When Nathan Imonigie, 26, moved to Salt Lake City to attend medical school at the University of Utah he missed the strong community he’d left behind in Boise.
So when Imonigie saw an ad on Instagram for a new apartment complex in downtown Salt Lake City that featured community events and networking, he was intrigued.
The new complex — Salt Lake Crossing — in the “Hardware District” is set to be the first luxury “co-living” building in the city.
Those who choose to live in one of the building’s 150 co-living studio apartments will share a larger dining room and kitchen with 30 other residents. The shared space will feature a television, fireplace, double gourmet kitchen and places to hang out and work.
Think luxury dorms.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sierra Gagne, the experience manager for Salt Lake Crossing, holds a rendering of a community space for co-living residents during a tour at the construction site for Salt Lake Crossing, a new apartment complex set to open in May, in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday, March 8, 2024.
Vegh has worked at five-star resorts across the West — from Montage Deer Valley in Park City to the Ritz-Carlton in Southern California. He brought that experience to the luxury Hardware apartments and is now working to create the same sense of opulence at a slightly cheaper price for a Gen Z clientele.
“We’re heavily focused on using that space to get all 30 floormates involved and getting to know each other,” the leader of the project Austin Vegh, 31, told The Tribune. He envisions floormates carpooling to ski resorts and networking. No one will be a “stranger.”
For those who aren’t interested in being quite so cozy with their neighbors, Salt Lake Crossing will offer 150 open 1 bedrooms equipped with full kitchens, enough space for a couch and a washer and dryer.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Austin Vegh, left, the community manager for Salt Lake Crossing, speaks during a tour at Salt Lake Crossing, a new apartment complex set to open in May, in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday, March 8, 2024.
Salt Lake Crossing will also open a coworking space. Spots will go for $350 a month but residents would pay $250.
“It could be perfect for someone that’s just moving to Salt Lake that doesn’t necessarily have a network and could use this space to live in and work out of,” Vegh said. “But really, it’s built for anyone that is seeking to make more connections and whether that’s professional or personal, whatever it is, our mission is truly to help people forge meaningful connections.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Employees for Salt Lake Crossing, a new apartment complex set to open in downtown in May, give a tour at the construction site in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday, March 8, 2024.
On a Friday morning Imonigie met with Vegh to tour Salt Lake Crossing. The building was still under construction, but Vegh, Imonigie, and the experience manager Sierra Gagne. Carson Young, 23, would be offering residents laundry service through his company, Foam, and also joined the tour.
Co-living apartments start at $1,375 plus a $257 community fee that includes utilities. Parking is an additional fee. The more spacious open one-bedrooms start at $1,550. About seven people managed to comfortably file into an empty studio apartment.
Young, who is still completing his master’s degree at the University of Utah, noted that rents were on par or (even cheaper) with what students pay for on-campus housing.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sierra Gagne, the experience manager for Salt Lake Crossing, holds a rendering of the rooftop patio and pool space during a tour at the construction site for Salt Lake Crossing, a new apartment complex set to open in May, in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday, March 8, 2024.
The co-living studios will be fully furnished — from a queen size bed to fresh sheets and bedding, Vegh explained. He envisions the model appealing to everyone from digital nomads to new graduates. “You don’t need to have anything to move in,” Vegh said.
While the actual living quarters may be on the smaller side, there’s a rooftop pool with views of the Oquirrhs, a spacious gym with courses and proximity to Frontrunner, TRAX and bus lines. There are even plans to put a podcast and video studio in the building’s garage and a coffee shop in the lobby.
A large bronze fountain was covered in cloth, but Vegh pointed to it as one example of detail to make it feel “a little grandiose” when residents arrive.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Austin Vegh, the community manager for Salt Lake Crossing, holds up an iPad with a rendering of the lobby during a tour at the construction site for Salt Lake Crossing, a new apartment complex set to open in May, in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday, March 8, 2024.
Sometime in mid-April, residents will get the chance to see Vegh’s vision realized and live large in small spaces.
