Salt Lake:Official development news thread

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

I still think there's a big enough demand for office space in downtown for there to be another office tower.

I know we'd all like to think this, but is there any empirical evidence to suggest that it is true? I see an awful lot of "For Lease" signs up as I drive around downtown and with much of 222 S. Main still un-leased, I think its probably just wishful thinking to assume that there is enough demand to support a new office tower downtown.

Its not like a city has to have a glimmering new tower before anyone is going to trade with us. I think that Huntsman's efforts to support WTC Utah are great, but a WTC is mostly a network and support system for business and trade groups, not just an office tower called the World Trade Center.

Maybe I'll have to eat crow, but I would be surprised if the announcement included the construction of a new building of any sort, much less a new tallest for the city.

[Urban_logic]

Originally Posted by arkhitektor

I know we'd all like to think this, but is there any empirical evidence to suggest that it is true? I see an awful lot of "For Lease" signs up as I drive around downtown and with much of 222 S. Main still un-leased, I think its probably just wishful thinking to assume that there is enough demand to support a new office tower downtown.

Its not like a city has to have a glimmering new tower before anyone is going to trade with us. I think that Huntsman's efforts to support WTC Utah are great, but a WTC is mostly a network and support system for business and trade groups, not just an office tower called the World Trade Center.

Maybe I'll have to eat crow, but I would be surprised if the announcement included the construction of a new building of any sort, much less a new tallest for the city.

Office real estate market stagnates in Salt Lake County

Salt Lake County's office real estate market in 2008 went from being one of the best in the nation to one that stagnated, according to a report released Thursday.

Real estate firm CB Richard Ellis reported that the 2008 year-end office vacancy rate for Salt Lake County rose from 12 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 13.7 percent in the last quarter of 2008.

The county had about 4.5 million square feet of available office space as of Dec. 31, compared with 3.9 million square feet at the end of 2007.

Jim Wood, director of the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said that the high volume of construction in the office market in recent years has led to increased vacancies nationwide and in Utah. Rising vacancy rates are a trend that should be expected throughout the industry for at least the next year, he said.

"You have a lot of new building under way, and the timing just isn't very good," Wood said.

Some of downtown Salt Lake City's most anticipated office projects, such as the 222 Main Street Building, are scheduled to come onto the market at a time when the employment economy is the worst in about 25 years. "It makes it pretty tough," he said.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705276158,00.html

So SLC's office vacancy rate is 13.7%. To put that in perspective, Denver's office vacancy is almost 11%. But SLC is in WAY better shape than Phoenix and Vegas!! Phoenix's office space increased 13.9% just in 2008, bringing the total vacancy rate to almost 20%!! Vegas is at 17.3%. So we're really not as bad as we could be, but we certainly aren't booming anymore in the office market.

Intermountain office space vacancy rates through Dec 2008:

Denver - 11%
SLC - 14%
Vegas - 17%
Phoenix - 20%

Note: These vacancy rates are where they were in the 4th quarter of 2008 - so two months old, but still not too bad. That's as recent of info as we got right now. It will be interesting to see where things stand next month at the end of the 1st quarter of 2009.

Good thing CCC invested more in residential than office space!

[arkhitektor]

I think we've officially let the Utah Restaurants thread die, and I didn't want to post this in the new Irrelevant Utah Topics Yell at Each Other About Mormonism Thread, so I'm putting this here instead:

Has anyone else eaten at the new Au Naturale restaurant in Sugarhouse?

I ate lunch there today and was pretty impressed.
It's in the building on the SW corner of 900 E. and 2100 S. that used to be some sort of Christian bookstore and looks like before that it was a bank.

They have good, fast, inexpensive fresh-tasting food and will be a nice alternative for when I want something quick for lunch, but don't feel inclined to eat a bag of deep-fried garbage as seems to be the norm when it comes to fast food. (They even have a drive-thru.)

[cololi]

Originally Posted by arkhitektor

I think we've officially let the Utah Restaurants thread die, and I didn't want to post this in the new Irrelevant Utah Topics Yell at Each Other About Mormonism Thread, so I'm putting this here instead:

Has anyone else eaten at the new Au Naturale restaurant in Sugarhouse?

I ate lunch there today and was pretty impressed.
It's in the building on the SW corner of 900 E. and 2100 S. that used to be some sort of Christian bookstore and looks like before that it was a bank.

They have good, fast, inexpensive fresh-tasting food and will be a nice alternative for when I want something quick for lunch, but don't feel inclined to eat a bag of deep-fried garbage as seems to be the norm when it comes to fast food. (They even have a drive-thru.)

I love the place. I eat there every few weeks.

[SLCforme]

correct me if I'm wrong, but that article has SL county vacancy at 13.7%, not SLC proper. SLC proper or downtown vacancy may be different. And as we have discussed, different types of businesses want downtown vs. suburban office space, so there could still be demand downtown. I don't know that there is; there are a lot of for lease signs around, but there always are, even two years ago when we had a crunch for office space there were still lots of for lease signs around. So I just don't know

[T-Mac]

The new office building that my partners I built here in Woods Cross has two spaces vacant in it. We move into our space in November and Mr. Mac's has the space right below us. Since we've moved in we have 2 pieces available at 2,000 sq feet each. One on the first floor and one on the second level. Since we started actively marketing those spaces last October, we haven't had one person look at them. In the last week we have already shown the space to 5 different companies. It looks like we will be full soon if all goes well. Hopefully this is a good sign for others that there are companies out there looking for space.

