Salt Lake:Official development news thread

[SLC Projects]

True, Most of them are dreams or visions. But for what I know most of them could be for reals.

CCC Tower one ( Inn at Temple Square site ) has broken ground
CCC Towers 3,4 & 5 will soon be build once Demo is finish on both malls on South temple. It's just that 32-story tower that's a big IF. And won't happen for a long time.

222 South Main should break ground this July. ( At least we hope )

Courthouse Tower on Main will be breaking ground in 09, So still a few years off.

Not really sure with Cowboy Partners Towers, But Work on the Harman's and the apartments are a go and will break ground next year. ( Not sure about their Towers )

WTCU Towers are the Dream Towers I think. I could be years before we see or hear anything about them.


I'm sure that there could even be more Towers planned that we don't even know about yet. ( we will just have to wait for Viper to tell us ) LOL

Anyways it's a start. But like I said we need more Towers!!!

[delts145]

Busy beehive on the Hill

Workers swarming to finish massive Capitol project

By Lisa Riley Roche
Deseret Morning News

As many as 400 workers are swarming in and around the Utah State Capitol, doing everything from pouring concrete for a new underground parking garage to applying real gold to ornate wall trims.


Mike Terry, Deseret MorningNews/KSL TV Chopper 5
The four-year $200 million Capitol renovation project is set for completion by the end of this year.

"We're probably at the busiest of the busiest points we've been at on this job," said David Hart, executive director of the Capitol Preservation Board, which oversees the four-year, $200 million renovation project set for completion by the end of the year.
Already, the final piece of the complicated seismic retrofit has been put in place in the basement of the stately granite structure. Within a month, the weight of the 80,000-ton building will be shifted from unreinforced concrete columns to nearly 300 base isolators.
That portion of the project, intended to protect the nearly 100-year-old building from earthquakes through a system of supports that will act as shock absorbers in a tremor, won't ever be seen by the public.
Much of the work that's being done now, though, will be noticed by visitors once the building is reopened for an open house in November — such as the sea gulls that have reappeared on the ceiling of the rotunda after being obscured by decades of smoke and dirt.
Not only are the full 4 feet or so of the birds' wingspan clearly visible now from the floor of the rotunda, so are details of the historic paintings beneath the dome. The sharper images and brighter colors are due to a restorative cleaning, Hart said.
The pink-and-blue trim on the walls of the building's majestic lobby — not to mention the orange-painted wings on the carved griffins and the soon-to-be-replaced rams' heads that will sport even more unusual colors — mirror the original tones used to decorate the Capitol.
That's also why there will be purple silk lining the walls of the historic Gold Room next to the Governor's Office. The room, which Hart hopes will be well-used as a reception area by state officials, takes its name from the gold-leaf trim all along the walls and ceiling.
The walls aren't painted gold, though, but a sort of greenish yellow that's historically accurate, too, according Hart. Same with the mustard-yellow tones in the Attorney General's Office and the brown, leather-looking painted finish in the House.
It took scraping away decades of paint to find the original coloring for the building, Hart said, as well as extensive research that included buying old catalogs on eBay and examining black-and-white photographs to determine the lightness or darkness of a particular color.
Just about every door in the building will be made of metal hand-painted to look like mahogany wood. Although many pioneer-era projects had finishes intended to simulate more expensive materials, the original doors were painted metal to improve fire-proofing.
Within the next month, Hart said all of the office walls throughout the building should be up and ready for doors. Until the doors — with locks — are in place, no carpets, light fixtures or furniture can be brought in.
Hart's goal is to duplicate the work of the building's original architect, Utahn Richard Kletting, and site designer, John Olmsted, son of the famed landscape architect behind Central Park in New York City, Frederick Law Olmsted.
About the only question Hart is unable to answer during a recent tour is what won't be replicated. Even new balconies complete with granite balusters along the east and west sides of the Capitol were part of the early plans.
That kind of attention to detail could slow the project, but Hart said it'll be done on time.
The only potential problem at this point is the pair of lion statues that flanked side entrances. The original concrete statues were in such disrepair that an out-of-state artist was hired to re-create them in marble.


Tom Smart, Deseret Morning News
Dave Hart, director of the Capitol Preservation Board, points out details around the Capitol dome and paintings in the rotunda. The sharper images and brighter colors are due to a good cleaning.

But because the massive blocks of stone that had to be delivered from Italy were unexpectedly delayed, Hart said that as of last week, the sculptor had barely had time to begin chipping away.
An open house is scheduled from Nov. 19 through Dec. 1 to give the public a chance to peek at private office space before state officials move in from their temporary quarters in adjacent office buildings on the Capitol Complex.
The rededication of the building is set for Jan. 4, 2008, Utah's statehood day. The 2008 Legislature, which begins in mid-January, plans to meet in the Capitol for the first time since 2004.

