Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[LeroyJenkins]

Originally Posted by Paniolo Man

What is this project immediately south of Lotus Republic?

This is Lotus Republic II

[freeshavocado]

Originally Posted by LeroyJenkins

This is Lotus Republic II

Ah I thought they were putting II across the street (to the west). Do you know if they're still planning to develop the lot across the street?

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Great news. Hopefully we can get people talking about the RGP enough for it to get a serious look.

I think someone here mentioned the future MLB stadium was part of the SLC Olympics proposal.

Does that stadium get built even without a team? Or does this make getting a team even more likely?

Stadium won't get built without a team guaranteed to come here, but the MLB won't give SLC a team without a guaranteed stadium project so they both have to be ready simultaneously. There's no use for a baseball stadium without a team. And not sure why a baseball stadium would have anything to do with the Olympics, there won't be any events held at an outdoor field and SLC isn't going to get a baseball stadium built with Olympics funds meant for infrastructure upgrades or facilities improvements.

[taboubak]

Originally Posted by ucsbgaucho

Stadium won't get built without a team guaranteed to come here, but the MLB won't give SLC a team without a guaranteed stadium project so they both have to be ready simultaneously. There's no use for a baseball stadium without a team. And not sure why a baseball stadium would have anything to do with the Olympics, there won't be any events held at an outdoor field and SLC isn't going to get a baseball stadium built with Olympics funds meant for infrastructure upgrades or facilities improvements.

The opening and closing ceremonies would be held at the stadium.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by taboubak

The opening and closing ceremonies would be held at the stadium.

No they wouldn't, the ceremonies will be at Rice-Eccles

[freeshavocado]

Originally Posted by ucsbgaucho

No they wouldn't, the ceremonies will be at Rice-Eccles

Maybe taboubak was referring to the medals ceremonies. Olympic organizers included the future MLB stadium as a potential medals plaza in their venue blueprint.

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2023/10/15/utah-olympic-venues-coming-into/

[taboubak]

If there is a fancy new stadium they could absolutely host the ceremonies there instead of at Rice Eccles. In fact I've heard rumors that this is the preferred option at this point, medal ceremonies certainly could also be held there.

[Comrade]

Atlanta built Turner Field for the Olympics (tho it had to be renovated a bit after to lower capacity for the Braves). So, it's not unheard of.

[JTO]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Atlanta built Turner Field for the Olympics (tho it had to be renovated a bit after to lower capacity for the Braves). So, it's not unheard of.

That's correct, and the Dodgers played at Memorial Coliseum for a while. The new MLB stadium would absolutely be the preferred venue for opening/closing ceremonies by the organizers.

[JaseTheAce]

You can also do some events at an MLB stadium like some snowboarding. Cleveland and Boston have done winter events at their ballparks with snow hills.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by taboubak

If there is a fancy new stadium they could absolutely host the ceremonies there instead of at Rice Eccles. In fact I've heard rumors that this is the preferred option at this point, medal ceremonies certainly could also be held there.

No it wouldn't be the preferred option as the seating capacity will be much much less than RES, a baseball stadium will have about 30,000 - 35,000 capacity; RES is about 55,000 and much much bigger. They're not going to move the opening and closing ceremonies to a much smaller venue when they have that big football stadium that's been increased in capacity since 2002.

Atlanta built an 85,000 seat stadium for their opening/closing ceremonies, and then reconstructed it to be Turner Field for the Braves. When the Braves moved to a new stadium in 2016, Georgia Tech purchased it and converted it back to football. Salt Lake is not doing that when they don't need to, they've got a great big football stadium that's been improved and enhanced over the years; a baseball stadium is too small.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Atlanta built Turner Field for the Olympics (tho it had to be renovated a bit after to lower capacity for the Braves). So, it's not unheard of.

Yah but Atlanta built an 85,000 seat stadium for the Olympics, Salt Lake is not building a 50,000 seat stadium and then renovating it to fit for baseball when they have Rice-Eccles already. They may used a baseball stadium for an event or concerts or something, but it's 100% not going to be the opening ceremony venue; I don't think SLC wants smoke stacks as the backdrop for the ceremonies when the views and location next to the mountains of RES are so much better.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by JTO

That's correct, and the Dodgers played at Memorial Coliseum for a while. The new MLB stadium would absolutely be the preferred venue for opening/closing ceremonies by the organizers.

No it wouldn't be, why would they host the ceremonies at a 35,000 seat small baseball stadium when they have Rice-Eccles which has been enlarged and enhanced several times since 2002 and is big enough for all the pagentry and logistics of all the athletes in the stadium? And SLC is not going to build an oversized baseball stadium and then spend all that money to renovate it for baseball after the fact, because a baseball team will already be playing there if they actually get a team. Atlanta built that stadium specifically for the Olympics, the Braves were already playing somewhere else and moved into it after they finished all the renovations.

