Summit County keeps Nordic Drive, rejects Altus Way renaming request

Summit County Council declined to rename Tech Center Drive as Altus Way and moved toward Nordic Drive. The decision blocked a developer-backed name that would have aligned the road with the new Altus Park City brand in Kimball Junction.

County engineer Brandon Brady argued for a new name because the tech center that gave the street its current name will not exist once the redevelopment is built. Residents were then given several options, and Nordic Drive finished first while Gold Medal Way came in second. Six Ridge Partners, the rebranded name of Dakota Pacific Real Estate, asked the county to wait while it finished its own branding work, then later asked officials to consider Altus Way instead.

A street rename would ripple through tenant addresses, delivery routes, maps and emergency response as the project fills in around it.

The underlying plan was approved as an 885-unit mixed-use development, including 160 county-owned affordable housing units, and a June 2026 proposal included possible nonprofit office space of about 50,000 square feet as part of a potential amendment. The project area also includes demolition of the Sheldon Richins Building and a county move into the PEAK Center, which was previously occupied by Skullcandy. Summit County Manager Shayne Scott said amending the development agreement is now an administrative action.

Its earlier county approval was overtaken by state action under Senate Bill 26 after a referendum effort and litigation, and the county later repealed Ordinance No. 987, the 4-1 approval of Dakota Pacific’s mixed-use plan, after that legal shift made the legislative approval ineffective. Council Chair Canice Harte said residents had already chosen the street name they preferred, while Councilor Tonja Hanson said she did not want to put the Altus brand on the road because of the project’s controversy. Council member Chris Robinson said he preferred Nordic Drive and found Altus unfamiliar.

Summit County Manager Shayne Scott said the Altus name was inspired by a county social-media post about the old railroad station and tunnel at Parley’s Summit. Six Ridge said first-phase construction could begin later in 2026 or in early 2027, but the public hearing and final vote to make Nordic Drive official had not yet been scheduled as of June 26, 2026.