Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[Paniolo Man]

Originally Posted by locolife

Am I the only person asking why no other cities are vying to host? Coming in first place out of a race with nobody else seems odd to me. Maybe there's perfectly good reasons, I've not been tracking this close at all.

Salt Lake City has been pushing to bring back the Olympics pretty seriously since 2026 was on the table. Because SLC seems to have solid commitment to hosting, the IOC is very likely to award an SLC Olympics. SLC would have had 2030 if not for LA 2028. No other county is seriously bidding for 2034 because they know the IOC is primed to give it to SLC whether there are other bids or not.

[Paniolo Man]

The crisp autumn air made a little after work excursion necessary.

Pedestrian Bridge (Finished but not open):





Salt Lake Crossing:



Camber:



Alta Stone:

[meman]

It appears the Worthington tower has topped out. It is at 31 floors now, Bring on the Main Street Tower!!

Has anyone at all heard when Hines might begin construction on the tower?

[delts145]

I've wondered the same thing. Perhaps delayed even more given they have begun on the old University Club Tower Project. I hope it's just a matter of nailing down their investor replacement that dropped out.

[taboubak]

I just hope the delays result in an extra 100ft to the tower and a revised design. 500' would look amazing in that location.

[LeroyJenkins]

As much as I have heard the Main Street Hines project is on life support. Doesn't look like anything will happen there for a very long time.

[Rileybo]

Originally Posted by taboubak

I just hope the delays result in an extra 100ft to the tower and a revised design. 500' would look amazing in that location.

When has any revised design in SLC ever resulted in extra height? Keep hope alive, I guess.

[i2theSKY]

Judging from Michael Valentines comments he posted on this forum, I think he was just getting warmed up with his lawsuits against Hines.

At this point it would probably be more efficient to open up the property to new developers. Unfortunately even if a new developer is chosen I have an idea that Michael will still try to hold up the development of this lot.

[Sight-Seer]

I go downtown once in a while to see what's happening. Now that the Astra has reached its full height, I feel like it's sort of disappointing. It doesn't dominate the skyline like I expected. It's impressive when you're close to it, but it's mostly lost in the surrounding buildings when you get farther ay.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Sight-Seer

I go downtown once in a while to see what's happening. Now that the Astra has reached its full height, I feel like it's sort of disappointing. It doesn't dominate the skyline like I expected. It's impressive when you're close to it, but it's mostly lost in the surrounding buildings when you get farther ay.

That makes sense. It isn't tall enough to make a huge impact. Still great that it's pushing the ceiling up

[delts145]

I'm very pleased with most aspects of Astra itself but agree that it doesn't stand out above the COB in the skyline even a little bit as I had hoped. I think we can all see that a 550 to 600-footer is needed to break that table-top look. I can't imagine anyone still thinking that a 600-foot tower is too tall at this point.

[jedikermit]

It's the height, it's the materials/color, it's the massing, it's the flat roof. With a crown or spire or something it would have done more to create the illusion of height even with the same number of floors. I like it fine, but it's far from a defining tower for us.

[Paniolo Man]

Just an FYI:

A forum thread has been created for the "Database Error" that has degraded the function of this site.
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256356

I also hope there can be another Rio Grande Plan event at some point in the future, but I know you folks are busy.

[Schmoe]

Originally Posted by i2theSKY

Question for Schmoe. What is the current projection for full completion of Astra?

We are still pushing for November 2024, with phased occupancy starting July 2024.

Originally Posted by i2theSKY

Also have they mentioned any kind of timeline for their next SLC project once Astra is complete?

We have no timeline for next SLC projects. We really want to see how absorption at Astra Tower goes.

Originally Posted by i2theSKY

Any additional images you may have from the topping out ceremony would also be great!

I had my phone in my pocket mostly. Sorry!

[Schmoe]

Originally Posted by jedikermit

It's the height, it's the materials/color, it's the massing, it's the flat roof. With a crown or spire or something it would have done more to create the illusion of height even with the same number of floors. I like it fine, but it's far from a defining tower for us.

What about a flag pole?

[Atlas]

Anything interesting in store for Astra's exterior lighting, Schmoe?

[Reeder113]

I hiked Ensign Peak on Saturday and snapped a few pics of the valley and downtown.

[Comrade]

Reeder coming in and showcasing, even unintentionally, just how Astra blends into the skyline and barely stands out lol

This goes back to the comment about news articles using old photos of Salt Lake's skyline and how, to the laymen, you can't really tell the difference between 2003 and 2023.

There just isn't a tower that stands out ... a tower that defines the skyline.

Maybe one day!

[airhero]

Personally I think Astra does a lot for the skyline. I always expected that it wouldn’t appear as the tallest, but it does fill in a gap. It has a clear presence from the east. I’m concerned about the north facade though. Right now it looks awful and now that the cladding is going up I’m not optimistic about the finished product. I’m good with the rest but it’s not my favorite design. Overall it’s a major positive.

I agree that a 600 footer isn’t too tall. In fact I think a 700 footer or even 800 would look great. I’m normally on the pessimist side but I’d be surprised if Salt Lake doesn’t break through its flat top in the next ten years. Salt Lake has had some extremely consistent growth in population and economically, it’s getting attention from out of state investors, and with the spotlight of hosting the olympics again (which seems like a done deal but perhaps I’ll eat my words), the time seems right.

[RC14]

From the west, Astra doesn't stand out but looking north on State Street it makes a real impact.