A Half Century of Excellence

Founded by Roger Boyer in 1972, sons Jake and Nate carry on the Boyer Company’s legacy of integrity and building to benefit the greater community. 
By Brad Fullmer

As one of the most successful commercial real estate developers in Utah’s history, Roger Boyer expressed gratitude and humility when asked what it means for his firm—The Boyer Company—to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. 

“It’s been a fun year, a humbling year,” said Roger, 82. “I think for me personally, I try to fly under the radar. It’s a quiet satisfaction that we feel like we’ve done good projects and developed a reputation for following through and having integrity. Banks have stayed with us because they can count on what we say.”

It’s been quite the journey for the octogenarian. Roger is an East High graduate (’58) who served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Australia before graduating from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Economics (’65). He chased and earned an MBA from Harvard (’67) and quickly fell into the development world via a relationship with U of U frat brother Ellis Ivory, founder of Ivory Homes. 

The pair started Ivory & Boyer Company in the spring of 1967 and were the exclusive marketing agents for a new 1,000-acre residential development in Bloomington, south of St. George. The firm merged with Johnson Land Company to become Terracor in December 1968 and they set about developing Bloomington Country Club, which included two golf courses and the construction of the Man O’ War bridge to provide access from I-15 across the Virgin River. The bridge still stands today, a symbol of both Boyer and Ivory’s ambition. 

Roger remembers flying in golf pro and three-time major champion Billy Casper to hit balls as a way of promoting the new golf course development. NFL star Merlin Olsen drove a ceremonial golf cart across the bridge, too. 

The development was a success, and the pair also made a splash working on sizeable developments in Herriman and Stansbury Park, but Boyer quickly realized he needed to invest in income-producing properties and lease properties that could be owned, rather than just buying and selling assets. 

“Ownership seemed like a better strategy,” said Roger. “That was the focus initially of the Boyer Company. In many ways, we’re not doing anything different other than the scale of projects.”

Family Affair 
Two of Roger’s eight children—sons Jake and Nate—followed in his footsteps and gained a passion for real estate development at an early age. They currently serve as CEO and President, respectively, and have participated on various local business and community boards.
Jake, 50, has served as Chairman of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and President of the Valley Service Board, along with being named NAIOP Developer of the year in 2014. 
Nate, 40, served on boards for Salt Lake Community College, United Way, and the Salt Lake Chamber. 
“I grew up in this industry,” said Jake, who assumed the role of President in 2006, President/CEO in 2011, and took a three-year sabbatical to serve a church mission in Frankfurt, Germany from 2017–2020. “I remember as a kid my dad would put us in the car, and we’d visit an office or a shopping mall. It was ingrained in my system early on. The thing I love about this business is that you’re a part of creating and developing projects from scratch, and that vision can be implemented in a tangible way. It’s fun to be part of that process and contributing to the community.”
“I like the tangible nature of real estate,” said Nate, who spent three years as an agent at Cushman & Wakefield while attending college at Brigham Young University, an experience that has proved valuable during his 13-year career at the Boyer Company. Beyond financial motivations, he added, “you can create cool projects over time and make places that are a lasting legacy.”
Working with their father has helped them forge the tightest of bonds. 
“We have enjoyed a daily association with each other and worked side by side for 25 years,” said Jake. “I’ve been around him long enough that I know how he thinks and reacts in certain situations. You start merging your decision-making.”
“He’s super focused on putting together great projects that are good for the community,” he added. “He’s smart at cutting through the noise to get to the bottom of issues. No drama, no ego—he cares about doing the right things”


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One Utah Center in Salt Lake City (lead photo) is an iconic project developed by Boyer Company and completed in 1991. The firm has a strong portfolio of industrial projects and remains bullish about that market. Liberty Sky Apartments (above) is a high-profile multi-family joint venture project completed earlier this year (photos courtesy Boyer Company).

Diversity of Projects and Markets

The Boyer Company has a rich history of building various types of projects, including commercial office, retail, industrial, medical office, self-storage facilities, and multi-family. Jake said the firm has developed approximately 43 million SF of space totaling multi-billions in value during its 50-year history and has no intention of slowing down, with some $2 billion in projects currently in the pipeline. The firm has 185 employees working out of offices in Salt Lake, Ogden, and Phoenix. 

Jake said they have ramped up their efforts in the multi-family arena in the past decade to capitalize on Utah’s booming multi-family and senior living markets. It has also invested heavily in recent years in building industrial warehouse space, highlighted by projects such as the Business Depot Ogden (BDO), a 1,118-acre master planned business park that features 14 million SF of space in the form of warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and office space. 

