As a developer, you’re always thinking about what kind of spaces will produce excitement and energy that make your development a place people want to visit. When you’re dealing with mixed use, housing, or hotel locations, there’s a number of things that come to mind – trendy bars, luxurious lobbies, and hip stores are all features that are a must in most scenarios.

However, one of the biggest “missed opportunities” in developments both large and small is when the rooftop is either under utilized or not optimized for public access. In many cases, developments are failing to provide outdoor spaces of any kind, when studies repeatedly show that outdoor amenities are one of the most sought after features in a global trend of urban and mixed use developments.

In order to spice things up with your development, make sure you think about the return your spaces will provide. Big open spaces that feel like an empty and expansive rooftop are prime locations to introduce any number of amenities (hint: here are a list of our favorite amenities to consider!)

That being said, here are a few examples from developments around Salt Lake City to show how outdoor amenities can be utilized.

4th West

4th West is the largest mixed-use project in Salt Lake City, and is being developed by SALT Development on 7.3 acres near Downtown. Having close to 500 units of the most luxurious living and retail shopping, 4th West sets the bar for urban living in Salt Lake City.

Along with providing a much needed grocery store, 4th West has strong connections to surrounding public transit.

As part of its unprecedented set of amenities, the finished project will include 4 uniquely designed interior courtyards at ground level for residents to use and a (1) acre rooftop amenity deck.

The rooftop amenity deck features the following:

• Olympic-size swimming pool with wet deck for chaise lounge seating and lap lanes for swimming lanes
• Large raised hot tub connected to pool
• 30’ long fire wall with prominent view of State Capital and Wasatch Mountain Range and surrounding city views
• Luxury shade cabanas with sound, device connections, and ceiling fans
• Indoor yoga and workout facilities
• Indoor demonstration kitchen
• Full size outdoor basketball and sport court
• Luxurious lounge seating placed in configurations around the entire amenity deck
• 4 outdoor bbq/kitchen areas with seating
• 8 large fire pits for year-round social interactions
• Capital hill, east mountain, and downtown city views

Encore

Encore is a seven-story, 189-unit apartment building on the prominent street of 4th South in downtown Salt Lake City. The density of Encore and the shear size taking up half of a city block, plus a very limited set back from 400 South creates very strong urban living environment.

The oversized rooftop deck includes many attractive amenities for the residents including:

• A custom linear lap pool with integrated hot tub
• fire pit lounge areas
• Built-in outdoor barbecues kitchen islands
• Lounge sofa and chair seating
• Great views to east mountains and downtown views.

CityScape

CityScape is a six-story, multi-family 150+ unit apartment building on 4th East in downtown Salt Lake.

The density of Cityscape and the shear size taking up half of a block, creates a very strong urban living environment.

The oversized rooftop deck includes many attractive amenities for the residents including:

• In-ground 10’x20’ hot tub
• 4-sided open flame fireplace with modern sofa seating
• Built-in outdoor barbecues kitchen islands
• Polished concrete seat walls
• Many Natural rust raised plant containers for trees and ornamental grasses to provide greenery
• 15’x15’ ipe platform deck areas with chaise loungers
• Synthetic turf green spaces for seating, play, or dog walking.

Utilizing features like the elements outline above will not only ensure you have a beautiful and elegant opportunity for outdoor spaces in your development, it will help create a sense of need and excitement amongst the visitors of your space.