[taboubak]

Originally Posted by ucsbgaucho

Yah but Atlanta built an 85,000 seat stadium for the Olympics, Salt Lake is not building a 50,000 seat stadium and then renovating it to fit for baseball when they have Rice-Eccles already. They may used a baseball stadium for an event or concerts or something, but it's 100% not going to be the opening ceremony venue; I don't think SLC wants smoke stacks as the backdrop for the ceremonies when the views and location next to the mountains of RES are so much better.

If they do keep it at Rice Eccles. I really hope they would use it as an opportunity to expand and renovate the stadium a bit. It's a small stadium that could us an upper deck on the east side and a wider concourse area.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by taboubak

If they do keep it at Rice Eccles. I really hope they would use it as an opportunity to expand and renovate the stadium a bit. It's a small stadium that could us an upper deck on the east side and a wider concourse area.

With the move to the Big 12 also, they are I'm sure looking at the next opportunity to expand seating capacity, and if they can get the federal govt to foot some or most of the bill, they'd totally do it. It was one of the smallest stadiums in the Pac 12 and it'll be the 7th largest stadium in the Big 12 after all the re-alignment is complete (interestingly, BYU will have the largest). They probably would want to expand seating and add more suites as well, especially for all the VIPs that will be attending the opening ceremony. Problem is it's in a cramped location, the tracks line is directly north so unless they built over the top of that they can't really expand seating on that end of the stadium. They could probably reconfigure the east side of the stadium to add more seating plus additional luxury boxes. The South End Zone was just redone with the new luxury areas so that's probably off limits for any additional changes but who knows.

[Atlas]

Yeah I think the best bet for RES expansion, now that the south endzone has been renovated (with not enough seats), is the east side. The athletics department wants more box seats but the stadium needs more regular seats (ticket prices are outrageous). It would break the symmetry but having a second tier with more boxes under bleachers might be a good solution.

The north endzone really can't be expanded because of the road and TRAX behind it. Not to mention the view of the fieldhouse/campus and the UTAH letters is really cool. That concourse under the bleachers really sucks though and I wish they could make it wider.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by ucsbgaucho

Yah but Atlanta built an 85,000 seat stadium for the Olympics, Salt Lake is not building a 50,000 seat stadium and then renovating it to fit for baseball when they have Rice-Eccles already. They may used a baseball stadium for an event or concerts or something, but it's 100% not going to be the opening ceremony venue; I don't think SLC wants smoke stacks as the backdrop for the ceremonies when the views and location next to the mountains of RES are so much better.

Salt Lake is pretty confident they'll be landing a MLB team. I am not sure what you're arguing. It's very likely a MLB team will be in SLC by the point of the Olympics and knowing people connected to the U, the expectation is that RES will not be used for the opening and closing ceremonies.

That doesn't mean it's a lock - but they are planning with the expectation that the MLB stadium will house the opening/closing ceremonies. That wasn't the case earlier in the year, tho. But things changed when Salt Lake began pursuing a MLB team.

[Marvland]

Exciting news. Here's the massing and site layout: (1095 E. 2100 S)

This would be amazing in Sugarhouse. It desperately needs to break the 5 over 1 cap and provides a possibility of the thing it so desperately needs: a friggin hotel. SH needs three or four hotels. It would also be a great site for a smaller convention center. There's been zero effort by the city to branch out of the "if we build 4000 overpriced flats, they will come". Sugarhouse needs use diversity badly. It is our second downtown and it's struggling. It will only get worse once they break ground on the 21st rebuild. Scares the shit out of every business and resident in the hood.

I've done window surveys on slow week nights where there are less than 15 people who actually walk on the street between 7pm and 10pm. I was recently at a new restaurant during lunch rush on a Thursday and I counted FOUR humans walking down 21st from Highland on either side of the road. The city lost the narrative in Sugarhouse. It's needs a brand. How about "gateway to the best ski resorts on the planet"? It also desperately needs to re-designste SH as an RDA area. It seems the city thinks it's done it's job up there and did a great job. It hasn't.

[Orlando]

I've posted this comment before: I applaud the efforts of these developers, and I like the massing concept, but I don't think that height is needed or should it be developed in Sugarhouse. Maybe something in the 150 to 200 foot range, but downtown SLC has too many parking lots and vacant lots that need to be filled in rather than siphoning it with a 300 foot tower in Sugarhouse. This is something I designed for downtown Tacoma, WA, and it is about 185' tall. This would tower over anything in Sugarhouse even with this height.

[Rileybo]

I thought this was skyscraperpage. Why are some of us like "nah no highrises in Sugarhouse, please"?