ST. GEORGE — Plans for a new master-planned community in St. George, which will comprise 10,000 new residences, were unveiled Thursday at the St. George Area Economic Development Summit.
“Today, I’m here to formally introduce a unique and ambitious project underway in St. George,” Rhys Weaver, president and COO of Clyde Companies, told the 900 summit attendees. “It’s a master-planned community called Desert Color.”
The new development will be a 3,350-acre community located on Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration property – east of Interstate 15 along Southern Parkway.
Desert Color will be among the largest ever master-planned developments in Utah, Weaver said, and will be divided into four main land-use districts: mixed-use commercial district, recreation, resort and residential.
As part of the plan, Desert Color will feature nearly 210 acres of developed parks and trails circulated throughout the community. Trail systems, parks and nature preserves will provide opportunities for residents, visitors and activity seekers to feel a deeper connection to the community and the land.
“The Desert Color vision is a big one,” Weaver said, “(to include) 10,000 residences with single-family apartments and townhomes, 103-acre commercial district with office space, shopping, recreation, health facilities, schools, cultural activities and a resort facility with crystal lagoons, 1,100 rooms that will be a mixture of hotel, resort and vacation condos, a recreation area with parks, trails and activities that promote a healthy lifestyle, and a golf entertainment experience for golfers of all skill and age levels.”
For the last 18 months, the Desert Color master development team – consisting of Clyde Companies, Blue Diamond Capital and Merrill Trust Group – has worked with SITLA, St. George City and Washington County to make Desert Color a reality.
“At present, we have made significant strides,” Weaver said. “If you drive out there, you’ll see the earth is moving in a variety of directions.”
Property has already been purchased by some of the development’s initial tenants, Weaver said, including Paparazzi Accessories, which is building a new corporate headquarters and warehouse on a 13.5-acre lot.
The Desert Color property is located within St. George city limits and is generally described and bound by the Sun River development to the west; the Arizona border to the south; the Fort Pierce Industrial Park to the north; and the Desert Canyon development to the east.
The total developable acreage for the parcel is approximately 6,800 acres, making the parcel by far the largest development parcel in Washington County, according to the Trust Lands Administration.
“We are proud to create a new, innovative community that will enrich the St. George area and the state of Utah,” Weaver said. “Desert Color is a decades long project, and we know it will succeed with the insight and guidance of our community partners.”
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Perfect…just what St George needs, more people, water consuming places, tourists and over priced real estate. When will people realize St George cannot sustain this type of development? There is not enough industry and well paying jobs to allow the younger generations to thrive and put down roots. All of the Californians & retirees come into town with money but do not participate in the workforce or create jobs, they just make everything more expensive! Soon St George will be nothing but retirees and tourists, everybody else will be run out of town, it’s already begun. St George is becoming less desirable and livable each day, it’s turning into California (which most of us despise) without the beach, good weather & entertainment.
Now I can see why the Lake Powell project is such a high priority among the feather merchants, land pimps, and water nymphs. This comes as a bitter reminder that venturous developers think the Southern Corridor is part of Minnesota. Are we trying to mimic the growth of Las Vegas? Then we better allow slot machines.
You want more industry, and better paying jobs in St. George? What are you doing to make that happen?
For starters, nobody can just make that happen all of a sudden. I have been working with people and organizations to try and bring in good companies that have stable jobs so people can actually afford to live here. St. George has a lot of potential and resources (I-15 runs right through it, reasonable distance to Las Vegas & SLC, well educated population with a college in town, etc) that could allow many good companies to come here, set up shop and do very well. Problem is, right now there has been such a focus on tourism and service style businesses that do very little to allow people to actually stay here, especially the younger generation that many will come to rely on soon. Why would somebody with valuable skills in their job market stay in St. George and contribute to the community for below-par wages when they could move to Utah County, SLC, Vegas or California & make significantly more and have a better quality of life? I’m trying to get people to understand that so we can change the dynamic and make St. George a better place in the future instead of letting it get run into the ground.
Uhhh… very nice, but I see two new lakes on those pretty drawings. Where is all that water going to come from? I thought as a community we are suppose to be concerned about conserving water? With the issue of the expensive Lake Powell pipeline still being debated, it doesn’t seem wise to be filling up new recreational lakes with existing or anticipated water. Utah does not have unlimited use of Lake Powell water. Use of Lake Powells water is allocated by a multi-western state agency. If the expensive LPP is built, can we be sure we will be allocated enough water to keep it
Full?
Well, if “St George is becoming less desirable and livable each day” we probably won’t have to worry about a lot of people moving here.
Problem is, the people moving here do not understand this or just don’t care. Compared to where they’re coming from (say California) the traffic is not bad and house prices are cheap. But St. George should never be compared to California, because 99% of the people living here want it to be nothing like that. I don’t live in California because I dislike everything about it, so I live in St. George. I don’t care how much worse the traffic is in California, the traffic in St. George is still beyond what i would consider reasonable. I don’t want to live in California, so why should I have to put up with California moving into my backyard & not put up a fight?
Just more STUPID!