“There were enough build-to-suit opportunities that we were able to build out (BDO) space at a slow-to-moderate pace,” said Brian Gochnour, a 22-year company veteran who serves as COO and filled in as CEO during Jake’s three-year absence. “That pace has picked up dramatically the past five years. It’s been a great partnership with Ogden City.”

Jake said it’s the largest industrial park in Utah, with 1 million SF added last year and another 1 million SF under construction or soon-to-be completed in 2022. The firm has other major industrial projects underway in Grantsville, Spanish Fork, and a one-million-SF building in West Jordan—its largest project currently underway. 

Industrial warehouse space has been an important focus for the Boyer team. Nate said the market, despite a large influx of new industrial projects since 2010, “is still undersupplied, with less than 2% vacancy rates. We see continued growth going forward, even as interest rates go up. We think demand will outpace supply.”

Commercial office is perhaps the trickiest market to figure out right now, Jake said, due primarily to post-pandemic corporate office policies that have given rise to more employees working remotely or on hybrid schedules. 

“It’s all over the board—companies have different policies on work from home versus work from the office,” he said. “Office is not the most favored in the financing world right now. We’re not building [speculative] space.” 

“Office [demand] is 20%–30% down because of the hybrid workforce,” added Nate. “I think a lot of tech CEOs want their folks in the office for productivity reasons. The hope is the market will catch up and we can get back to a more normal vacancy rate by 2024–2025. No one really knows what demand will look like.”

Another prominent change in the past decade is the sheer number of outside developers looking to make hay while the sun shines on Utah’s red-hot economy. 

“When I started at the Boyer Company [2000], Utah wasn’t on the radar [nationally] as much as it is now,” said Gochnour. “With more developers coming into our market, we’re having to refine our approach to the continuing needs of our customers.” They’ve been through a number of economic cycles—some good and some tough, but “the great thing about the Boyer Company is that we’ll be able to weather any economic cycle we’re faced with,” Gochnour concluded.

“The total dollar amount of deals has changed considerably—both [up-front] costs and the amount of outside capital coming to Utah,” added Nate. “The fundamentals of the business are still the same, but it’s crazy to see the amount of capital flowing into Salt Lake. It’s been great. At the end of the day, our business is scalable.”

The company continues to develop projects in multiple states simultaneously, with active projects in ten states, including Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Colorado, South Carolina, Texas, Arkansas, and Massachusetts.


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Boyer Company spent significant time and resources developing The Gateway, a $375 million, 2.1 million SF open-air, mixed-use complex to coincide with the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic games. The firm has built dozens of prominent commercial office projects over its 50-year history, including Podium building in Lehi; Boyer 101 in Salt Lake (site of the firm’s HQ); and the DealerTrack office building in Draper.

Next 50 Years

Hitting the 50-year mark is certainly a notable achievement, but not one that affords the company time to take its foot off the accelerator. 

“We’re going to keep plowing forward—we haven’t sat around and patted ourselves on the back—but 50 years is definitely a milestone we’re happy about and grateful we were able to get there,” said Jake. “We hope to be around for a long time.”

Nate also appreciates the significance of half a century but believes the firm’s best days are ahead. 

“Bigger isn’t always better,” he said of the firm’s future outlook. “We don’t have big ambitions to grow from a headcount standpoint. We want to continue to do great projects and to maintain our reputation in the market, where people know we’re trustworthy and good partners and that we do what we say we’re going to do. It’s not that complicated.”

“I’m excited about our next 50 years,” Nate continued. “Real estate isn’t going to change but there are so many new ways to finance projects. We’re in a better position than we’ve ever been financially. I think we’ll do some of our coolest projects going forward.”

Roger still loves coming to the office and engaging in project discussions. His opinions are invaluable; his presence calming. 

“We have a great system—he has an office here, he can come in as much as he wants—ultimate flexibility,” Jake smiled. He and Nate don’t want to burden Boyer with the mundane, day-to-day aspects of the business, however, “We’d be dumb to not tap into his knowledge. When we’re making large capital decisions about moving forward on certain projects, we like to get his input. He enjoys the thrill of the deal.”

Roger has been a member of ARUP’s board of directors for 34 years and also is actively engaged in a program with local universities to provide scholarships to refugees and disadvantaged youth and help them get into careers. 

