Larry H. Miller Group of Cos. It announced on Monday that it will purchase a major piece of Daybreak, the planned master’s community in South Jordan.
The Miller Group real estate company buys more than 1,300 undeveloped acres in the eclectic residential community in the western end of South Jordan, including participation in existing commercial properties, as well as future commercial and residential development.
The terms of the transaction were not released. The acquisition, officials said, does not involve existing houses in Daybreak.
The substantial deal for Utah’s residential markets was revealed by Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Group in Sandy, and Brendan Bosman, CEO of Värde Partners, the Minneapolis-based investment firm that bought most of the Daybreak from Rio Tinto Kennecott in 2016..
Brad Holmes, president of Larry H. Miller Real Estate, said the acquisition would expand the company’s real estate footprint into a portfolio now focused on sports, car dealers, a movie chain, finance, insurance and healthcare.
“We are a community builder and we are dedicated to the continued success of this nationally planned and nationally flourishing development,” Holmes said in a written statement. The company hopes to “creatively and proactively address regional growth through mixed-use planning and development.”
The Larry H. Miller Group continues to expand
This is the second such acquisition, announced by the business empire, since it sold its majority stake in Utah Jazz in October to Ryan Smith, the founder of Provo-based customer management company Qualtrics.
Managers of the company founded by the late owner of Jazz, Larry Miller, who died in 2009, said in January that they had acquired Advanced Health Care Corp., an Idaho-born chain of state-of-the-art health care, home health and care centers. Hospice spread to Utah and seven other states.
Daybreak was built and opened in 2004 under the Oquirrh Mountains on a cleared portion of Bingham Canyon Kennecott mining operations. It is designed to be durable and pedestrian-friendly, combining a variety of housing types in denser neighborhoods and smaller-than-usual courtyards in most Utah suburbs, with clusters of houses surrounded by wide open spaces.
Kennecott’s parent company, Rio Tinto, sold Värde Partners the community’s finished homes, about 2,500 acres of undeveloped land, Lake Oquirrh and several major commercial buildings in June 2016, saying the divestment will generate “cash flow and flexibility as which simplifies our activity and focuses on mining. ”
The sale also coincided with a drop in commodity prices that forced layoffs for operations in Rio Tinto, Utah.
Since opening in 2004, Daybreak has grown to include over 6,000 homes with approximately 21,000 residents. It is now one of the most successful master planning communities in the country.
Home sales in the 4,000-acre development have increased dramatically in recent years, mainly due to rising housing demand and a national flight to the suburbs during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We look forward to building on the already established success of this community with the undeveloped commercial area and the thousands of homes that will be built in this area of regional destination,” Starks said in a press release.
Elected officials welcome the sale of Daybreak
The agreement drew praise from elected officials, including Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, who noted that much of the county’s population growth is happening in that southwestern part of the Salt Lake Valley.
Wilson said in a written statement that he “looks forward to working with Larry H. Miller Real Estate and other stakeholders to develop plans to support job growth, open spaces and recreation, strong infrastructure and community destinations.” .
South Jordanian Mayor Dawn Ramsey added that with a significant portion of Daybreak still undeveloped, she was “delighted” to receive the Larry H. Miller team in her hometown “to benefit current and future homeowners, employers and businesses.” ”.
Holmes said the acquisition “aligns perfectly with our real estate development and property management capabilities.”
Under his ownership, Värde sought to stimulate the combination of Daybreak housing options while investing in key commercial pieces in the suburban community, including expanding the University of Utah hospital campus, opening a veterinary outpatient clinic and attracting a new Salt Lake County Library. which will open this fall.
The real estate investment firm has also promoted plans for a major network of interconnected watercourses and lakes in Daybreak, known as watercourse development.
Värde said his investment approach has also helped increase home sales in the community. While Daybreak already accounted for a large share of total home sales in Salt Lake County before COVID-19, recent data indicates that sales increased from 452 in 2016 to 1,055 last year.
“We are proud of where the community is today,” said Bosman, general manager of Värde, “and look forward to the continued success of Daybreak under the leadership of the Larry H. Miller group.”