Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[Comrade]

One way for Salt Lake to build out its cultural fabric is by not demolishing so much of it for buildings that have very limited sidewalk interaction. I don't think there's an attempt in the city to preserve its architectural fabric and that scares me because it means nothing is off limits in the overall march toward supposed progress.

I look what they've done to the area of 600 West and 200 South and it's depressing. Instead of focusing on building a nice little entertainment hub with In The Venue (err Club Sound or Bricks too lol) literally right there, it's been replaced with a residential complex that has zero engagement to the light rail stop just out its doors. The whole area is going to likely be demolished sooner rather than later with zero lively presence. I am sad to see that whole block totally underutilize the light-rail line.

It's a small thing, of course, but these small failures add up.

[Marvland]

Originally Posted by Comrade

One way for Salt Lake to build out its cultural fabric is by not demolishing so much of it for buildings that have very limited sidewalk interaction. I don't think there's an attempt in the city to preserve its architectural fabric and that scares me because it means nothing is off limits in the overall march toward supposed progress.

I look what they've done to the area of 600 West and 200 South and it's depressing. Instead of focusing on building a nice little entertainment hub with In The Venue (err Club Sound or Bricks too lol) literally right there, it's been replaced with a residential complex that has zero engagement to the light rail stop just out its doors. The whole area is going to likely be demolished sooner rather than later with zero lively presence. I am sad to see that whole block totally underutilize the light-rail line.

It's a small thing, of course, but these small failures add up.

I agree completely Comrade, Old Greek Town has been destroyed.

[Atlas]

I mean, despite what Greek Town may have been in a previous age, 10 years ago the area around In The Venue was a wasteland. The venue itself was pretty dumpy too. But I agree that it's always sad to lose a cultural amenity like an active concert venue and that SLC got slightly less cool the day it was demolished. That said, I like the fact that housing is being added and I think the increased presence of residents will help the area in the future.

Could it have been better infill? Yes, absolutely. Central Station is probably my single least-favorite project in the city. Central Station West is marginally better because it (theoretically) has a small restaurant space. Centro Civico has probably the ugliest street frontage in the city. Alta Depot is a big disappointment except for the addition of housing and the midblock walkway.

But it's really not all bad. Greenprint Gateway, despite being hideously boring, has two ground floor commercial spaces. CINQ is very cool with the adaptive reuse and another retail space. There's also a grocery store nearby at the Gateway, which encourages at least some walkability. In total, that actually nets us +3 retail spaces next to the Greektown TRAX station.

If we get the Rio Grande Plan going (looking promising!), I'd expect a lot more money invested in the Depot District in the future. The fortunes of the area will go with the fortunes of "Salt Lake Central", which is currently a mostly useless place that most people don't even have to engage with while using either FrontRunner or TRAX.

[msbutah]

The Judge Memorial campus is reportedly up for sale. That's quite the parcel opportunity for someone.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by Atlas

I mean, despite what Greek Town may have been in a previous age, 10 years ago the area around In The Venue was a wasteland. The venue itself was pretty dumpy too. But I agree that it's always sad to lose a cultural amenity like an active concert venue and that SLC got slightly less cool the day it was demolished. That said, I like the fact that housing is being added and I think the increased presence of residents will help the area in the future.

Could it have been better infill? Yes, absolutely. Central Station is probably my single least-favorite project in the city. Central Station West is marginally better because it (theoretically) has a small restaurant space. Centro Civico has probably the ugliest street frontage in the city. Alta Depot is a big disappointment except for the addition of housing and the midblock walkway.

But it's really not all bad. Greenprint Gateway, despite being hideously boring, has two ground floor commercial spaces. CINQ is very cool with the adaptive reuse and another retail space. There's also a grocery store nearby at the Gateway, which encourages at least some walkability. In total, that actually nets us +3 retail spaces next to the Greektown TRAX station.

If we get the Rio Grande Plan going (looking promising!), I'd expect a lot more money invested in the Depot District in the future. The fortunes of the area will go with the fortunes of "Salt Lake Central", which is currently a mostly useless place that most people don't even have to engage with while using either FrontRunner or TRAX.

