WEST VALLEY CITY — The state of Utah purchased the former corporate headquarters of FranklinCovey in West Valley City to serve as the future home of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.
The $40 million deal closed in mid-July, according to county property records, but it’s expected to be several years before the agency is fully moved in to the new space. While the deal represents one of the largest recent commercial real estate transactions in the state, the selling price is well below what a similarly sized campus would cost to build today, according to Brandon Fugal, chairman of Colliers in Utah, which brokered the deal.
“Transactions like this are exceptionally rare, and properties of this caliber and operational readiness seldom become available for the state,” he said. “The cost of construction and land along the Wasatch Front, especially along key transportation corridors, has increased dramatically in recent years.”
The campus was originally built to serve as the corporate headquarters for FranklinCovey, the Utah-based business leadership training company. Located at 2650 S. Decker Lake Boulevard in West Valley City, the property spans a total of 21.7 acres and includes five buildings totaling more than 300,000 square feet, according to Colliers. It includes a cafeteria, fitness center and auditorium.
The sale has been in the works for about a year, according to Fugal. Utah lawmakers allocated $35 million for the property during this year’s legislative session.
“Transactions like this are exceptionally rare,” Chris Kirk, Colliers managing director, said in a news release. “Properties of this caliber and operational readiness seldom become available. For the state, this acquisition secures long-term certainty through a campus that would be extraordinarily difficult to replicate in today’s market.”
Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services is currently headquartered in the Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon Building and the Multi-Agency State Office Building, both near North Temple on Salt Lake City’s west side.
The FranklinCovey campus is “undergoing a programming study to determine how best to consolidate the (department) headquarters into the space,” according to Jeff Hymas, executive communications director for the Utah Department of Government Operations. “Relocation is estimated to take two to three years, depending on the final programming, design and state leadership’s funding approval of the project. Once DHHS moves, we’ll then reassess the need for the vacated facilities.”
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