[jmonkey]

Thanks for the recommendation for Au Naturale. I've been wondering about that spot, and I'll give it a try. Is it a local business or a chain or franchise?

Urban Logic, a minor correction. The vacancy numbers you posted are for Salt Lake County, not Salt Lake City. I've seen numbers before that also give the vacancy rate in the CBD, or in Salt Lake City, versus the county as a whole. A couple of years ago, the difference was impressive, as in SLC was in the low single digits. Salt Lake City was in the middle of a very tight office market, at least until the recession hit.

From what I've heard about the WTC, it sounded like a lot of the building would be occupied by trade groups and governmental institutions--not normal businesses. Market conditions may play a slightly smaller role in this building's development.

[urbanboy]

Actually there still is a demand for class A office space in Downtown. Although 222 South Main Street is about to come online, the 23 and 24th floor of the Wells Fargo building will be converted from event space to office space very soon.

I think companies are understanding the clout and credibility that comes with having their business located in a downtown high-rise instead of in some office park. I'm betting it's especially helpful when it comes to employing the young "millennial" workforce.

[skierforlife17]

FIY everyone there is an information session at rice eccles stadium tonight about the development proposed for the stadium parking lot. Its supposed to be for students but they dont really care. its from 6pm-7:30pm. Im going to find out if they are going to let me open a bar there or not!!

[Makid]

http://www.westernrebusiness.com/articles/FEB09/highlight1.html
MARKET HIGHLIGHT, FEBRUARY 2009

Office

...Salt Lake City’s central business district (CBD) remains the strongest submarket, showing a decrease in vacancy, with Class A space at a 4 percent vacancy rate.

The County has a significantly higher vacancy rate then the CBD.

[Future Mayor]

Never mind, Makids info is more applicable than what I had here.

According to many real estate developers and property owners I have talked to, and 8% vacancy rate is considered full occupancy. This allows for those spaces that are in transition. So at 4% vacancy we are 4% higher than full occupancy. I estimate, as has been mentioned prior, that the decrease in vacancy in the CBD is due to the loss of the Key Bank building and those tenants moving into formerly vacant space in the CBD.

[delts145]

Senate approves new seats for D.C., Utah

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705287562,00.html

The Senate voted 61-37 Thursday to give, at long last, the heavily Democratic District of Columbia a U.S. House member with full voting rights — to end "taxation without representation" there. At the same time, the bill would give heavily Republican Utah a fourth House seat as a political counterweight.

...The legislation would permanently expand the number of U.S. House members from 435 to 437 for the 2010 election. One seat would go to D.C., and the other temporarily would go (until after the 2010 Census) to Utah. The Beehive State had been in line for the next available House seat after the 2000 Census, missing one by just 80 people.

.

[Viperlord]

Salt City Plaza

I drove past the Salt City Plaza site today, and it appears that they are doing some utility work, and maybe preparing for phase 1 of the project.

"Phase One, of Salt City Plaza will entail the demolition of a vacant convenience store located at the corner of 200 West and 500 South. This demolition project will provide space for a stand alone restaurant and bank. At the same time, the two northern most buildings of the existing Royal Garden Inn will be completely renovated including a new lobby addition. The new lobby will provide a platform for continued hotel operation of a 92-room Limited Service Best Western hotel. Subsequent to the completion of the new lobby facility demolition will continue to make way for Phase Two of Salt City Plaza."

[Viperlord]

Broadway Park Lofts

Photo Credit goes to Silus Grok from Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/silusgrok/3306156147/sizes/l/

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by jmonkey

Thanks for the recommendation for Au Naturale. I've been wondering about that spot, and I'll give it a try. Is it a local business or a chain or franchise?

From the look of the menus and general presentation of the place, you'd think that it was part of a chain (They have napkins and cups with their name and logo printed on them, etc.), but apparently they are locally owned and the one in Sugarhouse is their only location. I'd highly recommend you try them out and have the frozen yogurt.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by urbanboy

I wonder how much of this natural habitat and the natural systems associated with this land are being disrupted for the sake of a Natural Science Museum. This should have been part of the development which is going on the Stadium Parking lot, or preferably somewhere downtown. At least that way there would be an option for reliable mass transit.

UTA has at least six bus routes that go right past the new museum. I knew UTA had a bus route that went past the new museum in research park so I went to their website and stopped counting how many different bus routes went past there when I got to six.

[Viperlord]

another small little project....



http://www.urbanutah.com/our-projects/17-projects/13-markea-court

[Future Mayor]

Has anyone heard any recent rumblings regarding the City Center Lofts project?
There are no new news features on the website since April 2008. http://www.citycenterlofts.net/index.html

[Justnslcsugarhood.]

Originally Posted by Viperlord

another small little project....



http://www.urbanutah.com/our-projects/17-projects/13-markea-court

Awesome! those are cute! I'm digging the red brick. Also a 4% office vacancy rate in Salt Lake City?!!! during the recession?!!! AWESOME! Can you guys just imagine the future development even just two years from now?

[Future Mayor]

I forgot to mention I really like those town homes, great niche they are hitting with those.

Nice design and I think it will blend fairly well with the neighborhood.