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Construction · Springville, UT
Springville holds one of the largest historic districts in Utah County and some of its fastest new growth, often within a mile of each other. The two need completely different builders. Danny Bird has been building since 2001.
The local picture
Springville was settled in September 1850 and incorporated in 1853. It was originally called Hobble Creek, and the creek still runs diagonally through the middle of the original town site, mostly in open channel, which the National Register nomination calls an unusual feature for an urbanized Utah town.
That old core is substantial. About 7 percent of Springville's housing was built before 1940, which is roughly seven times the share in Orem. Yet the median year built citywide is 1996, newer than Orem's, because the 2000s were the city's biggest building decade. The population went from 20,424 in 2000 to 35,268 in 2020, and the regional projection has it near 48,500 by 2030, with growth heading west and south.
So one project here can be a listed brick house from the 1890s a few blocks off Main Street, and the next can be a 2004 subdivision house out toward I-15. The permits, the review, the ground, and the risk are all different. Springville is also genuinely known as Art City, a name tied to a municipal art collection going back to the 1920s and to the Springville Museum of Art, whose collection started in 1903 and whose building was dedicated in 1937.
Permits and approvals
This is one of the more predictable cities in the county to permit in, as long as you submit something complete.
Initial residential plan review within 14 business days, initial commercial within 21, and resubmitted corrections usually rechecked within about 3. Reviews are first come, first served, and only complete applications enter the queue.
Permits come from the Building Division within Community Development on South Main Street, submitted through the City Inspect portal. Inspections are scheduled about 48 hours ahead, in morning or afternoon windows, and same day inspections are not offered.
Property up the canyon permits through the Utah County Building Department instead. Anyone quoting canyon work as a Springville permit has not done it before.
The city is explicit that beginning work without a permit doubles the permit fee on top of a red tag stop-work order. It is a costly way to save a week.
The ground
These come from the city's own general plan environment chapter. Note that the chapter is dated 2011 and flags its own sensitive lands sections for update.
The general plan states the city has generally not permitted basements in areas of high liquefaction potential. That potential is highest on the west side toward Utah Lake, where soils are sandy and water saturated.
One follows the eastern boundary of the city. The other breaks from the foothills and runs north to south through the western half of Plat A. The plan recommends geotechnical study as construction occurs near them.
West Springville is largely silty clay, silty clay loam, and silt loam. The foothills are mostly stony loam and loam. Those behave differently under a footing and they drain differently.
Steep ground along the foothills and at the mouth of Hobble Creek Canyon carries greater risk of landslides, rock falls, and debris flows. The hillside overlay is described as barring building on slopes over 25 percent.
What we get called for
Blackbird does residential and commercial, from the first budget conversation through the final walkthrough.
Renovations and additions on older brick houses in the original Plat A, done with the city's design pattern book and the landmark review process understood in advance rather than discovered at submittal.
The city's biggest building decade was the 2000s. Those houses are structurally straightforward and were often built to a price, which makes them good candidates for adding real space.
A finished lower level is a great value per square foot, but on the west side it is a question to answer before you buy. We would rather check that with you early than price a basement you cannot have.
New construction out toward the west and south, priced against the actual lot including site work, drainage, and the utility connections through the city.
Build-outs and renovations along Main Street and the commercial corridors, including the electrical service coordination that comes with a municipal power utility.
Covered patios, decks, and outdoor kitchens, with grading, drainage, and the pressurized irrigation connection handled rather than left to you.
Every service, in Springville
Blackbird groups ten services under plan, build, and improve. In Springville the planning services earn their keep early, because whether a lot supports a basement is a question best answered before an offer, not after.
Feasibility, preliminary scope, and a plan for the job before anyone draws it.
A line-item budget for Springville labor, materials, and site work, written before you commit.
An independent set of eyes on your plans, your bids, and your builder. No hammers, just your side of the table.
Design, budget, permitting, engineering, and construction under one contract and one point of blame.
Ground-up custom homes on Springville lots, priced against the site before the drawings are finished.
Office and retail build-outs, renovations, and expansions for Springville businesses and property owners.
Apartments, townhomes, and condominiums, from feasibility through certificate of occupancy.
Whole-home renovations, additions, and structural changes to Springville houses that range from 1890s brick in the historic core to 2000s subdivision framing on the edges.
Bedrooms, baths, kitchens, theaters, and gyms in space you already own.
Covered patios, porches, decks, outdoor kitchens, and the grading and drainage that make a yard work.
Recent work
Blackbird is based in Provo and works across Utah County. The photos below are from a Provo project, and they are labeled that way on purpose.
Questions
Nearby
Springville sits between Provo and Spanish Fork, with Mapleton on the bench just east. Every one of them runs permits, water, and power differently.
Blackbird's home city. Older housing stock, a large university rental market, and bench lots up against Rock Canyon.
Building in Provo →Mid-century housing built on former orchard ground, now deep into its second round of major renovation.
Building in Orem →City owned power, citywide pressurized irrigation, and real canyon wind at the mouth of US-6.
Building in Spanish Fork →One acre base density, a bench built on debris flow fans, and the CE-1 critical environment zone.
Building in Mapleton →A city that barely existed in 2000. Almost entirely new construction, and every sprinkler on culinary water.
Building in Eagle Mountain →A historic renovation, an addition, a basement, or a new house on the west side. The first conversation is free and it is with Danny.
Or call or text (801) 735-7186