Capitol restoration

Open house
Nov. 19 to Dec. 1, 2007
Rededication
Jan. 4, 2008

[jedikermit]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

True, Most of them are dreams or visions....

...and I think it's important to remember that the announcements we're seeing for Boise, Denver, etc. are also dreams or visions. Until the projects are finished and people are going inside to work and live and sleep and shop, it's all tentative. Don't get too pessimistic about SLC's projects. There's a lot more going on than there has been in decades--we should celebrate the stuff we are getting, and look forward to even more!

...and enviously curse the big towers other cities might be getting.

[delts145]

Rocky speaks up against This is the Place development
In a letter, the mayor says 'our full protection' is needed for the historical site
In letter to board members, lawmakers, mayor says park deserves 'our full protection'

By Heather May
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched: 04/08/2007 12:15:44 AM MDT



Rocky Anderson Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson argues that allowing an office tower at This Is the Place Heritage Park would be a "desecration of an important heritage site," and he is hoping the state park board will reject the idea.
Earlier this week, the mayor sent a letter announcing his "vigorous opposition" to the proposal to 180 people, including lawmakers and parks board members, who will vote later this month on the plan.
"This Is the Place Heritage State Park is a reflection of the proud history of Utah's pioneer settlers and, as such, deserves our full protection," Anderson wrote in his letter.
The mayor also hopes the City Council will join him by signing a resolution against leasing 12 acres of the park, at the mouth of Emigration Canyon, to ARUP Laboratories to build an administrative building and parking lot. The council could discuss a resolution Tuesday, or members may send letters individually.
Council Chairman Van Turner says the council would probably oppose the land lease, but says the issue does not affect some council members. He represents the city's southwest quadrant, for example.
"I don't think anybody wants to get rid of any open space. We're buying it," Turner said.
The mayor's tough stand comes a year after he and a council majority supported rezoning open space to allow Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School to eventually build a school on land owned by Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Councilman Soren Simonsen, who voted against the cemetery rezone, said the situations are the same: Both Mount Olivet and This Is the Place need money and propose selling off open space to get some. He is glad to see the change of heart among council members.
"I would love to see it stay as some sort of publicly accessed space," Simonsen said of the heritage park, suggesting the city could help buy the land with some of its $5 million open-space fund. "It has a lot of value to the community."
Managers of the heritage park, which re-creates Mormon pioneer life from 1847 to 1897, want to lease the land to stanch the park's financial bloodletting. It suffers from poor attendance and received a $2 million bailout from the Legislature last year.
Noting the ARUP office building would stand near the restored farmhouse of Mormon pioneer prophet Brigham Young, Anderson said the development would "result in permanent and irreparable harm to the park and may well set a precedent that would be used to allow further unwanted development in the future."
The mayor sent his letter a day after Utah Jazz owner and park benefactor Larry Miller criticized the land lease as trying to "sell our future to save our present."

[delts145]

Pioneer Mobile Park: Residents evicted as homes are razed around them
Developers will profit from condos as families scramble, and the city's hands are tied

By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched: 04/08/2007 12:15:40 AM MDT


