Lehi • Last September, two powerful Utah families gathered in Salt Lake City to unveil an ambitious plan to build up to 850 rent-subsidized dwellings in seven cities across Utah.

Less than a year later, philanthropists Clark and Christine Ivory joined partners Crystal Maggelet and her son, Drew, on Wednesday in unveiling one of the first of those major housing projects nearing completion — a 240-unit townhome community in Lehi.

The two families’ respective foundations — Ivory Innovations and the Call to Action Foundation — are the sole funders. “Since our inception in 2022, our mission has been clear,” Drew Maggelet said at a presentation and tour around the new development, “to preserve and expand access to affordable housing for seniors and working families.”

“That’s really what we’re wanting to do here,” Clark Ivory added, “is create a place where families and individuals can thrive.”

Ivory, also CEO of Ivory Homes, Utah’s largest homebuilder, noted the project’s proximity to a new Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi. He said he hoped that nurses and other hospital staff could potentially find a nearby and affordable housing option in the new development, named Innovation Park at Holbrook Farms.

Through a collaboration with the city of Lehi, he noted, the site will also offer on-site tutoring for school-aged children living in the area.

The one-, two- and three-bedroom townhomes in the new Lehi subdivision are all three stories with 2-car garages. The units are also all-electric and utility bills should be 22% lower than average, according to Ivory.

The dwellings cost about $272,500 apiece to build, according to information provided at Wednesday’s event. Profits from the project, according to organizers, will go towards building more affordable housing.

For those with household incomes of roughly $61,000 a year, monthly rent will be $1,470 for a one-bedroom unit. While the same units will cost just $963 a month for someone earning 50% of the area median income — or roughly $38,378 a year.

The rent for a three-bedroom unit for a family of three making about $78,000 a year would be $2,175 a month.

Other projects that the families are tackling include cottages and townhomes in a master-planned development in Magna; apartments in Draper; dwellings for seniors in South Jordan; and townhomes in Summit County.

Their initiative also aims to build affordable Homes at the old Liberty Wells Center, 707 S. 400 East in Salt Lake City, a former gymnasium and community gathering spot on 2.23 acres donated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As part of what’s being referred to as Housing for Impact, that east-side locale will be transformed into 30 apartments and 36 town homes, with three-quarters of the units as moderate-income housing.