Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[Makid]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Also, I was looking through loopnet and saw these interesting parcels for sale among others:

• Former Sizzler at Sugar House Park (under contract): https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/2111...y-UT/19693977/
• Weird Building on 200 S and 200E (D-1 zoning): https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/205-...y-UT/21469990/ (is the Block 200 project dead?)
• Motel 6 site across from RL Hotel (D-1 zoning): https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/176-...y-UT/21529830/
• More land in Sugar House: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1121...y-UT/20847368/

That Sizzler site in particular is a prime spot and could be turned into something really fantastic with the right vision and developer. Here's a fun idea: a mixed-use building with rooftop amphitheater facing the Wasatch (like this one in Denver). In any case, I hope we get something nice architecturally that takes advantage of the corner and not another suburban CVS.

I wish we had a developer with an ego or a local company that wanted to move their HQ to SLC, that also is lead by someone with an ego.

The Motel 6 lot would be the spot for someone with a big ego. The site is D1 zoned. With direct highway access from 6th South, 5th South and West Temple, Trax is just over 2 blocks away but will be closer once the new station is added near 650S Main. Additionally, the outer Trax loop and 4th South extension will put Trax within 2 blocks on all 4 sides.

A building here, even if only at 375', would stick out in the skyline. With the built environment around it, this would be an egotists dream location for a large project that would stand out of the crowd.

Also, on the 200S 200E site. The block 200 project is dead. I heard that there was at least 1 developer that was very interested in the location for a tall building. The owner is separating the surface lot just north of this from the sale, so it would just be the building itself.

I don't know more about the building, it was something I overheard from some others. I don't have information on what they would consider tall either. So consider it just a rumor at this point.

[delts145]

No doubt, this will be a handsome tower from street level. I agree that it won't break any glass ceilings for height as viewed from a distance, but it will definitely make an impact from several angles. For example, from the northwest, it will fit nicely in between Key Bank and 111. I'm excited to see it with a lot more of the glass. The patina of the glass and the curvature is very attractive.

For future reference to those lurkers who might actually be in a position to add to Salt Lake's Skyline. IMO, this tower presented an excellent opportunity for a little mixed-use at the top. The Salt Lake market is extremely hungry for upscale highrise residential leasing. It would have been very attractive if they had added an additional 10 stories of luxury residential rental. The top ten floors would be set back in circumference from the base.

- The smaller top would mimic the base design but especially help to balance the broad girth of the base both from a height perspective and a circumference perspective.

- Of course, the added height would not be cheap, but who can argue that in Salt Lake's market there would not be plenty of high-end clientele to lease out a conservative 10 floors. Not to mention that a modest number of units set aside for the corporate occupants would come in very handy in accommodating their executive visitors.

- The location of this tower is superb. Steps from CCC and Harmon's not to mention the residential views of the Wasatch would be nothing short of jaw-dropping.

- Of course, there's a long list of emotional reasons why this tower should have been taller but bottom line it would just have made a lot of good business sense. Whatever speculation it would have been on Property Reserves part to build the taller residential addition it would have been a minuscule drop in their portfolios financial bucket when considering the return on the towers superb location. No doubt, the moderate number of units, and their excellent advantages would have been scooped up by the public very quickly if not before construction completion.

Photo By DCRes

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[Orlando]

I do remember that from the City Creek Center plans back in late 2006, it was proposed to be a mixed-use tower of about 35 stories.

However, the main reason why they kept it under 400 feet, from my understanding, is that they wanted to keep it within the city's zoning height and design limits. The City wants to have the taller towers on the blocks between Main and State and then taper down to the east from State and to the west from Main. The city listened to R/UDAT back in the late 80's who recommended to curtail highrise expansion to the east of the CBD. There were a number of commercial office highrises that popped up to the east of the CBD, and they were advocating for more mid-rise and low-rise residential as you get further away from the CBD.

[Schmoe]

Originally Posted by Makid

Also, on the 200S 200E site. The block 200 project is dead. I heard that there was at least 1 developer that was very interested in the location for a tall building. The owner is separating the surface lot just north of this from the sale, so it would just be the building itself.

I don't know more about the building, it was something I overheard from some others. I don't have information on what they would consider tall either. So consider it just a rumor at this point.

The existing structure will be difficult and costly to demo. As a result, that parcel should sell at a discount for a D-1 corner.

[Atlas]

I like 95 State but I agree that it would have been cool to see a mixed-use tower in that spot. Come to think of it, I don't think we really have one in SLC yet.

Block 67 Phase II or the new 370 South West Temple proposal might be the first.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by Atlas

95 State's core seems to be topped out. I think the roof structure will add another ~38.5 ft on top of that.





Also, I was looking through loopnet and saw these interesting parcels for sale among others:

• Former Sizzler at Sugar House Park (under contract): https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/2111...y-UT/19693977/
• Weird Building on 200 S and 200E (D-1 zoning): https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/205-...y-UT/21469990/ (is the Block 200 project dead?)
• Motel 6 site across from RL Hotel (D-1 zoning): https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/176-...y-UT/21529830/
• More land in Sugar House: https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1121...y-UT/20847368/

That Sizzler site in particular is a prime spot and could be turned into something really fantastic with the right vision and developer. Here's a fun idea: a mixed-use building with rooftop amphitheater facing the Wasatch (like this one in Denver). In any case, I hope we get something nice architecturally that takes advantage of the corner and not another suburban CVS.