A child plays among the rubble at Pioneer Mobile Park, whose owners are evicting residents. Those remaining are packing up and dealing with the mess as homes are razed to make way for condos. (Al Hartmann/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Analisa Montoya has fled her home at Pioneer Mobile Park.
The eviction notices posted at the Salt Lake City park, 976 S. 200 East, scared away her family and her aunt.
But in the three days since they left, Montoya's mobile home has been seriously damaged, and she says many of her husband's tools have been stolen.
"We are angry and sad," the 29-year-old said through a interpreter. "We have lived here for so much time. . . . I feel like we have no rights."
Montoya has lived in the park with her husband and two children for nearly four years. The family moved out of an apartment and to the park to "have a place for my children to play."
But now, new owners, developer Ryan Bailey and a partner, have bought the property and are evicting residents to make way for the Belmont Downtown Condominiums. Posted notices say residents must be out by April 13.
Bailey did not return several calls seeking comment Saturday.
The movement at Pioneer repeats a trend occurring at mobile-home parks throughout the Salt Lake Valley and elsewhere as developers capitalize on rising property values.
Of Pioneer's 35 mobile homes, about a dozen are occupied. Some of the mobile homes, many of which are more than 40 years old, have been razed, leaving rusty nails on the ground and asbestos and insulation particles in the air, said Virginia Martinez, a community organizer for the Salt Lake Community Action Program.
"This is a disaster waiting to happen," she said, pointing to an abandoned mobile home perched precariously on two cinder blocks. "This could fall on a child."
Two kids have stepped on nails, and schoolchildren from the nearby Lincoln Elementary are playing in the rubble, Martinez said.
"I know that some of our families tell me they are worried about all the junk left around," said Tracy Vandeventer, principal at Lincoln Elementary. "They are also worried about the fact they are demolishing trailers adjacent to the ones being lived in."
Michael Stott, Salt Lake City community affairs analyst, has asked the developers to stop demolishing the mobile homes until the residents have left, Martinez said, but they haven't quit.
That isn't sitting well with Josie Valdez, administrator for Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson's office of diversity.
"That owner has to provide safety and security for the residents remaining there," Valdez said. "The city is between a rock and a hard place because we have to honor the rights of the owner, but we are assisting with relocation and low-income housing."
Making matters worse, the water was shut off to the residents Friday night. It was restored Saturday, but who stopped the flow and why remained unknown.
Some residents say they received notice in January they had to leave, but others maintain they did not get word until last month, if at all.
Bailey sent a notice saying those who leave by April 13 will not be pursued for any back rent or charged the fees for demolition of the homes. Residents who pay through March reportedly will have until April 30 to leave.
"Who would pay more rent just for an extra two weeks?" Martinez asked. "And who can move in two weeks?"
However, not all the residents see the eviction as a negative.
Jose Martinez, 81, has lived in the park for nearly 17 years, but his niece, Estella Martinez, is happy to see her uncle move.
"My uncle is going to move three blocks away into low-income apartments," she said. "For his health, that will be much better, and he's going to be near his friends and parish."
But with regard to others, she worries they will end up homeless, living under viaducts, as she has seen when other mobile-home parks have closed.
Montoya has found a house for her family and her aunt, but she doesn't know how they'll come up with the rent of $650, nearly double the cost at Pioneer Mobile Park.
"We're really struggling," she said. "I don't know what we'll do."
---
* SHEENA MCFARLAND can be contacted at [email protected] or 801-257-8619.

[i-215]

Come to Magna. We've got about three huge mobile home parks which will welcome those folks with open arms!

Seriously though, when I was in Oregon there was a really nice retirement-type mobile home park in West Linn, and the owner of the property kicked the people off without any compensation from their homes they owned. In the end they sued and settled on a 10,000 dollar settlement so they could at least pay to have their home moved elsewhere, but it was hard on a lot of these old 80-90 year old ladies to be forced from their neighborhood and all their friends, just so West Linn could have a few more luxury homes.

But then there's the property owner's rights too.... in the end, what do you do?

[SLC Projects]

Walker Center to get a bank
By Dave Anderton
Deseret Morning News
For about 75 years a bank occupied the ground floor of the Walker Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
Come August, a bank will once again do business in the nearly 100-year-old building.
The Walker Center in Salt Lake City will soon welcome Far West Bank as its ground-floor anchor tenant. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News)
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News
The Walker Center in Salt Lake City will soon welcome Far West Bank as its ground-floor anchor tenant.
Far West Bank was scheduled to announce today that it will relocate from its current Provo headquarters to the Walker Center and become the tower's ground-floor anchor tenant, occupying 7,500 square feet.
The Far West name will appear on the outside of the building, which has been on the corner of 200 South and Main Street since 1911.
Far West Bank, which recently was acquired by AmericanWest Bank in a $150 million deal, will have 18 branches in Utah after the bank opens at the Walker Center location on Aug. 1.
"It will be our flagship office in Utah," said Robert Daugherty, president and chief executive of AmericanWest Bank, based in Spokane, Wash. "The Walker Center becomes our springboard to launch downtown. We believe that we bring some real value to the Far West franchise by bringing the bank to downtown Main Street."
The downtown Far West location will employ about 15 people.
W. James Tozer, one of the building's co-owners, calls the Walker Center a landmark building, originally designed as a bank. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in October 2006.
"My dream was to get a bank back in here," Tozer said. "And now we've got one."
At the time it was built, the Walker Center was the tallest building between Chicago and San Francisco and was the headquarters of Walker Bank. A bank remained at the location continuously into the 1980s. For years, the flashing weather-forecast tower atop the building has been a landmark of the Salt Lake City skyline.
But over time the building fell into disrepair. Lease rates fell to $12 a square foot. The building had no air conditioning, and men's and women's bathrooms were located on different floors.
As a $10 million renovation to the building nears completion this summer, the Walker Center is taking a step back toward its former grandeur. The changes will feature a two-story atrium, all new mechanical and electrical systems, and a gym.
A $10 million renovation at the Walker Center will be completed this summer. The project aims to restore the building's former grandeur. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News)
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News
A $10 million renovation at the Walker Center will be completed this summer. The project aims to restore the building's former grandeur.
Skip Greene, chief executive of Spectrum Engineering, said his firm currently occupies four floors in the Walker Center. Spectrum has been in the building since 1996.
"We like the fact that the building is being restored to its historic heritage," Greene said. "We love the location where this building is. We like the access to TRAX, to downtown and to our clients. We're really excited about the gym they are going to put downstairs."
The renovations, according to Tozer, have brought the Walker Center back to "class A" standards, with lease rates now at $20 a square foot.
And with downtown Salt Lake City's office vacancy rate at a nearly seven-year low, Chris Kirk, office specialist with Commerce CRG and the building's leasing agent, said interest by prospective tenants is high.
Roughly 65 percent of the Walker Center's 110,000 square feet is occupied.
"Now that it is under construction, it's fun to take people over there. People really need to see things happening to buy into it," Kirk said. "It's just a superior location. It's ground zero for downtown."

