This year’s Salt Lake Parade of Homes has a little surprise — and we mean little

Take a tour of the 312-square-foot house that may help homeless Utahns get on their feet and out of the cold and heat.

When the Salt Lake Parade of Homes kicks off Friday, dwelling-gawkers will not only have access to the area’s largest and most lavish abodes but also to its smallest and humblest.

HomeAid Utah, a nonprofit housing provider, will be showcasing a bite-size home in Sandy that will soon make its way to The Other Side Village, the tiny-house neighborhood being developed on Salt Lake City’s west side.

City Council members in Utah’s capital approved the project last year in an effort to quell the growing homelessness crisis.

“We were making the bed,” HomeAid Utah Executive Director Don Adamson said from the 312-square-foot home, “and the thought came to me: ‘Somebody who’s suffering on the streets of Salt Lake City in this heat right now, in time, will be able to occupy this unit.’”

When that time comes, they will have a cool place to sleep, a bathroom and shower to wash up, and a lock on their front door to provide the security they lack on the streets. The idea is that residents will be able to take the next steps toward self-reliance when they no longer have to worry about how they are going to survive.

When the pilot phase of the village opens on eight acres west of Redwood Road between Indiana Avenue and 500 South, it will include 60 units built by contractors, schools and inmates from the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. HomeAid has committed to building 10 to 15 houses in that first phase.

Another 21 units will be used for the Community Inn, a revenue-generating nightly rental concept that will accompany the first phase and give residents an opportunity to work.

Tim Stay, CEO of The Other Side Foundation, which oversees The Other Side Village and The Other Side Academy, said his group was impressed with HomeAid’s work. The tiny house took 31 days to build.

“We’re just in love with the finished product, the craftsmanship and the work,” Stay said, “and the speed that they were able to put it together.”

HomeAid works with the homebuilding industry and will be donating the house to the village. If the home were to be purchased by the average buyer, it would cost upward of $150,000.

Because the home that is on display was built on a steel chassis, it can be transported from its current Sandy location — at 230 W. Towne Ridge Parkway — to The Other Side Village. The remaining units HomeAid has committed to building will be constructed on traditional foundations within the village.

Adamson estimates his organization can round out construction on those remaining units in 60 days.

Environmental cleanup of the village site was more complicated than expected, but Stay said those hurdles are now cleared and additional site work can soon begin. Before homes can start opening to residents, the project must receive necessary permits, build roads and install utilities.

“End of the year is probably a little optimistic,” Stay said. “First part of next year is probably more realistic to have homes in place.”

Salt Lake City Council members voted to lease the land to The Other Side Academy for a dollar a year over the next four decades. Village officials will need to come back to the city for a separate contract to expand the project.

Officials envision the village eventually hosting about 430 units. Residents will be required to pay “deeply discounted” rents to stay in the drug- and alcohol-free village.

The project promises to offer more than housing to chronically homeless Utahns, with residents having access to case managers and support services.

For more information on the Parade of Homes, visit saltlakeparade.com. The event runs through Aug. 12, with houses open for tours Tuesdays through Saturdays from noon to 9 p.m.