History

Ogden was the site of the famous “Golden Spike” in 1869, where the Union Pacific railroad met the Central Pacific, linking the American coasts and ushering the rapid expansion of the American West. For over fifty years, every person taking the railroad cross-country stopped at Ogden’s downtown Union Station, creating a boomtown.

The advent of diesel in the 1950’s allowed the transcontinental railroad to bypass Ogden, and its economy withered. Until now. The New York Times wrote recently, ”Set in the western foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, Ogden, a city of approximately 83,000 people, is fast gaining on places like Boulder, CO, as a destination for extreme sports.” Money Magazine named Ogden one of the best places to live in America last year, and recent glowing articles in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Outside.com have sung Ogden’s praises as a wonderful place to live, work and play.

Outdoor Industry

The area’s natural assets impress: superb skiing, cycling, fishing, climbing, hiking and camping. Ogden’s visionary young mayor, Matthew Godfrey took office in 2000 and was reelected to a third term in November 2007. Godfrey sees outdoor recreation as a means to a vibrant and financially sound community. His stated goal is the creation of the “Silicon Valley of the Outdoor Industry.” It’s clearly working, for Ogden now has more ski companies than any other city in the country. To date, eleven ski/outdoor related brands have moved or are soon moving to Ogden, including industry leaders such as Salomon, Rossignol, Atomic, Descente and Scott USA. Curt Geiger, VP Descente North America moved his company to Ogden from its longtime home in Denver last year. He believes “Ogden, with its proximity to airports, charming Main Street, University and nearby ski resort, has what it takes to be the Milan of the ski industry — a hub of major industry leaders together creating a single destination for retailers to send their buyers in search of next year’s wares.”

World Class Skiing - Easy Access

Ogden lies just forty minutes north of Salt Lake City in the foothills of the Wasatch Range off major north/south Interstate I-15. In Spring 2008, a new light rail from Salt Lake City will connect Ogden with the rest of the front range. There is a proposal to build a Gondola in Ogden. It will run from the light rail station, just one block from several of our properties, up to Malan’s Basin and eventually to the top of Snow Basin. A skier will be able to fly into Salt Lake, board the light rail, get into the gondola and hit the slopes, without ever entering a car. All our properties being developed by Ogden Properties LLC are one or two blocks from the proposed gondola.

Snow Basin

Just twenty five minutes up beautiful Ogden Canyon is the finest skiing you have never heard of. Home of the 2002 Olympic Downhill, Snow Basin is privately owned by Earl Holding, owner of Sinclair Oil and the Sun Valley Ski resort. Holding is about to dump $200 million of his multi-billion dollar fortune into making it the next Sun Valley. Currently, there is nowhere to stay near the mountain, but that will soon change, and we will capitalize as the world comes through Ogden to Snow Basin. Holding’s son-in-law, Chris Peterson, is developing a ski resort IN Ogden called Malan’s Basin.

Strong Economic Growth

Utah had the highest appreciation rate in home prices among all states at the end of 2006, followed by Idaho, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Despite a sharp decline nationally in sales of new homes, Utah continues to have one of the best-performing markets in the country. Ogden real estate has appreciated over 20% year to date (as of October 2007). Yet, this market remains incredibly affordable, with the current median price of a home for sale only $160,000. In the November 14, 2007 edition of Utah's Standard Examiner newspaper, Mark Knold, chief economist for DWS said, "Utah probably still has the nation’s fastest-growing economy. Growth remains well above the state’s long-term average, and about 52,500 jobs have been created in the state in the past year." Utah’s job growth was 4.3% in October 2007, nearly four times the national average of 1.2%. Unemployment was 2.8%, nearly half the national average of 4.7%.

Downtown Renaissance

Until the last few years, most of Downtown Ogden had been vacant, including numerous classic historic brick buildings. Godfrey’s business and economic development team bought up six derelict blocks next to historic 25th street and razed it… to create the new outdoor mall and recreation center called The Junction, which just opened to rave reviews. It includes the Salomon Center, the finest recreation center we have ever seen, with a super-sized Gold’s Gym, simulated sky diving, climbing walls, a surf wave, racquetball and swimming pool. Next door is a 16 screen multiplex, mixed use, retail, commercial and condos. All our properties are a short walk to the Junction.