They took loads of research and debate to enact but a hard-fought package of zoning incentives aimed at producing more affordable housing in Salt Lake City appears to be working, albeit slowly.

Two years after permitting more height, infill, density and a range of new housing types in its residential areas, Utah’s capital has seen hundreds of such dwellings proposed for construction under the bonuses.

The city has seen 32 proposals filed under the affordable housing incentives, which took effect in April 2024. Thirteen of those were later withdrawn. But if the 19 still-viable projects become a reality, that would yield a total of 1,338 dwellings, with 973 of those units likely to be kept more affordable.

Most of those homes are part of developments already structured to draw on sources of affordable housing funding, but the city incentives appear to be letting builders squeeze more homes into their plans.

“What they’ve been able to do is get more units than they normally would have because they can go up” with increased building height, Planning Director Nick Norris said, adding that using alternative types of housing such as row cottages, duplexes, triplexes and four-plexes was also a key factor.

Fast-forward to 2026 and just two of those 19 construction projects pursued under the new incentives have been completed so far, both late last year. One is in Rose Park, while the other is in Poplar Grove.

More are in the pipeline, although city staffers say current economic conditions are affecting construction of all kinds right now, leading to fewer development proposals overall.

Where will these new homes go?

Most of the incentives kick in for resulting homes that will be kept affordable to those at 80% of area median incomes or lower, Norris said, though that number can be higher in the case of for-sale housing.

A two-year report card, meanwhile, indicates that about two-thirds of dwellings sought under the incentives would be offered at 60% of the area’s median income.

Where these new homes are being proposed adds some interesting wrinkles to the picture.

The corridor running two blocks north and south of North Temple has the highest number of new units proposed, with nearly half of all the affordable dwellings sought under the incentives falling in that area.

About a third of the total number of properties fall within in the city’s Ballpark-centered District 5.

Another quarter of the project sites, or roughly 26%, fall into the west side’s District 2, covering Fairpark, Glendale, Poplar Grove and portions of downtown, while the westerly District 1 — Rose Park, Westpointe and Jordan Meadows — would get another 20% of them.

District 7 in Sugar House drew about 11% of the total. Districts 3 and 4 — spanning the Avenues, Federal Heights, Guadalupe, Marmalade and Capitol Hill; and downtown, Central City, East Central and Central 9th — had 5% and 6% of the projects, respectively.

There were no applications in District 6, which spans much of the east bench and has some of the city’s highest concentrations of areas zoned for single-family homes.

But of the 19 applications that have not been withdrawn, eight of them are located within neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes, including the two projects that have been completed.

“That,” said Norris, “surprised us a little bit.”

Legal covenants taking lots of time

Part of the city’s two-year review of the incentives involves gauging their full costs and benefits — and many of those remain unknown for now, with only two projects finished thus far.

The report does highlight the challenge of city staff needing to devote lots of time to crafting what are called restrictive covenants with builders applying for the incentives.

These legal agreements, which detail the number of units, their level of affordability, how dwellings will be offered and other future restrictions, can take planners, housing specialists and legal advisers months to complete, the report card found.

“We really want to do what we can,” Norris said, “to streamline those things.”