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Originally Posted by Wasatch_One
Steven,
I would love to investigate more into this as well...
I have lived in Provo since 1992 and all I can recall is a hotel proposed at the mouth of Provo Canyon that was suposed to be like 8-10 stories back around 1996 or so.
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called Deseret News archive department and found it.
13-STORY BUILDING TO SPROUT IN DOWNTOWN PROVO NEXT YEAR
By Jim Rayburn, Staff Writer
Utah County's skyline will grow a few hundred feet next year when Boyer Co. of Salt Lake City builds a 13-story office building in downtown Provo.
``We feel the time is right to build a major office building in downtown Provo,'' Boyer President Kem Gardner said at a press conference Friday morning. ``We hope it will be the catalyst for future growth in this very prime market area.''The $25 million, state-of-the-art tower will be built north of Provo Park Hotel on Freedom Boulevard between 100 North and 200 North, adjacent to the 4th District Judicial Center. The office complex will be named One Freedom Center. Construction will begin in the spring and is planned for completion in the summer of 1997.
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We've never announced a building that we haven't built,'' Gardner said.
The first 12 floors will contain a total of 200,000 square feet of office space. Boyer officials are still negotiating with several potential tenants. The 13th floor will be a penthouse conference and meeting center. The building will be constructed mainly of steel and concrete, but the bottom facade will be made of red granite.
The complex will be built on land purchased from the city for about $1 million. The city will use tax increments from the increased value of the property to construct a 660-stall parking structure north of the building.
The 209-feet tall building will be Utah Valley's highest structure. In comparison, the Nu Skin building is 100 feet high and Kimball Tower on the campus of Brigham Young University is 150 feet high.
``This will be a monolith and landmark for downtown and the whole valley,'' said Gary Golightly, Boyer Co.'s leasing agent.
City officials say the office complex is another piece in the city's goal to revitalize downtown Provo. Plans were recently announced to expand Provo Park Hotel and build a new conference center, and the city is helping to build a new mall in south Provo.
``There's a great deal of support for what's going on in Provo,'' council chairwoman Jane Carlile said.
Mayor George Stewart said he believes hotels, office buildings and conference centers belong in the downtown area - that's why he opposed plans two years ago for a hotel and conference center in Riverwoods Business Park.
``This office building just immeasurably adds to that equation,'' Stewart said.
Gardner said the building will fill a niche for more office space so local companies can expand and new ones locate in Utah Valley. The mayor said the city is looking for an increased retail tax base. New jobs are a byproduct of the project.
``The sales tax base is the real key to a city's growth as far as financing goes,'' the mayor said.
The city once planned to construct a performing arts center on the land, but financing on the project is far behind schedule. Stewart said the city will find another place to build the arts center.
``That project is too far in the future. The need for this complex is now,'' he said.