The lease will last for 50 years and allow the faith to build new meetinghouses in Utah County.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) New housing and a meetinghouse for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are seen in Vineyard on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024.
In a significant land deal, a public Utah university will start leasing coveted property to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the fastest growing area of the state.
The agreement was approved Friday by the authorizing Utah Board of Higher Education. It means Utah Valley University can now move forward with leasing 4.83 acres of land in Vineyard to the predominant Utah-based church so the faith can build new meetinghouses.
The lease will last for 50 years. And the church will, in return, give the school $4.2 million paid upfront over the next two years.
On its plot in Vineyard, UVU has envisioned expanding its campus beyond its current Orem center, but hasn’t yet finalized plans and funding. The school currently owns more than 225 acres in the area.
Vineyard has boomed in the past few years, with new housing and businesses continually added around the eastern shoreline of Utah Lake. In 2020, the city was the fastest growing place in America. It’s held that title for several years, at least into 2024, according to the most recent data.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Construction in Vineyard shown on Friday, April 19, 2024.
It now has more than 14,000 people, up from 110 total residents in 2010. And as a part of Utah County, which has a majority Latter-day Saint population, the faith will get a foothold for constructing additional meetinghouses there.
UVU President Astrid Tuminez told the Utah Board of Higher Education on Friday that the school wants to retain ownership of the property for a future health-focused satellite campus.
“We’re not in the business of selling land,” she said.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) UVU President Astrid Tuminez speaks with The Salt Lake Tribune during an interview at Utah Valley University in Orem on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
The price of the land was determined based on an appraisal of $19.74 per square foot, according to a document the school provided to the Utah Board of Higher Education. A 1.2% premium was added to that, for a final lease rate of $19.98 per square foot.
Deals between public universities in the state and the faith aren’t entirely rare. At many schools in the state, the church leases or owns campus property to run faith-based institutes for students.
At the University of Utah, in the opposite direction, the church leased land to the school to build new dorms in a deal announced in 2022.
But financial analysts with the Utah System of Higher Education couldn’t recall the last time a university leased land to the church in a deal that didn’t involve bolstering faith-based campus resources.
