The Point in Draper, Utah: What's Being Built at the Old Prison Site

by Dallon Smith

Rendering of The Promenade, the walkable main street planned at The Point in Draper, Utah

Rendering of The Promenade at The Point. Rendering courtesy of The Point.

Drive south on I-15 past 14600 South and look west. For about 70 years that was the Utah State Prison. The prison moved to Salt Lake City in July 2022, the last guard tower came down in August 2023, and on June 29, 2026 crews broke ground on the first buildings of what the state calls The Point. It is the biggest change coming to Draper in a generation, and if you own a home here or are thinking about buying one, it is worth knowing what is actually being built, what is still only a plan, and when any of it opens.

Here is what I have pulled together from the state land authority, the developers and local reporting, as of September 2026.

What The Point Is

The Point is roughly 600 acres of state-owned land at the Point of the Mountain, west of I-15 on the valley floor. Most of it is in Draper; the far west edge, where a new FrontRunner station is planned, sits on the Bluffdale side. A state agency, the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority, owns the land and chose a private development team, The Point Partners (Lincoln Property Company, Colmena Group and Wadsworth Development Group), to build the first phase.

The money behind it: the Utah Legislature put up $165 million for roads and utilities, and the development team has committed about $2.3 billion in private investment to Phase 1. The goal is a walkable district where people can live, work, shop and see a concert without getting on the freeway. As the project's executive director Mike Ambre put it at the groundbreaking, "you don't have to get in your car and head to Salt Lake."

If you have read my guide to living in Draper, The Point gets a short section there. This post is the full picture.

What Is Under Construction Right Now

Phase 1 is a 104-acre downtown core. These are the pieces with shovels in the ground or approved to start:

Mountain America Event Center. A venue of about 5,000 seats for concerts, sports and community events, designed by Gensler and operated by Oak View Group. Mountain America Credit Union bought the naming rights in June 2026.
Chroma. A 363-unit apartment building with about 42,000 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants.
Amber. An office building with ground-floor retail, a parking structure and a small number of luxury apartments.
The Promenade. A 2,000-foot walkable main street that ties the district together, with small retail and food pavilions along it.
River to Range Trail. A 1.4-mile paved regional trail connecting the Jordan River Parkway to the Corner Canyon foothills on Draper's east side.
Porter Rockwell Boulevard. The main road into the site. Construction started in December 2024, and the backbone is scheduled to be finished by late 2026.

The first buildings are expected to open in 2028. Convergence Hall, an education and innovation hub, is set to break ground in December 2026 and open in 2029.

What Is Planned but Not Built Yet

This is where a lot of the numbers you see online get mixed up. The Point's own site describes the full Phase 1 plan as about 3,000 multifamily homes, more than 2 million square feet of office space and about 222,000 square feet of retail, dining and grocery, plus a Central Green park. That is the finished Phase 1 over roughly the next decade, not what opens in 2028. At the groundbreaking, Ambre said the team is ahead of schedule and now expects Phase 1 to take closer to 10 years than 15.

The other big anchor is University of Utah Health. In June 2026 the university agreed to buy about 46 acres at The Point for $43.5 million for a future hospital and health campus. It is early: the Deseret News reported construction is expected in 5 to 10 years, and U of U Health has not announced a size, bed count or opening date.

The River District: For-Sale Homes at The Point

This is the part most buyers ask me about. In July 2026 The Point put out a call for homebuilders to build the River District, about 50 acres on the west side of the site, between Porter Rockwell Boulevard and the planned FrontRunner station. The plan calls for 800 to 900 owner-occupied homes: single-family homes, townhomes and low-rise condos.

According to the builder solicitation as reported by Building Salt Lake:

The single-family lots are planned at about 8.5 homes per acre, or roughly 5,100-square-foot lots. That is on the smaller side for Draper.
The district is split into five areas. The area farthest from the station is single-family homes and green space; density steps up to townhomes and condos as you get closer to the FrontRunner stop.
Builder qualifications were due August 14, 2026, with a builder or builders to be selected by the end of 2026.
Site work is scheduled to start in summer 2027, with home construction starting in spring 2028.

So as of today there is no builder, no floor plan and no price list. If the schedule holds, the first River District homes start construction in spring 2028. If you want to buy new construction in Draper before then, the options are elsewhere in the city; I can show you what is available on my new construction homes search.

Draper's population has been fairly steady for years, and most of the city's future growth is headed to The Point on the valley floor. My guide to Draper neighborhoods by elevation explains how the valley floor, the east bench and SunCrest differ, and where The Point fits.

