Why eBay’s Draper facility is the solution to a need for a new tech high school

The Canyons School District Board of Education voted 5-1 Tuesday to purchase eBay’s former regional headquarters in Draper to establish an “innovation center” where high school students will train for high-demand technological, medical and environmental science jobs.

The purchase price for the fully wired 250,000-square-foot building, furnishings and accompanying 36 acres is $50 million. The school district will pay for the building primarily with lease revenue bonds and some fund balances, said Canyons District Business Administrator Leon Wilcox.

The building will be repurposed as a new technical high school for Canyons School District. The acreage purchased is also sufficient to accommodate construction of an elementary school. The district anticipates enrollment growth in the area as Silicon Slopes is further developed. Canyons District’s enrollment was 32,733 students in fall 2023, according to the most recent Utah State Board of Education’s enrollment report.

In addition to office space, the LEED Gold certified building has a 400-seat auditorium, cafeteria, fitness facility, arcade, basketball courts and a half soccer field. The campus is adjacent to a FrontRunner station. LEED is the acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Gold certification indicates a building excels in sustainable design and operation.

It is anticipated that students would start attending classes at the facility in about two years, said Wilcox.

The innovation center would eventually replace the Canyons Technical Education Center at 825 E. 9085 South in Sandy. Wilcox said the existing facility was built in the 1980s and has size constraints.

Building a new facility of similar size would cost about $500 a square foot or an estimated $108 million and take four to six years to build. Wilcox said purchasing the eBay building and land is a “generational opportunity.”

In a community announcement following the school board’s vote, Canyons District Superintendent Rick Robins started by addressing the district’s students.

“This is for you. This is dedicated to your future in our great state. There’s been so much work and so much thought put into this by the board, all of our staff and community,” he said. “I hope students, all of you that are out there listening to this and watching tonight know with certainty that we are invested in your future, and Tonight’s an example of that.”

Robins said the district administration is “excited to bring to life our board’s vision for this campus. At this new center, our students will become prepared for the high demand jobs in Silicon Slopes and in other growing industries in our state and across the country. We envision partnerships with higher education learning labs, where students will work with elite instructors, professional mentors to solve real world problems.”

He shared a statement from eBay that said in part, “We are excited that the Draper site could become a hub of learning designed to cultivate the tech leaders of the future. 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.”

Canyons District School Board President Amber Shill said the strategically located innovation center will enable the school district to be a part of the “Silicon Slopes ecosystem.”

Shill said “the innovative plan to retrofit eBay’s former offices into a school instead of paying for new construction will save millions in taxpayer money and perhaps serve as a blueprint for districts across the country.”

She continued, “The eBay building’s location is literally a prime spot for a high school with a focus on educational programming in such fields as robotics, engineering, business and medicine, among others. With this decision we are truly planning for the future.”

The eBay facility opened in May 2013 to great fanfare. News reports at the time said eBay employed 1,800 employees in Utah. An eBay Main Street article published in August 2011 noted that the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development had approved a $38 million tax incentive for eBay Inc. to build a new, state-of-the-art facility in Draper. The incentive was contingent upon eBay fulfilling its jobs commitment over the next two decades.

“Utah Gov. Gary Herbert joined eBay government relations staff and Steve Boehm, the company’s senior vice president for global services for the announcement. Congratulations to the state of Utah as well as our colleagues in eBay tax, legal and real estate departments. The new Draper, Utah, facility is expected to bring 2,200 jobs to the area over 20 years,” the eBay article states.

In January, eBay Inc. announced it would cut 1,000 jobs, about 9% of its global workforce, but it did not specify how many Utah jobs were affected.

The building and land at 583 W. eBay Way in Draper were offered for sale or lease this spring. Wilcox said the school district was approached about the availability of the facility in March.