Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[meman]

Thanks, Atlas, I will give credit where credit is due.

[allh]

Originally Posted by Atlas

I would love to see a nice JW Marriott hotel tower in downtown SLC, especially considering J.W. himself was from Utah and attended the University of Utah. Here's Edmonton's JW Marriott, for example. Now that would be a great replacement for the cursed Holiday Inn Express.

That's a beauty.

[Reeder113]

Liberty Sky crown lit up:

[bob rulz]

Liberty Sky is very ugly, but that sure is a nice crown.

Do anybody know when the official opening date for 95 State is? It has to be right around the corner.

[delts145]

^^^
Yeah, the crown is the only salvation for that tower. The bare concrete is just not a good look IMO on that building, given how the curtain design is too busy. Though, I've seen comments on the internet from people who really dig that look.

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Originally Posted by wrendog

This tweet from Ryan Sweeney is interesting. I'd love to see another Major League sport in Utah

https://twitter.com/ryanjsweeney/sta...2UPXd-RsA&s=19

He is probably referring to a frisbee golf franchise.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Always Sunny in SLC

He is probably referring to a frisbee golf franchise.

Yeah. Probably not one of the big leagues, unfortunately. At most, maybe USFL?

[nushiof]

Crane going up at Astra today!

I don't think it is the permanent huge crane. But still a very large red crane is being assembled and staged.

[mattreedah]

Originally Posted by delts145

^^^
Yeah, the crown is the only salvation for that tower. The bare concrete is just not a good look IMO on that building, given how the curtain design is too busy. Though, I've seen comments on the internet from people who really dig that look.

I was visiting the in-laws over the Christmas break and walked around downtown to get the feel for some of the projects that get talked about here, especially the ones that people complain about and have a few opinions, take them for what they are worth.

Liberty Sky does not look bad in person, at least from ground level. It actually isn’t exposed concrete or whatever there at the base — they’ve put something else over it.

95 State looks amazing in general. A lot have complained about the material on the wall facing state and I just don’t get the issue. It was extremely nice materials and I think it blends well. People here have complained that there is no street engagement, but I don’t know if people realize that street engagement there would be difficult and that area is at an incline. Plus, the other side of that wall facing state is one large lobby area that probably goes down 15-20 feet or so depending on where the street incline is. The social hall underground connection is 10x better than the previous connection which was a maze to the food court. There will be a restaurant that will be there directly under the connection likely connecting with the building.

People (on the Reddit) have freaked out about the looks of the Paperbox dev and I really don’t get that. The street-facing side has faux brick and looks better than a lot of RDA stuff. I lived or worked in that area for 10 years and that street has never looked better - and that’s while still under construction.

The outside materials on the West Quarter building closest to the arena also have a white brick(ish?) facade. It’s going to look very good. I was confused that the old Post Office has a huge leasing advertisement poster on in, but spray painted right next to it it says that the post office has moved. I can’t imagine they are trying to get tenants in there.

Main Street along 6th and 7th south looks completely different than a few years ago and in a good way. It looks big time. That big office building, the 702 apartments, and the trax stop that was under construction are making a HUGE difference.

The new convention center hotel is extremely striking from a few blocks away.

[delts145]

I saw some of those comments on Reddit about The Paperbox. From what I saw they were criticizing the backside area of a building for looking cheap. I didn't think it looked cheap but whatever, its street view is going to be covered up by the Zepher development anyway. We need some updated pics of the Paperbox, at least for those of us who live out of town. I was thinking last week that those street-facing exposed end designs of Paperbox must look pretty cool. Glad to hear your positive in-person feedback Mattreedah. I agree with you on 95 S. State also.

[Reeder113]

Originally Posted by nushiof

Crane going up at Astra today!

I don't think it is the permanent huge crane. But still a very large red crane is being assembled and staged.

Yup, here's a pic:



And here's the finished product:

[Atlas]

LFG Astra! This is going to be a massive addition to the SLC cityscape!

[Makid]

It appears that the footings should begin drilling soon.

