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SANDY — The Canyons School District board on Tuesday approved a contract for the $50 million purchase of the old eBay headquarters in Draper.
The 215,000-square-foot facility sits on 36 acres, all of which the district plans to put to use.
"We plan to buy the building and then retrofit it and turn it into a high school," said Jeff Haney, Canyons School District spokesman.
But this won't be a typical high school.
"It will be a high school that will have programs that train students for careers in industries where we need high-skill workers," Haney said.
With the boundaries of the district sitting on the edge of Silicon Slopes and Utah's bustling tech sector, the acquisition makes sense as a career and technical education hub for the district.
In addition to Silicon Slopes, the old state prison's departure from Draper has left a void in the area that will eventually be filled by the Point development.
The Point aims to be a living-working community that will feature high walkability, with everything within a 15-minute walk from its heart, a river-to-mountain range trail accessible from the community, which will include retail, entertainment, innovation, educational, office and residential spaces all within approximately 600 acres, according to the plan's framework.
"That's where they hope to pull a lot of the high-tech industry that will be part of Silicon Slopes, and our aim is to build this high school and create it so that we are working with industry to identify jobs that are needed in the marketplace and then train students for certification for those jobs," Haney said.
He added that 15 of the 36 acres acquired by the district represent "developable lands," meaning the district will have the option to, if needed, build another school to "meet the educational needs of that area" once it's more developed.
The negotiated deal translates to $230 per square foot for the eBay building. By comparison, the cost of new construction and design in Utah is reaching some $500 per square foot, according to Canyons District business administrator Leon Wilcox.
"The vision is to elevate all the programs that are preparing students for the workforce pipeline. We see this center as the ultimate experience for students and to lift our mission of ensuring our students are truly ready for the demands of college and careers when they walk across the graduation stage," Canyons School District Superintendent Rick Robins said in a statement. "In our sights and within our reach is the development of an innovation center that will place Canyons District students shoulder-to-shoulder in a learning environment with leaders of dynamic industries."
The site could also be used to house a vocational program for adults with disabilities, an employee health and wellness clinic and a child-care center for district employees. The building also advances the board's facility-improvement plan — started in 2010 — to upgrade schools all across the district. With the move to the multistory building on eBay Way, the Canyons Technical Education Center school community will become the eighth and final Canyons high school community to get a new or renovated building.
The interdisciplinary center at the former eBay offices would replace the 42-year-old Canyons Technical Education Center at 825 E. 9095 South. The current technical education campus covers 65,000 square feet over five separate buildings and is further constrained by sitting on just 7 acres. A recent study of the facility's condition indicated it would cost more to renovate than rebuild.
"eBay is happy to learn that the Canyons School District has approved the contract for purchase of our Draper, Utah, campus. As a global commerce leader, who continues to innovate for our community of buyers and sellers, we're excited that the Draper site could become a hub of learning, designed to cultivate the tech leaders of the future," eBay said in a statement. "As to eBay's intentions, we are committed to Salt Lake City and will continue to evaluate all available local options to ensure the best outcome for our people and eBay."
The district is targeting a fall 2026 opening of the new facility. Information about the as-yet-unnamed center's courses, programs, and instructional model will be made available to students and their parents throughout the district's "thorough and transparent" planning process, the district said in a statement.
Correction: Photo captions in a previous version incorrectly described the eBay building as vacant. Some employees were reportedly still working there ahead of its sale.
