Nu Skin gets Provo Council's OK for downtown expansion

PROVO (Deseret News) — No one was surprised when City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to vacate one block of 100 West in downtown Provo, paving the way for a proposed "privately owned public space," part of an expansion of Nu Skin's corporate campus.

The vote gives Nu Skin the green light to move ahead with a four- to six-story, 120,000-square-foot office building at the corner of Center Street and 100 West — across the street from its existing 10-story corporate headquarters.

The company also plans to build a multistory atrium over what is now 100 West, joining the two buildings — which is why the street is needed.

A few residents grumbled about potential changes to Provo's historic downtown, but most who commented Tuesday night at a public hearing about the proposal were wildly enthusiastic about the company's plan to invest $40 million and bring up to 400 employees into the downtown area.

"I'm 100 percent behind it," said Brent Ashworth, owner of B. Ashworth's bookstore, which will be displaced by the new building. "I can move my little business. It's high time (downtown Provo) got a shot in the arm or a boot in the pants or whatever."

"We need this development," said resident Tosh Metzger. "If we don't approve this, we deserve the dilapidated downtown we have already."

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