[SmilingBob]

Originally Posted by delts145

Pioneer Mobile Park: Residents evicted as homes are razed around them
Developers will profit from condos as families scramble, and the city's hands are tied

. . . But with regard to others, she worries they will end up homeless, living under viaducts, as she has seen when other mobile-home parks have closed.
Montoya has found a house for her family and her aunt, but she doesn't know how they'll come up with the rent of $650, nearly double the cost at Pioneer Mobile Park.
"We're really struggling," she said. "I don't know what we'll do."
---
* SHEENA MCFARLAND can be contacted at [email protected] or 801-257-8619.

This is further shows the lack of low income housing options available to people.

We have more need than availability for people needing low income alternatives. I would like to see developers pay a fee to close down housing of low income people. The city could use that money to work with other developers to create low income housing options.

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by SmilingBob

This is further shows the lack of low income housing options available to people.

We have more need than availability for people needing low income alternatives. I would like to see developers pay a fee to close down housing of low income people. The city could use that money to work with other developers to create low income housing options.

And that's why we see more and more homeless people on the streets.

[Dallas Snob]

Hey guys,

This is a complete shot in the dark, but I recently divorced and am now trying to geet back to Salt Lake. If anyone knows of any positions open or of recruiters that I could contact. I am primarily a marketing and business development exec, but am open to all kinds of possibilities. If anyone out there has any leads, I would appreciate a yell. [email protected]

Sorry to interrupt . . . and now back to your regular programming . . .

[SLCforme]

Sorry Dallassnob, I'm just a lowley grad student in a completely unrelated field, but good luck in your search and I'm glad you're interested in coming back to SLC.

On another note, did anyone notice the article in todays deseret news that SLC's police and fire headquarters building is in complete disrepair? they want to bond for $180 million to build new headquarters. the current building is at 315 E. 200 S.. This seems to me to be a possibility for a new building downtown, and if so, hopefully one that is architecurally minded.

here's the link so as not to take up space by posting the whole article in an only slightly related topic to development.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660210517,00.html

[wrendog]

$180,000,000 sounds like an excessive number for a Police headquarters!

[delts145]

That does seem pretty pricey. Although,according to the article they are combining several different departments into the building. It would help to know the size,(sq.footage) needed for all of those combined operations. I guess its fairly substantial.


Quote; Police and fire officials are pushing for an estimated $180 million in public safety upgrades that would include a new headquarters, an emergency operations center, a couple of new fire departments, a fire-training facility and an east-side precinct.

[Makid]

They are wanting at least 34,000sq feet for just an evidence center. So I say let them build and build up.

[Comrade]

I hope if they move they still keep that building. The international style totally rocks.

[SLC Projects]

They've been pushing for a new building now for a few years. This is the first time I heard of a price tag of $180 million. But it sounds like it will take years to save up.

[SLC Projects]

Here is a rendering a found on KSL of what the new Police headquarters building could look like. It will be three buildings built on a 5 acres lot.





I for one don't like it. Why move out of a 8-story building to only build a new 2-3 story building? Pussies let's at least make the new building just as tall. Where do you guys plan to build this thing in Sandy?

[wrendog]

you have to remember, slc projects, most people aren't tall building nerds like us.. they don't care if it's 8 stories or 3.

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by wrendog

you have to remember, slc projects, most people aren't tall building nerds like us.. they don't care if it's 8 stories or 3.

That is true. However KSL did say that this was a old rendering from last year or so. So now that they know what they need in a new building maybe they could come up with something better?

[urbanboy]

As I recall, all new government related buildings will be built "green," and comply with LEED standards, which might explain the high price tag.