Regarding the Sizzler site, I wish the City would buy that and just add that to the existing park and add a nice new entrance & sign from that intersection. It's just weird to have some development on that corner surrounded by the park.

[RC14]

Just browsing on Loopnet:

It looks like the Six96 Building (696 S West Temple) is up for auction. So if anyone has $5,000,000...

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/669-...y-UT/18420046/

What's more interesting is that 7 acres of land in the Granary district are under contract between 700 and 800 south.

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/750-...y-UT/19260778/

[Atlas]

Originally Posted by Orlando

Regarding the Sizzler site, I wish the City would buy that and just add that to the existing park and add a nice new entrance & sign from that intersection. It's just weird to have some development on that corner surrounded by the park.

That would be nice too but it seems even less likely than my zany idea.

Here's another fun idea: build a 3-4 story mixed-use building and have the roof on park-facing south and east sides be continuous with the hill. The street-facing north and west sides could look more conventional. Of course, this wouldn't really take advantage of that killer view of the mountains.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by Orlando

Regarding the Sizzler site, I wish the City would buy that and just add that to the existing park and add a nice new entrance & sign from that intersection. It's just weird to have some development on that corner surrounded by the park.

I don't see any reason why we couldn't do both. Have a restaurant with rooftop seating facing towards the mountains, and a new entrance next to it. The lot is certainly large enough.

[Blah_Amazing]

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-...e-cafe-to-move

By: Lauren Steinbrecher

SALT LAKE CITY — A longtime Salt Lake City café that's been in business in the historic Rio Grande Depot for decades, announced it will be moving out of the building after calling it home for nearly 40 years.

The Rio Grande Café closed at the beginning of the pandemic, and the March 5.7 magnitude earthquake shook things up even further.
Nine months later, the depot building and café are still closed.

"It's sad. I mean we love this building," said Josh Loftin, communications director for the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts.
Heritage and Arts shares the building with the restaurant. When the earthquake hit, Loftin described how they thought repairs wouldn't take too much time.

"Initially I think when it first happened, they thought we could be back by midsummer-- assuming the pandemic would allow us. And then it became fall," Loftin explained.

Now, he said it could be spring or later.

Loftin pointed out cracks that still litter the walls above the upper lobby mezzanine. Plaster is missing from large areas where the wall meets the ceiling.

"Initially it looked mostly superficial," Loftin said, pointing at a corner where damage was still apparent. "But when they got up into the top part, they saw it had actually shifted."

He said crews have stabilized the building and some of the roof areas. Still, it's not safe for the public to go inside. Loftin indicated there's still the danger of falling plaster and debris.

Plus the building needs seismic upgrades, he said.

In the last few days, Loftin explained that he found out, "the café is going away."

The owners of the Rio Grande Café said the restaurant has been operating in that space since 1981, but with the earthquake damage still not fixed, they've indicated they need to relocate.

According to the owner and a message on the restaurant's phone, the Rio Grande Café will reopen in a historic firehouse that used to house the Porcupine Pub and Grille on 1300 East near the University of Utah.

"We'll miss them in this neighborhood," Loftin said. "They were an iconic part of this area."

He described how some employees and researchers have been able to return to work in certain areas of the Heritage and Arts office in the Rio Grande Depot.

It remains closed to the public and the winter farmer's market will not take place there this year, he said.

They don't know when the building will be ready to reopen.

Until then, the Rio Grande Depot will sit dark and shuttered. No visitors, no winter farmer's market, and no iconic, beloved café.

"Really hoping it's fixed up, and it's used, and it help this neighborhood come back," Loftin said. "That includes also the café space."

[bob rulz]

At least the cafe is getting a new location and not shutting down for good.

This also shows that the need for seismic reinforcement is not overblown. So many old buildings would be lost if we had a bigger earthquake.

[delts145]

I keep finding myself returning to this post Atlas. It makes me daydream a little. I keep thinking if only Kensington would add just a few more floors. I know that last we visited the theater tower's height it was being discussed as flexible and that there was a strong possibility of adding additional height to its final iteration. I hope that's the case.

Originally Posted by Atlas

According to this tool, the elevations of SLC's towers are:

• Kensington: 4291.3 ft (448 ft tall)
• Wells Fargo: 4281.5 ft (422 ft tall)
• LDS COB: 4347.1 ft (420 ft tall)
• 95 State: 4311.0 ft (393 ft tall)
• 111 Main: 4304.5 ft (385 ft tall)

Adjusted for elevation, the ranking (height above geoid) would therefore be:

1. LDS COB: 4767.1 ft
2. Kensington: 4739.3 ft
3. 95 State: 4704.0 ft
4. Wells Fargo: 4703.25 ft
5. 111 Main: 4689.5 ft

So the COB may still look taller than Kensington. SLC just has a "tabletop" skyline right now like Boston or San Diego but on a smaller scale. I don't think it looks bad and it will only take a 500+ footer or two to disrupt that flow, and in the meantime, it is nice to get the extra density of 300-450 footers. Edmonton is a good example of a formerly "tabletop" skyline that was totally transformed by the recent addition of a couple of taller towers.

