Only 0.4 percent of the multi-family residential space in the St. George metropolitan statistical area is vacant, according to a new mid-year report from commercial real estate service NAI Excel, and the lack of availability has driven rental rates from an average of $690 per month for a two-bed, two-bath apartment in 2010 to $848 per month today.
Aside from a small seniors-only complex built in 2012, not a single apartment complex has been built in the area since 2006.
It’s an issue area officials have acknowledged for years, but a set of complex dynamics driven by high construction costs, impact fees and zoning regulations have discouraged investors from moving ahead with new projects, and the few that have been proposed have yet to break ground.
A pair of other projects are planned to go in next to the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site along East Riverside Drive, including a 244-unit complex that has already received zoning approval and 55-unit affordable housing complex that would help provide transitional housing for working people coming out of shelter at the SwitchPoint Community Resource Center. The Spectrum