So you think traffic, over crowded schools and crime is bad now…
The only Desert Color that will be here is the color of Smog…..and the color of green as to the money made by the greed factory…….you asked for it southern Utah….Welcome to Hell….this place is becoming a total mess more eachday….so we add 20,000 more cars and trucks to the local roadways and highways? It’s congested as it is now….fun times coming very soon
GREED. Why must we develop any land available? Look at the Ledges. Soon everyone can drive up and down highway 18 and see nothing but “short term rentals” all the way into St. George. Turtles? What turtles? Water? And when will there be a stop light installed at Winchester Hills? GREEDY. Land pimps, that’s good.
I’d say an interchange is a much better alternative to a stoplight on a highway… which is what they’ve got!
cha ching $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Welcome to little las vegas.
This place is already like a giant nursing home. The only jobs created when these old out of towns seniors roll in here to settle are low paying dumpy service jobs, and ofc medical jobs. Someones gotta take care of them.
Let’s think logically here… If people are going to move to St. George, then they are going to do it whether this development gets under way, or the next one, or the one after that. Just because there is a building lot available doesn’t mean someone is going to uproot their family and move here just to fill it. The truth is: people ARE moving here!!!! Developers are recognizing that and are just getting in front of it!
How many of you moved to Southern Utah within the last 40 years? I’ll bet the few locals that were here in the 60s and 70s were dreading having you move here too! But we make it work.
How many of you live in a house that was built within the last 40 years? Your land was once developed too! I guess you are part of the ‘problem’!
People are just too fearful of change and growth! It’s coming. Whether you like it or not.
Looks like St. George will need a second pipeline. Interesting that the article mentions “sustainability” as if this development would be environmentally focused. Creating more Oasis in the desert. Great idea:)
Looks like a Florida community, not a desert community. Why don’t developers embrace living in the desert?
Wait! If the land is owned by SITLA, how much money goes to schools? Education? Was the land sold or leased? Was SITLA hosed or make good profit? Where is the profit going?
Where do you think your kids are going to live when they grow up? With you? As long as humans keep procreating we’re going to need places for them to live. If you’re not smart enough to understand that you shouldn’t be procreating.
When I was born in San Jose, Ca. the city had a population of 38,000. When I left, forever, the city’s population was 947,000.
Believe me, I personally witnessed the impacts of out-of-control population growth.
No matter what “developers” say, too many people are not good for your well being.
I’d recommend folks go to county and city meetings more if you don’t want this. Southern Utah is growing but citizens can influence that in alot of ways. Its an epic drought year so you we have some leverage on a development that wants to have a massive aquatic feature.
I hope this housing is actually affordable for normal people. My problem is with all the people that come here to retire. It drives up the cost of living but no employers want to pay more. Southern Utah is one of the worst places to live if you are starting out.
Make the houses affordable to rent and buy and target the younger people that are actually trying to work here and move their lives forward. I moved to Cedar and commute daily to St.George because the housing is so expensive and no one wants to pay a decent wage down here. If my wife wasn’t going to a college and it wouldn’t be such a pain to transfer credits I would have already left this area.
“I hope this housing is actually affordable for normal people”
Dream on buddy. This is housing for old wealthy retired people from out of state, a lot of it will be 2nd or 3rd homes for them. and its not gonna be cheap
If you build it, they will come lol
I am afraid we have had very little time to consider the overall long term affect this extremely ambitious project will have on all our lives and plans for the future here in our beloved (Dixie) home town. I was afraid of some huge out of control project was underway as I travel along Red Hills Parkway and look to the South, as you approach the area where you can stop along the road there and overlook the city, I suggest all of you people that are concerned with the long and short term affects of this monstrosity notice the amount of dust and airborne particulate that we are already being exposed to,look out south past Webb hill down the I-15 corridor and over into the area they are developing, it is out of control already! ” This will be among the largest ever master-planned developments in Utah” to quote Weaver, and I say this will be among the largest ever master planned disasters to our way of life and well being!
Someday property owners in this development are going to be sorry they are sidled up so close to the three desert washes which converge nearby – Atkinsville, Mokaac and Lizard Washes. We have not re-experienced the flood of 1862, which hit the initial St George pioneers soon after they arrived. It’ll happen again and when it does there will be a whole lotta moaning and wailing and entreaties to the Lord. A wise populace would respect desert waterways and leave them wide berth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_of_1862
Well at least they’ll be able to fill up that Lake in the Desert!
Local politicians and city/county officials have come completely unhinged. They have created their own alternate reality where water is plentiful and should be wasted whenever possible; where there is no drought; where Lake Powell is not drying up and is not already over-allocated. Huge man-made lakes in an arid desert?!! The greed is completely out of control! And, completely outrageous!
Like congressional republicans using their huge increases to the national debt as an excuse to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, local politicians will use the “need” to keep these lakes filled as another sleazy excuse to build the multi-billion dollar Lake Powell Pipeline. What a privilege for the rest of us to get fleeced so that greedy land developers can laugh all the way to the bank, chauffeured there by our elected officials!
Looks like a Colorful Dream to me! ???