1. Regardless how it was 10 years ago, committing to developing a cultural hub at an important TRAX stop and utilizing the area should have been the only option. Instead, they're putting in bland, sterile buildings that have zero street engagement and create no active center. When Salt Lake first started pushing for redevelopment around TRAX stops, or TODs, the focus was always about leaning heavily into creating street engagement.

This ain't it, chief.

2. I'm not gonna hold my breath on the Rio Grande development.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by msbutah

The Judge Memorial campus is reportedly up for sale. That's quite the parcel opportunity for someone.

Would be fascinating to see what's done with that parcel. A massive multi-family development might be a hard sell in that part of town. I would like to see an adaptive reuse of the church. The school is nothing special architecturally speaking, but the Our Lady of Lourdes church is fairly unique in Utah.

[BretUtah]

I remember a post a few years ago about the building on the corner of South Temple and 500 E. There was an article about it being converted into apartments and building a new tower where the parking structure is. It looks like that project has started.



Here are a few pics of the lobby of the Hyatt Regency.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by BretUtah

I remember a post a few years ago about the building on the corner of South Temple and 500 E. There was an article about it being converted into apartments and building a new tower where the parking structure is. It looks like that project has started.

That's a blast from the past. I remember us having a lot of discussion about it when it was announced. I think that was the project that BSL covered back in 2017.
Great to see it finally getting underway! Building Salt Lake Article: https://buildingsaltlake.com/commiss...e-development/

[jedikermit]

Fencing is up around the Coachman's parcel...

[delts145]

^^^Another one I've been waiting to see finally get going. I'm getting a vibe that the early signs of the construction slowdown of single-family housing are freeing up labor for the continued demand in multi-unit housing. I think this is going to be a crazy time for construction over the next year or two. For those developers who have the resources we'll probably see a lot of multi-unit housing come on the scene, maybe even numerous residential towers downtown. Single family housing seems to be headed for an interim bust. What are some of you thinking?

[dakben]

Work began on the Sears demolition last week as well. They started in the out-buildings in the northwest corner.

[delts145]

I am anxious to see some renderings of that new hospital. I hope it will be more of a vertical-style urban hospital like Atlas was talking about.

[meman]

The Hyatt-Regency Hotel opened today at 11:00 Am.

Just walked thru the lobby and resturant areas on the first floor. Beautiful!!!!

[Reeder113]

Originally Posted by meman

The Hyatt-Regency Hotel opened today at 11:00 Am.

Just walked thru the lobby and resturant areas on the first floor. Beautiful!!!!

Nice! Where's our pictures, meman?

[meman]

Sorry Reeder113, I didnt have any means to take pictures at the time, I was totally surprised that the Hotel opened today.

[delts145]

I'm sure that between the media networks, SLTrib. and the Des. News there will be some nice photo spreads we can copy and paste on the forum for reference. It is always cooler though when our own members and BSL take the shots.

[Reeder113]

Worthington at night. Original post by u/HossTR on reddit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Development..._week_of_1017/

[Atlas]

New BSL article with some updates on 150 Main, Sundial, and Moda Luxe. The gist is that 150 Main is still moving forward, Sundial is still pre-leasing but the office leasing market is questionable, and Moda Luxe has gone dark.

[delts145]

Here's one photo just released by Hyatt announcing its opening.

It was previously mentioned a couple of times that they were doing some work on the bland mid-rise across the street. I zoomed up the photo to around 200% and was surprised to see that they had pretty much updated the entire facade. They actually did a pretty cool job with it. While it's not the high-rise I wish were on that corner I have to admit it's a big improvement over the ugly original.

The Theater Tower will be an attractive addition from this angle.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...vention-Center

I like this shot from Utah Now - https://utahnow.online/2022/10/18/hy...-downtown-slc/
[/B]

.

[Reeder113]

Very cool pics, thanks! Those new lights on the front of the Hyatt Regency, do they only show up on the east side of that curved glass? Seems weird that they wouldn't wrap around the entire curved portion.