Planned Tech Ridge apartment building causes concern among St. George residents

ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) — Some residents in St. George are concerned about a planned apartment building that is part of the Tech Ridge project. They came to a meeting at city hall on Tuesday to share those concerns.

The Tech Ridge project

is located on the former St. George Airport site, and it is a mixed-use development designed to draw tech companies to the area and help them attract and retain talent, according to their website. It will combine office and retail spaces with residential housing.

There was a public meeting at St. George City Hall on Tuesday to discuss the apartment building, and ABC4.com spoke with residents to find out why it’s controversial and why others are supporting the development.

“Development is the lifeblood of my business, so I’m definitely not gonna stand here and be like ‘we don’t want growth.’ We need growth, I get that, I just feel like this is not the location for that building that close to the city park there, and that close to the traditional residential neighborhood that is already existing there,” Nearby resident Emily Murphy told ABC4.com.

This particular apartment building is planned to be five stories tall with 199 units.

“As a neighborhood up there, we’ve gotten involved before when we almost lost the city park in 2018. We found out, totally happenstance, that they were gonna be taking that park as part of Tech Ridge, and we came out in force and saved the park,” Murphy explained. “And now this is happening right behind the park, and we’re just not happy about it.”

The residential portion of the Tech Ridge project will offer townhomes, apartments, and condos, in addition to “trails, parks, and open spaces,” according to the website. 60 acres will be devoted to trails and parks, one third of the development.

While some are expressing concern about the location of the apartments, others are optimistic about the economic impact the Tech Ridge project will have on St. George.

Jill Hunt, another nearby resident, said, “Mostly, if we can develop opportunities for our kids to have high-paying jobs, they can stay here and be able to afford to live here. That’s one of the biggest complaints a lot of people have, that their kids can’t stay here and afford to live here. Well, these are the ways that happens. We bring in these high-paying jobs, and while they’re doing that, they need a place to live.”

According to the Tech Ridge website, the construction of the project will provide nearly 25,000 jobs, and in the long term, it will create nearly 16,000 jobs.

“This is just one development of the many phases of [Tech Ridge] to provide housing for tech jobs,” Hunt added.