Roger was wistful when asked about having Jake and Nate carry on the Boyer family as his own career has wound down the past decade.

“It’s an emotional question—there is no higher honor for a man than to have some of his closest friends be his own children,” said Roger. “We work hard together, but we have a lot of fun together. It’s an honor, and it’s what keeps me coming back at this stage.”

“The other day he turned to us and said, ‘You’re not going anywhere anytime soon,’” laughed Nate. “Jake and I will be around for a while. We don’t know the [succession] plan—at this point we are just planning to be here because we love what we do, to be honest. You wake up Monday and it’s fun to go to work.”

Black Desert Oasis

By Brad Fullmer • October 15, 2025
When Lehi-based Reef Capital Partners (Reef) initially announced plans in 2018 to build a sprawling, estimated $2 billion mega-resort with a championship-caliber golf course on 600 acres covering parts of Ivins and Santa Clara—small towns with just over 15,000 combined residents at the time—it was difficult to fathom what a project of that magnitude might look like. Fast forward seven years, and Black Desert Resort is indeed a shining oasis amidst Southern Utah's famed red rock cliffs, sitting atop an ancient lava field, with buildings strategically carved into the land to produce a resort unlike anything else. "This is the biggest project we've ever done—we feel really good where we are," said Brett Boren, President of Real Estate for Reef, acknowledging the general completion of the $290 million, 806,000-SF resort center, along with significant ongoing work—including a 1,298-stall parking garage, condominiums, and a private water park. As of September, all aspects of the main resort center were open and fully complete, with the hotel celebrating its first official year in business after partially opening in September 2024 as it hosted the inaugural PGA Black Desert Championship October 10-13. The second installment of the tournament—now dubbed the Bank of Utah Championship—is slated for October 23-26, with a third tournament signed for 2026.

Calder Richards Celebrates 20 Years of Sustainable Evolution

By UC&D • October 1, 2025
In 2005, Calder Richards Consulting Engineers formed after the merger of two smaller structural consulting firms who, interestingly enough, both started in 1986. Calder Richards has provided a steady structural support for Utah’s built environment ever since. As the firm celebrates its 20th anniversary, UC+D spoke with Managing Principals Shaun Packer and Nolan Balls to look back over the company’s history and celebrate what has helped their firm stand out to deliver solid projects in Utah and beyond. Their responses were edited for clarity and brevity. UC+D: What have been some catalytic moments for Calder Richards since that initial merger? SP: Winning the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona is the first one. The big reason for the merger between Richards Consulting Group and Calder Consulting was to build a large enough company to go after bigger projects like that.” NB: That was my first project when I was hired straight out of college. We helped design the 17-story hotel and casino, a conference center, as well as parking structures, a central mechanical building, and a pool building. Talking Stick helped get us through the downturn a few years later. UC+D: What have been your key market sectors you all have targeted over the last 20 years? NB: We were breaking into K-12 along the Wasatch Front soon after the Talking Stick Resort and it’s been our bread and butter since then. SP: Absolutely, but I credit our firm for always adapting to the current environment. We’ve been fortunate to do so much K-12, but we used to do a lot of office work, and now we are working on conversions like the Ebay Headquarters to CTE/Innovation Center for Canyons School District as the market has shifted away from commercial office. UC+D: Schools have certainly evolved over the last 20 years, how has your work as structural engineers evolved? SP: We are seeing more creative design on the architectural side, certainly. We see many more two-story designs; more windows and daylighting. But we’re utilizing more powerful tools and continually building our understanding of the structural materials that are in use more than ever—tilt-up concrete, steel columns and beams, especially—to be the architect’s trusted partner. NB: Schools have definitely changed, and we’ve had better experience in helping projects move forward successfully when we are involved earlier in the design process. As we got involved early on in West High School’s schematic design, we were able to provide structural solutions and options to accommodate the architects’ design intent. UC+D: How has company growth changed Calder Richards? SP: It’s certainly changed the number of people in our office. We started with around 10 people when we merged, and today we have 27. But we often say that we don’t want to grow just to grow—we want to grow sustainably. We don’t lay people off when works slows down, and we have an expectation that sometimes there will be overtime work, and other times you may be waiting for our next project to begin.

