Salt Lake:Official development news thread

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by delts145

Here Here.....Braaavo....Braaavo Mayor Becker!!!

To be fair, his hands were forced by Sandy, so maybe we should thank them.

Had Sandy not moved, I doubt the city would be as quick to this as they were.

[urbanboy]

Originally Posted by RFPCME

Future Mayor:

Your point about the property deals not being done in the site selection for the downtown theater is a good one. It isn't over yet. But you made a statement that bothers me a great deal:

"I don't see how the site selection would be more effective as a public process. I think there are somethings that the public isn't capable of making an informed decision on. How many of us on here let alone the general public understand the logistics of a theater and some of the key factors that make up a good location."

When public money is going to be committed, the public has to make a decision. All the site selection committee had to do was lay their selection criteria out, say what strengths and weaknesses each site had, then articulate why they made the decision the did. That's it. Nothing more.

But that takes time, effort, and a general respect for the public, which I don't see in Utah policy makers. Drives me crazy. I also see the whole Sandy theater as a stalking horse, no realistic chance, just enough credibility to get us wound up and take our eyes off scrutiny of the real decision.

I agree with Future Mayor. As I see it, until Urban Planning is included in the General Education curriculum, The majority of the public will make stupid decisions. This is because of the environment in which many Americans live today. They live among many of the Planning mistakes of the past, therefore, their flawed experience will inform them in any decisions they make. Until the majority understand human settlements and how they do and do not work, decisions like this should be left to the experts and also to those observant residents in the City proper.

[cololi]

Originally Posted by urbanboy

I agree with Future Mayor. As I see it, until Urban Planning is included in the General Education curriculum, The majority of the public will make stupid decisions. This is because of the environment in which many Americans live today. They live among many of the Planning mistakes of the past, therefore, their flawed experience will inform them in any decisions they make. Until the majority understand human settlements and how they do and do not work, decisions like this should be left to the experts and also to those observant residents in the City proper.

Planning does not work without public input. The so called experts do not know everything or have all the answers. I think people get the very basics of human settlement (i.e. that groups settle together for mutally beneficial reasons : security, trade, socialization, etc). People also are very good at identifying the types of things they want their community to be. The planners job is to simply help the community find solutions to problems, not to create the solutions by themselves. Like it or not, that is what we do, whether it is traffic congestion, incompatible land use, pollution, etc. planners take the issue du jour and present the best professional opinion they can. Dictating social behavior has never been successful and never will because the basic human element is indivualality, but if you give people options to choose fom, they will collectively come up with the right decision.

While I think the public will have the ultimate say, the site selection is really irrelevant at this stage. I don't think the public cares all that much about the location, except for keeping it downtown. what they will care about is how much it is going to cost them and what types of other things are not going to get funded as a result of the theater getting built. If the money comes solely from SLC, then great, leave it up the city. However, if funding comes from the County and/or the State, then every resident of the county or state has a say in the process. I personally think that public safety is a much more important expenditure of public money at this point.

[UTPlanner]

Community leaders utilize city planners as much as they use other experts in various fields to act as advisors. The city hires attorneys, engineers, police officers, etc. They use leaders in these fields to help them make wise and informed decisions. These groups generally act mainly as advisors and the decisions lie in the hands of the elected leaders. If an individual is unhappy then they should make sure that they attend public meetings, that they make comment, and that they contact their governmental leaders about their feelings. Also make sure you get out and vote for your community leaders. One vote may not be the deciding factor in the presidential election but could make a huge difference in a local election.

[SLC Projects]

Odd Fellows Hall building is now 11 feet off its foundation. The Layton Construction Co. said relocating the building will break the Guinness Book of World Record for moving the world's heaviest building. The Odd Fellows Hall weighs 5 million pounds.

(From KSL.com

[SLC Projects]

Sugar House development deal!

"SALT LAKE CITY -- The gaping hole in the middle of Sugar House may be haunting its developer. The court ordered Craig Mecham to give a time table for completing his project, or to fill and landscape the pit that was dug. The court gave him until January 1 to have scheduled development with concrete plans in the city's hands. "

http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/Hom...ocale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

[delts145]

Salt Lake Odd Fellows Hall is getting ready to roll

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705256840,00.html?linkTrack=rotator-cvr-500000000007519


Crews work on supports for the Odd Fellows Hall, which has been raised about 11 feet off its foundation in downtown Salt Lake. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)

...Using a latticework of steel beams and jacks, construction crews have lifted the 117-year-old, 5 million-pound building at 39 W. Market St. about 11 feet off its foundation in preparation for its move across the street.

... The next step is to wheel 56 transportation dollies onto the wooden mat. Each dolly, an invention of heavy-haul transportation and rigging company Emmert International, essentially is a remote-operated jack supported by eight mining tires.

By late next week, crews expect the building will be ready to roll - just very slowly.


The Salt Lake moving project is the largest ever for Emmert International crews. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)

.

