No. Ogden homeowners say developer is not following through with promises

NORTH OGDEN, Utah — Construction delays have left some North Ogden homeowners with a lot of unanswered questions.

They said they were promised amenities, like a playground and pool, about a year ago — but townhomes are still being built, and there’s no sign of a pool, playground, fitness center or pickleball courts.

North Ogden Mayor Neal Berube said it’s disappointing, and he takes more calls about this development than anything else since he’s been in office.

Still, there’s not much the city can do about it.

By the time Prominence Point is complete, there will be some 600 units — including townhomes, patio homes, apartments and senior living — but it’s the promise of several amenities that drew many of the homeowners to the neighborhood.

“The date of when our amenities are going to be completed is just changing constantly,” said homeowner Sandy Cochran.

Cochran liked the idea of having a place for her grandchildren to play during visits. Instead, those lots still sit empty.

“That’s deceptive,” she said. “Don’t tell me you’re going to do something and I fulfill my part of the bargain. I mean, I paid for my property. Hold up your end of the bargain.”

Alexis Hammer is in that same boat, too.

“It’s frustrating,” she said. “I would not have bought a home here had we known that they were not going to be in here yet.”

It’s not only the homeowners who are upset with the developer, Jack Barrett. One of the homebuilders on the project, Visionary Homes, told KSL TV it bought land there with the same understanding that Barrett’s company, Meritage Companies LLC, would put in the amenities in a timely manner.

“I think that’s more of a sense of false advertising, is telling someone that something is going to be here and nothing has been done and there’s no communication,” said Hammer, who like many other homeowners says she’s been unable to reach Barrett with her concerns.

Barrett has not responded to multiple calls from KSL, but a realtor said the delays of more than a year, as they understand, are due to issues stemming from the pandemic.

Homeowners at Prominence Point are however very skeptical of those excuses.

“We live here. We purchased our homes. You told us things. We expect you to follow through,” said Cochran.

Visionary Homes said they don’t buy it either since they say Barrett and his company had promised to have those amenities under construction well before the pandemic.

Barrett also filed for bankruptcy for Meritage Companies about a year ago, as well as a separation from his business partner at the time.

North Ogden’s city attorney said per the terms of the development’s approval, the developer must have a clubhouse and pool completed as part of the first apartment building, but there are no signs of that happening anytime soon since the city still has not received any plans for those apartments from Barrett or Meritage Companies.