The (Epi)Center of it All

By By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Nested in the middle of the University of Utah (U of U) campus sits the aptly-named Impact & Prosperity Epicenter, the second living learning community (LLC) project designed on campus by Los Angeles-based Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign. After nearly a decade since their first LLC project, the award-winning Lassonde Studios (UC+D’s 2016 Most Outstanding Public Building over $10 million), Mehrdad Yazdani, the design firm’s Principal and Studio Director, said their work on a sequel was an exciting prospect for the firm, and enlisted Salt Lake-based MHTN Architects and Okland Construction to serve as the respective local architect and general contractor. Today, the Epicenter serves as a striking piece of architecture and construction, one whose curvilinear shape asks users and visitors plenty of questions. But moving from idea to execution has been a work in progress. One query from Yazdani stood out as it relates to students and the built environment, and helped begin the journey to create the Epicenter: “How does your living environment as a student impact your success as a student and as a changemaker?” A Project for an Evolving Campus Katie Macc, CEO of the Sorenson Impact Institute, said LLCs like the Epicenter and Lassonde Studios next door have been massive steps forward in advancing entrepreneurship and social impact. But both play a major role in creating “college town magic”—a phrase coined by University President Taylor Randall that invokes a vibrant campus where students can find community and have one-of-a-kind experiences. With more on-campus student housing in the works, the state’s flagship university is hoping to shed the “commuter school” label and deliver a level of desirability that matches the resources students commit to higher education. “There is some soul searching going on across university campuses,” said Macc of the challenge at hand. “We have to be convincing that going to college matters.” She said overall university enrollments across the nation are decreasing as students grapple with tuition costs, COVID and its isolating aftershocks, and a different perspective on higher education. Universities are no longer a place where students come to learn what they couldn’t learn elsewhere—remote learning and the internet have opened a fissure in that idea that will never close. Instead of that educational transaction, being at a university must include building community and creating in-person experiences only available on campus. Macc said that the Epicenter helps steer the campus experience toward the future, with design goals to create a base of operations for two changemaking organizations and a living and learning home for 778 students. The three-story commercial portion of the building, known as the “Changemaker Pavilion”, includes office space for The Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity (second floor) and the Sorenson Impact Institute (third floor). While each organization has a different focus, both are firmly invested in helping students access and create the resources needed to change the world. Each entity works hand-in-hand as owners of the Epicenter to host events and “create a full spectrum of ways for students to get involved,” said Chad Salvadore, Chief Financial Officer for the Sorenson Impact Institute. “We’re dialing in the programming to energize the student body,” said Salvadore of the work done at the Epicenter. With over 60 majors represented among the 778 students who live there, he said that the diversity of students is less a reflection of their chosen major and more a desire to reside in a space built for students to work their entrepreneurial muscles. “Living here is a mindset—you can engage across many different paths you choose.”

Goal!

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Front view of the bleachers, press box, and suites. (photos courtesy SIRQ Construction)

Four Decades of Transformation

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Over the course of its 40-year history in Utah, WSP's Salt Lake office—originally founded as Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1985—has morphed from primarily a transportation design firm to one that successfully operates in multiple civil engineering markets. The results of WSP's transformation the past decade into a more diverse outfit speak for themselves, with the 128-person Salt Lake office (with locations in Cottonwood Heights and South Jordan) posting three consecutive years of revenues over $50 million, including a record $70.1 million in 2023, and a robust $59.9 million in 2024—good for the No. 2 ranking in UC+D's 2025 Top Utah Engineering Firms rankings.

