Park City could become the owner of a Silver Star mountainside condominium that would help municipal workers experiencing a housing emergency and newly recruited employees who need time to look for a permanent home.

The City Council will take public input at a Friday meeting on a potential purchase of the ski-in, ski-out unit, which would be used for temporary housing for municipal employees. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. at City Council Chambers, 445 Marsac Ave. To attend virtually, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85994483159.

The third-floor condo, 1835 Three Kings Drive, #65-9, is a 620-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bath unit. It was built in 2008 and has a deck: parkcity.org/home/showpublisheddocument/74602/638434995126670000

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“The city will be able to purchase this beautifully maintained fully furnished unit for the Maximum Resale Price of $308,230 per the terms of the deed restrictions,” a report by Rhoda Stauffer, the city’s housing program administrator, says.

The condo is “in a very desirable area located on transit, and within easy walking distance to several public facilities that provide essential services (3Kings, Police, Public Works, and Transit),” the report says.

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The money to buy the Silver Star condo would come from the Affordable Housing Fund, which has more than adequate funding to buy the unit without hindering the municipality’s ability to consider additional acquisitions and partnerships, according to the report. An inspection has already been done and minor repairs have been completed, the report says.

Buying the condo would bring the total of the employee housing inventory to nine units and would be the first one-bedroom option. The other current options are two- and three-bedroom condos and a four-bedroom detached house, the report says.

Park City currently has one employee on the waitlist and three recruitments underway of workers who might need temporary housing.

“All the city’s existing non-transit units are filled or reserved,” Stauffer says in the report. “As of late summer, we will have no available units, and the first availability would be in January 2025. When units are fully occupied, we have no options for employees experiencing housing emergencies and/or for upcoming recruitments.”

Non-transit refers to seasonal transit drivers. The units are available to rent by all city staff who are full-time regular employees and the average length of stay is 12 months.

A committee with representatives from the Human Resources Department, the Housing Department and the executive team review requests for employee units to prioritize needs and what’s best for the organization.  

The criteria for renting the units include recruitment needs, such as when new employees wouldn’t be able to take the job without housing, and a housing emergency or changes for existing full-time regular employees. Essential workers — such as public safety employees and on-call water workers — get priority.

City staff members were informed by the executor of the owner’s estate in December as required by the deed restrictions that the unit was going on sale. Five months later, the condo was still on the market and the executor asked to sell the unit to the city.

The unit had been under contract once, but the buyer canceled and another potential buyer did not purchase the condo because of the lack of storage space, which is characteristic of the affordable units at Silver Star, Stauffer said in the report.

In addition, she said, “I believe applicants are hoping and waiting for interest rates to come back down.”