[taboubak]

Speaking of elevation affecting our skyline. Does anyone else dream of the church building COB2 on the corner of State and North Temple? A new tallest there would absolutely tower over the city built on the slope of that hill.

[freeshavocado]

Has there been talk of a COB2? Membership growth is approaching a flatline, so I doubt their operations would support it. Also, I feel like we already get that towering-over-the-city effect from the current COB location. I'd prefer a tall tower in the center of downtown rather than on the edge.

[Atlas]

I'm glad that my post was insightful, delts! Keep in mind that the elevations I used from that website may be incorrect. There could be all kinds of different errors depending on how the data were generated. There is probably a better source for the ground-level elevations of the buildings out there (like from an official city survey) if we really wanted to get accurate estimates.

Also, I wanted to mention that my previous estimation of the new (Dwell) Theater Tower's height awhile back was probably a little off. I learned a bit more about projective geometry recently and realized that the straight lines I drew were probably not quite realistic given how cameras work. 450ft is a good upper bound but I'm guessing that the building in the rendering was closer to 430-440 ft. This also makes more sense to me given that it only had 32-33 floors compared to Kensington's 39.

[Makid]

The COB2 is to consolidate the offices that are around the downtown area, outside of the COB today. The LDS Church has wanted to bring these ancillary offices into a single location to save on long term costs.

There is space used in the Triad Center, Eagle Gate tower west (Beneficial Life building), Key Bank building, WTC, just to name a few. In total, there is probably close to 350,000 to 450,000 sq ft of office space used by the LDS Church outside of the COB building and within in the CBD today.

The push behind the COB2 has been going for more than 20 years and the number and size of the downtown ancillary office space has increased. Some of the pressure was removed when the Riverton Tech Center was done as this moved many of the tech workers out of the COB and allowed for some consolidation down to what it is today.

I do think we are still many years away from a decision on whether to build or not. Even at that point it may be many years before construction starts due to the funding nature of the ecclesiastical buildings. No action will be taken until after the work around the Salt Lake Temple has been completed.

Lastly, because they do care about views, I think we may end up seeing 2 buildings built, call them COB2 and COB3. COB2 on the NW corner of North Temple and State, COB3 on the NW corner of North Temple and West Temple. a Future COB4 would be built directly west of COB3 and replace the current building there. In addition, this layout will also allow for all the buildings to be connected via the underground tunnels and parking that are already in place and in use today.

I wouldn't expect a new tallest from any of these buildings.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by Makid

The COB2 is to consolidate the offices that are around the downtown area, outside of the COB today. The LDS Church has wanted to bring these ancillary offices into a single location to save on long term costs.

There is space used in the Triad Center, Eagle Gate tower west (Beneficial Life building), Key Bank building, WTC, just to name a few. In total, there is probably close to 350,000 to 450,000 sq ft of office space used by the LDS Church outside of the COB building and within in the CBD today.

The push behind the COB2 has been going for more than 20 years and the number and size of the downtown ancillary office space has increased. Some of the pressure was removed when the Riverton Tech Center was done as this moved many of the tech workers out of the COB and allowed for some consolidation down to what it is today.

I do think we are still many years away from a decision on whether to build or not. Even at that point it may be many years before construction starts due to the funding nature of the ecclesiastical buildings. No action will be taken until after the work around the Salt Lake Temple has been completed.

Lastly, because they do care about views, I think we may end up seeing 2 buildings built, call them COB2 and COB3. COB2 on the NW corner of North Temple and State, COB3 on the NW corner of North Temple and West Temple. a Future COB4 would be built directly west of COB3 and replace the current building there. In addition, this layout will also allow for all the buildings to be connected via the underground tunnels and parking that are already in place and in use today.

I wouldn't expect a new tallest from any of these buildings.

When I worked in SLC over a decade ago, I saw the plans for the church office/campus expansion, etc. It was more like a campus in a park like plan. I don't remember if it was just the block immediately to the west of Temple Square, but I'm sure the other block would be in the plans to expand one day, too. The buildings were all mid-rise buildings along the periphery with a large garden/fountain/plaza in the middle. Plans might have changed since then, but I don't think it's going to be too much different than that. I definitely don't think we're going to see another tower, just because of the views to the temple.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by delts145

Photo By DCRes

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I just realized some nice simple moves on this building from this photo:

1) the columns are pushed back aways from the south glass facade, which normally they would be closer to the exterior. That's a good 15' cantilever it appears.

2) The columns are very slender, which will give the feeling in the lobby of being very open.

3) They are using curved glass on the corners instead of faceted flat planes of glass. Another nice & simple move. Costly, but the repetition makes the cost go down.

[Blah_Amazing]

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[meman]

Does anyone know what the large construction project directly behind Liberty Sky is ?

Is it an additional parking garage for Liberty Sly?