Good Career? Start Here

By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Lucio Gallegos vividly remembers the workforce development meetings he attended during his time at Ogden-Weber Tech. These career and technical education (CTE) discussions consistently focused on one thing: young people were not entering construction, and the industry needed a new approach to attract them. Gallegos recalled one member of the workforce development team, a training director with a prominent general contractor, saying, “We have been trying this for over 10 years, screw it, we’re just gonna hire them.” The Long Road Those conversations occurred nearly 10 years ago, and workforce development concerns continue to permeate the industry. The National Center for Construction Education & Research estimates that 41% of the construction workforce will retire by 2031, leading to potential gaps in skill and safety and decreases in productivity and project quality. While stakeholders have aligned on the overall goal of providing students a foundation for future success through career development, the means to achieve the ends were seemingly at odds. High schools, trade schools, colleges, and private industry took different paths to achieve their goals, with some moving in opposite directions. “I’m gonna be honest with you,” Gallegos recalled one school administrator saying, “If I promote what you’re telling me to get them over to the tech college, I lose head count. And then I lose teachers. I can’t have a school without teachers.” Jobs that took away student learning experiences, according to federal guidelines and child labor laws, made the idea a non-starter. However, after years of lobbying the Utah Legislature for a compromise between industry and education, H.B. 055, passed in 2023, provided a catalytic change in how younger people can engage with construction and other industries. High school students could participate if they were involved in a school-sponsored work experience and career exploration program. Private industry finally had the compromise it wanted. It was time to act. Big-D Charts New Path Gallegos, now the Workforce Development Manager from Big-D, joined the company in 2023 with the express purpose of creating a program that fit within the new guidelines. Gallegos said he sees career development through the lens of the immigrant experience, one he knows personally as a Mexican immigrant with a father who worked in commercial construction. “I was 9 years old and busting pins out of concrete forms with a hammer that was as big as I was,” he laughed. “I’ve got the cliché immigrant story.” That story has a theme familiar to many immigrant families, he said, one where parents say, “I want my kids not to have to work as hard as I do. I want them in school.” Add to that, it’s a law—children must attend school. Gallegos was unfazed by those obstacles. As he began planning how Big-D’s internship program would operate, he knew that engagement had to start at the elementary school level and build on personal relationships between private industry, school administrators, students, and their families to succeed. “We want to be the solution, not the obstacle to get into this industry,” said Gallegos. So Big-D removed the barriers. Students can still attend school, work towards graduation, and be available in the afternoon for sports, extracurricular activities, and the high school experience. But working was another significant part of the immigrant experience, Gallegos said, and internships needed to be paid to alleviate the family concerns. “We asked what we would pay somebody fresh out of high school who worked at Big-D,” Gallegos said. Interns have earned those same wages ever since.

It's A Knockout

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
On January 2, 1957, Gene Fullmer, a scrappy, underdog fighter from West Jordan stunned the boxing world with a 15-round unanimous decision over the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson at New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden. Fullmer captured the world middleweight championship and established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers during the late 50s and early 60s. Since then, the Fullmer name has been synonymous with boxing in Utah, with brothers Gene, Jay, and Don establishing the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym in 1978, and offering free boxing instruction and life mentoring to thousands of youths—carrying on a tradition they learned from their trainer, Marv Jenson. Their legacy of community giving will live on in the new Fullmer Legacy Center in South Jordan, a 16,500-SF facility that will serve as a permanent home to the boxing gym—after years of bouncing around to various temporary facilities—along with a museum, snack bar, and gift shop. “The Fullmers are the first family of boxing in the state of Utah—that’s well understood,” said Dave Butterfield, a founding board member of the Fullmer Legacy Foundation. Butterfield served as Chairman of the Board from June 2016 to early 2025 and was influential in helping raise money—nearly $6 million via donations to date, which includes $2 million from the Utah Legislature. Project Driven by Vision to Find a Permanent Home for Fullmer Brothers Gym It was Jay Fullmer who led the charge to teach boxing in the community. By 1978, the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym had formally opened at the Butterfield farm chicken coop in South Jordan, recalled Larry Fullmer, Don’s oldest son and the man who spearheaded the efforts for the Fullmer Legacy Center. From there, Larry said the facility moved to Riverton Elementary, an old church house in West Jordan, a sugar factory, a former fire station, and the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park in South Jordan, where it had resided since 2011. When they got word that Salt Lake County planned to transfer ownership of the park to Utah State University, Fullmer knew they needed to find a long-term home for the boxing gym. Fullmer met with Butterfield and Robert Behunin—who at the time was a Vice President with Utah State University—in 2016 and told them he just wanted a “tin shed of our own” for boxing. Behunin countered by saying, “If you want people to donate money, you need something better than a tin shed!” They quickly formed the Fullmer Legacy Foundation (FLF), and by 2018, the wheels were in motion on a building. Doc Murdock, a long-time trainer at the gym, connected Larry with his former roommate at Brigham Young University, Vern Latham, who is a Principal at Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture. VCBO offered pro-bono services initially while helping FLF put together an RFP, while North Salt-based Gramoll Construction provided value engineering and other services in an effort to get the project launched. Larry expressed sheer gratitude for the contributions of both firms in helping make the project a reality, especially for many generous donations from various foundations and individuals. “[VCBO] believed in us early on and did our first phase of planning at no charge—they have been amazing and so professional to work with,” said Larry. “Gramoll helped us get the budget done as tight as it could be. This project had the absolute tightest budget. We met weekly with architects and the general contractor to see the progress—I’ve never seen such an amazing process. Construction started in November ’23, and every time I would come to the jobsite in the first six months, I’d get emotional.” “We leaned on our relationships with contractors for flooring, ceiling, tiles, donated furniture and got deep discounts and a lot of in-kind donations,” said Phil Haderlie, Principal-in-Charge for VCBO. “To me, the story of this project is the grassroots effort of people seeing the value—this is something that came from their heart. It will have a long-lasting impact on the community.”

