom units.
The project includes community-oriented features like a Montessori school, gym, co-working spaces, and family gathering areas. More than half the units will be reserved for moderate- and low-income families, providing a rare mix of affordability and access to city amenities.
Beyond housing, Arbor 515 is pioneering a Tenant Wealth Initiative, which will distribute a portion of the building’s profits back to residents — an attempt to help tenants build long-term financial stability and break cycles of poverty.
A Model for Adaptive Reuse
“This building never wanted to be housing,” said Chris Parker, co-director of the Utah Perpetual Housing Fund. “We had to be creative in every square foot.”
Parker explained that converting an office tower into livable units brought unique architectural challenges — like limited plumbing access and rigid structural layouts — but also significant advantages.
Because the developers worked within an existing structure, the renovation moved faster than a new build. Apartments were delivered floor by floor, allowing residents to move in sooner.
“We had people living here very quickly after renovations began,” Parker said.
National Attention and Future Potential
Gov. Cox, who co-chairs the task force alongside the mayors of Cleveland and Atlanta, said Arbor 515 demonstrates a scalable solution for cities nationwide struggling with vacant office space and rising housing demand.
Office-to-housing conversions have gained momentum across the country as remote work continues to reshape downtown economies. In cities from San Francisco to Chicago, officials are exploring similar projects to repurpose underused buildings into affordable units.
“This is one of those ideas that just makes sense,” Cox said. “We can take what’s already here, give it new life, and help solve one of our most urgent problems.”
Balancing Cost, Creativity, and Community
Arbor 515’s transformation underscores how innovative financing and nonprofit leadership can bridge the gap between real estate development and community need.
The Perpetual Housing Fund model keeps housing permanently affordable by reinvesting property revenues into new developments rather than selling them off. This approach, coupled with its profit-sharing tenant program, has caught the attention of policymakers nationwide.
For now, only eight of the building’s 14 floors are complete — but residents are already moving in, and state leaders hope the project will inspire similar conversions across Utah and beyond.