Getting There: Roads, FrontRunner and Light Rail

Draper already has the Draper FrontRunner station at 12997 S FrontRunner Boulevard and two TRAX Blue Line stations on the east side of the city. The Point adds two transit pieces, one much firmer than the other:

A new FrontRunner station. UDOT plans a station on the west edge of The Point near 14600 South, on the Bluffdale side, next to the River District. KSL reported in October 2025 that it is scheduled to be finished in 2030, and that some neighbors in Bluffdale's Spring View Farms have pushed back on it. If you are also looking in Bluffdale, my Bluffdale buyer's guide covers that side of the line.
Light rail to Lehi. UDOT and UTA picked light rail as the preferred option for a roughly 10-mile line from Draper through The Point to Lehi, finishing the study in January 2026. It is not funded. The price tag was about $945 million, and the only money set aside so far is $75 million in state funding for a first phase of shuttles, micro-transit and bike share. I would not buy a home counting on a train there any time soon.

Schools for Homes at The Point

The Draper portion of The Point is in Canyons School District. Specific school assignments for the River District have not been published, and Canyons' current boundary data for that strip of far west Draper looks like a leftover from before the site was residential. I explain why on my Draper school district page. Expect the boundaries to be redrawn once homes are built, and check the address with the district before you buy. For the schools that serve the rest of the city, see my Draper schools guide for families.

What The Point Means If You Own or Are Buying in Draper

If you already own in Draper, The Point brings amenities the west side of the city has never had: a concert venue, a walkable main street, restaurants and a hospital campus down the road. It also brings construction traffic around 14600 South and Porter Rockwell Boulevard for years. Neither guarantees anything about your home's value. What I can tell you is that a big new district changes what buyers compare your home against, so pricing it well takes knowing both the new product and the resale market. If you are weighing a sale, my post on who should sell your Draper home covers what to look for.

If you are buying, you have two paths. You can buy an existing home now, near The Point or anywhere else in Draper, and see the district grow around you. Or you can wait for the River District, knowing the earliest homes start construction in 2028 and prices have not been set. A useful comparison is Daybreak in South Jordan, where a ballpark, a TRAX station and a walkable downtown arrived together; I wrote about what that did to the neighborhood around it.

If you just want to see it, there is no visitor center or public viewing area yet. The best view is from above: the overlook at the Salt Lake County Flight Park, 15300 S Steep Mountain Drive, looks out over the whole site.

The Point Timeline at a Glance

July 2022: The Utah State Prison closes and moves to Salt Lake City.
August 2023: The last guard tower comes down.
December 2024: Construction starts on Porter Rockwell Boulevard and the site's roads and utilities.
June 2026: University of Utah Health agrees to buy about 46 acres; Phase 1 buildings break ground on June 29.
Late 2026: River District builder selection; Convergence Hall groundbreaking.
2027: River District site work begins.
2028: First Phase 1 buildings open; River District home construction starts.
2029: Convergence Hall opens.
2030: New FrontRunner station scheduled to be finished.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Point in Draper, Utah?

The Point is a roughly 600-acre state-owned development on the site of the former Utah State Prison, west of I-15 at the Point of the Mountain. Its first phase is a 104-acre walkable downtown with an event center, apartments, offices, shops, parks and trails, backed by about $2.3 billion in private investment.

Is it called The Point or The Pointe?

The official name is The Point, without an "e." It is named for the Point of the Mountain, the ridge between Salt Lake and Utah counties.

When will The Point open?

The first Phase 1 buildings, including the Mountain America Event Center and the Chroma apartments, are expected to open in 2028. Full buildout of Phase 1 is expected to take about 10 years.

Can I buy a home at The Point?

Not yet. The River District is planned for 800 to 900 for-sale single-family homes, townhomes and condos. Builders are being selected by the end of 2026, and home construction is scheduled to start in spring 2028. Prices have not been announced.

Will TRAX or FrontRunner go to The Point?

A new FrontRunner station on the west edge of The Point is scheduled to be finished in 2030. A light rail line from Draper through The Point to Lehi has been studied and chosen as the preferred option, but it is not funded.

What school district is The Point in?

The Draper portion is in Canyons School District. School assignments for the new River District homes have not been published, so check any address with the district before you buy.

Is the University of Utah building a hospital at The Point?

Yes, eventually. University of Utah Health agreed in June 2026 to buy about 46 acres for a future hospital and health campus. Construction is expected in 5 to 10 years, and no opening date has been announced.

Thinking About Buying or Selling Near The Point?

The Point will reshape the west side of Draper over the next decade, and the details keep changing. If you want a straight read on how a specific Draper address relates to The Point, or you want to know the moment River District homes are released, call or text 801-696-5087 or email dallon.realty@gmail.com.