Significant Buzz

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
The first season is in the books for the Salt Lake Bees in its spectacular new home—the Ballpark at America First Square, the exciting new heart of Downtown Daybreak and certainly one of the premier Triple-A stadiums in the country. "It's a really cool stadium—the field looks so good!" gushed Eric Barton, Project Director for Salt Lake-based Okland Construction, while surveying the spacious 280,000 SF, 6,500-seat (8,000 capacity) ballpark. Barton said his team faced an extremely difficult construction schedule with the mandate the project had to be sufficiently ready for Opening Day 2025 on April 8, less than 18 months after the formal October 20, 2023, groundbreaking. Barton said Okland knew it was going to be a grind, with long hours and tight windows to get various milestones accomplished. "When we bid this to our trade partners, we had them bid it with the expectation of it being six days a week," he said. "We want not only your best guys, but you have to be adaptable to the plan. It was gangbusters from the start.” Up to 300 workers were onsite during peak construction activity, requiring meticulous coordination throughout. Okland even brought in Fred Strasser, a legendary project director who came out of retirement to shepherd the project through. "Fred is the genius behind getting this whole thing done," said Barton. The project was designed by Salt Lake-based HOK, who worked closely with the owner, Sandy-based Larry H. Miller Real Estate (LHMRE) and Miller Sports + Entertainment (MSE) to bring about a project that would add even more buzz to its wildly popular, 4,000-acre master planned Daybreak development in South Jordan, making it a true entertainment destination. The design weaves together best-in-class baseball experiences with year-round public amenities, including a recently opened Megaplex theater, a performing arts center, a large amphitheater, along with retail, restaurants, and apartments, with buildout continuing through 2027. Walking paths and open spaces create natural connections between The Ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood, making the area an iconic community asset and a true sports and entertainment district. Downtown Daybreak is slated to host more than 200 annual events—including the Bees’ 75-game regular season. Supporting this entertainment destination, the venue’s prominent location just off the Mountain View Corridor freeway makes it highly visible to passing traffic while providing easy access. The stadium is also connected to multiple transportation options, easily reached by walking, biking or light rail across the Wasatch Front, and by car from the new freeway corridor. The Ballpark site drops 20 feet from the loading dock to the plaza, managed through terraced spaces that echo the region’s mining heritage. Though the slope stays gentle at under 5%, carefully placed stairs and planters make walking comfortable while honoring the industrial past. The center field main entrance connects to light rail, while a formal plaza at home plate serves as a second entrance, primarily for VIP access. The street design follows Daybreak’s established standards for lighting and tree spacing. Bike racks at the light rail station and plaza make cycling to games convenient. Utah’s Landscape Shapes Design The Wasatch Mountains, visible from every angle of the ballpark, directly influenced the ballpark's design. Throughout the venue, carefully planned viewpoints frame these mountain vistas. The structure resembles this mountainous setting in its form, transitioning from solid brick and concrete at its base to lighter materials—metal and expansive glass—as it ascends. Working with Kansas City-based architectural metal fabricator Zahner, HOK and MSE created a distinctive facade using perforated metal panels that suggest Utah mountain peak silhouettes from Ben Lomond Peak in Weber County to Mt. Nebo, the southernmost and highest mountain in the Wasatch Range of Utah. These panels transform into a glowing display at night, serving as a lantern on The Ballpark’s ‘front porch’ and welcoming visitors. This connection to Utah’s landscape flows throughout the site. Angular planters guide visitors along pathways, while public spaces are arranged in terraces that echo the mountainside. The copper colors and stepped surfaces of the nearby Kennecott Mine inspired the ballpark’s materials and layout. Inside, the decor features warm copper, gold and honey tones, with textured materials that blend the natural landscape with the Salt Lake Bees’ team colors.

Firms Making Moves

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Horrocks CEO Bryan Foote (left) shakes hands with Matt Hirst, former President/CEO of CRS Engineering & Survey. Horrocks acquired CRS a year ago in a move that has proven to be a seamless fit for more than 60 CRS employees.

Q&A with Nathan Goodrich

By UC&D • August 1, 2025
Nathan Goodrich