At the current rate, I think footings should start next week. Excavation starting towards the end of the month. Foundation, utilities and tower crane happening in mid to late Feb or early March. Above ground in early April or sooner depending on how deep they excavate for the foundation.

[Comrade]

I could see Salt Lake going after a USFL franchise. The problem is, these leagues never sustain beyond a few years. It's just not practical to expect any league to go up against the NFL. The only way it would work is if they did a minor league but that would wreck college football, so, it'll never happen (and for good reason).

My personal choice would be a NHL or MLB team. But the latter is a pipedream and I don't see the NHL expanding anytime soon (maybe they can get the Coyotes out this way).

[Atlas]

Block 40 would be an excellent location for an NHL arena. Not sure if that's in the cards though even if they decide to expand to SLC.

MLB would have to go farther afield but I know Rocky Mountain Power has some land on North Temple opening up soon.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Block 40 would be an excellent location for an NHL arena. Not sure if that's in the cards though even if they decide to expand to SLC.

MLB would have to go farther afield but I know Rocky Mountain Power has some land on North Temple opening up soon.

Back when Salt Lake City had landed the 2002 Winter Olympics, and was looking for a hockey arena to host events + the minor league hockey team that had just relocated from Denver, Mayor Deedee Corradini was putting together a plan to build a hockey arena, with potential to expand capacity for the NHL, on the block just south of the Delta Center at the time (now the Hyatt House).

Unfortunately for Salt Lake, West Valley had entered secret negotiations with the Denver Grizzlies about building a hockey arena there - and announced their proposal before Salt Lake could finalize their own.

So, the E Center was built in an area of WVC that, while connected by freeway, is pretty far from light rail (2700 W line). Worse, there's been no tangible urban development around the arena since it was built in the 1990s.

The Maverik Center is a good example of why arenas should NOT be built in the suburbs. NFL stadiums? I can understand that - but MLB, NHL, NBA and even MLS arenas/stadiums? Absolutely not.

Just look at the area around Rio Tinto and how little it's actually developed over the years.

We really missed out not building the ballpark, the hockey arena and the soccer stadium downtown.

[nushiof]

Curious whether an MLB or MLS stadium would fit on a single block in the downtown core. Obviously nba/nhl could. I’ve always thought the parking lot north east of Vivint arena would be perfect for MLB stadium if it would fit. Skyline and Mountain View’s beyond the outfield!

Plus trax access and adjacent to downtown. I wouldn’t mind eating into 200 west and the block to the east too to make it happen.

Pipe dreams.

[Atlas]

Originally Posted by nushiof

Curious whether an MLB or MLS stadium would fit on a single block in the downtown core. Obviously nba/nhl could. I’ve always thought the parking lot north east of Vivint arena would be perfect for MLB stadium if it would fit. Skyline and Mountain View’s beyond the outfield!

After exploring some MLB parks in Google maps, as well as Smith's Ballpark in SLC which fits comfortably, I actually think it might be feasible to fit an MLB ballpark within a single SLC city block. It would be a pretty tight and an interesting design challenge but I think the raw area is there. Rio Tinto Stadium also seems like it would fit.

There's no way an NFL stadium would fit in a single block though. The footprint of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, for example, is 30% larger than an entire 10-acre SLC block by itself.

[nushiof]

Originally Posted by Atlas

After exploring some MLB parks in Google maps, as well as Smith's Ballpark in SLC which fits comfortably, I actually think it might be feasible to fit an MLB ballpark within a single SLC city block. It would be a pretty tight and an interesting design challenge but I think the raw area is there. Rio Tinto Stadium also seems like it would fit.

There's no way an NFL stadium would fit in a single block though. The footprint of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, for example, is 30% larger than an entire 10-acre SLC block by itself.

Thanks for researching. If we ever get MLB, it needs to be downtown. Think of the summer time vibes 80 nights a year!

[Comrade]

Here's Minnesota's stadium layered over the block just NE of the Viv - with the Smith's Ballpark field layered over that (just the field, mind you):