[cololi]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

Odd Fellows Hall building is now 11 feet off its foundation. The Layton Construction Co. said relocating the building will break the Guinness Book of World Record for moving the world's heaviest building. The Odd Fellows Hall weighs 5 million pounds.

(From KSL.com

They need to do some fact checking. The TWA terminal weighed over 7 million and a building in china was like 12 million or something. Still, pretty cool process. I still don't get why GSA didn't sack up and build around it or on the Holding block, but whatever.

[SLC Projects]

Freaking emporis.com making our skyline look weak.


LOL, Sorry I'm just bored and I went to emporis.com looked up Salt Lake City and a few other near by cities. And once I got to the Salt Lake page it shows that pic of the city's skyline on the top of the page. Is this what people really think salt lake city looks like? Yea maybe 20 years ago. but that pic only shows half of the skyline. Where's the Wells Fargo Tower, Grand America Hotel, One Utah Center, ect? The whole South skyline isn't even included. Sorry I just don't like that pic, It makes our skyline look weak. Those guys really should update that.
I know it's been there for years. But it just drives me nuts every time I go on there and seeing that's what that website has for our skyline. i'm sure people who are not from here look at that thinking...."Wow, Salt Lake is tiny."
It almost makes me want to take a picture of the skyline in a few years, (after 222 South Main and the towers at CCC are finish. ) and submit the photo to those guys telling them..."Hey, this is what SLC's skyline REALLY looks like.

[wrendog]

Did they photoshop the Wasatch Mountains into the picture? From that angle, you should see the Oquirrh's not the Wasatch.

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Did they photoshop the Wasatch Mountains into the picture? From that angle, you should see the Oquirrh's not the Wasatch.

It would have to be photoshop. From that view the skyline is backwards.

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Did they photoshop the Wasatch Mountains into the picture? From that angle, you should see the Oquirrh's not the Wasatch.

Its completely photoshopped; the skyline is mirrored, the city/county building is in the wrong location, the mountains repeat themselves in the background, and they've added a picturesque lake in the foreground.

If it makes you feel any better projects, I gave up on Emporis years ago.

[Scraperdude801]

I agree that picture is old and doesn't do us justice, but I do like the new downtown lake!

[aspiringArchitect]

Why are they moving the Odd Fellows Hall? Are they building something there?

[T-Mac]

The are going to build the Borg Cube. The federal courthouse building that I think is 10 stories tall.

[arkhitektor]

What's happeing with Odd Fellows once they move it?
Does somebody own it or plan to use it for something or are they just going to move it and let it sit empty across the street from its original location?

[RFPCME]

Originally Posted by T-Mac

The are going to build the Borg Cube. The federal courthouse building that I think is 10 stories tall.

T-Mac: Oh, the dreaded Borg Cube! Just what downtown SLC doesn't need--another soul-less building, especially one that is 10 stories tall. Since that's a Federal building, I want my tax-money back(fat chance!). I realize it's going to be a court house, but does it have to look like a prison cell? Or maybe that's the point--deterrence. Nevertheless, it's dreadful. I sincerely hope environmental activists groups file suit on the basis of visual pollution.

[i-215]

Originally Posted by aspiringArchitect

Why are they moving the Odd Fellows Hall? Are they building something there?

They thought it would be funny to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to accidentally spill it into the middle of the street.

Okay, seriously, they are building a new courthouse building on the old building's site. It looks like (as many posters here describe as) a "borg cube."

[delts145]

Sugarhouse Developer gets reprieve on crater

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705257116,00.html

Salt Lake City plans to again extend the deadline for the Sugar House developer to fill the crater on the corner of 2100 South and Highland Drive — this time until June.

Crater in Sugar House wins reprieve as city crackdown stalls

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10781350

..."There's no logic to running 300 truckloads of dirt through the community," Gray told the City Council, suggesting it could ruin the Christmas shopping season. "But they have to show real, honest progress."
Gray is crafting a letter to Mecham that evidently will supersede a previous missive calling for the landscaping to be completed by Oct. 31....


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[delts145]

Good rental market may give S.L. boost

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705257162,00.html

A high percentage of rental properties has Salt Lake City in a good position to weather the slumping housing market, economists say.

James Wood, director of the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, highlighted a four-hour Salt Lake City Council work session Tuesday on the city's economic future.

Since September, residential construction is down 50 percent from the same time in 2007, he said, and home values also are dropping.

Salt Lake City, however, finds itself in a unique position because nearly half of its housing is occupied by renters, Wood said. And in the changing housing market, the demand for rental housing is increasing, he said.

"If you look at the age structure of Utah's population, there are a lot of 20- to 30-year-olds," Wood said. "The difficulty of them getting housing ownership now is really going to increase the demand for rentals."

...The less-stigmatized condominium market likely will be in for some changes, too, Wood said.

"What you're going to see now, as a large number of condo projects get under way, they're not going to be able to be sold at $250 a square foot," he said. "They're going to end up being rentals. You're going to see quite a bit of that."

Despite the economic downturn, construction projects are continuing in Salt Lake City — including the $1.5 billion downtown residential, retail and office development of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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