Salt Lake:Official development news thread

[delts145]

City seeks to remake 2 downtown tenements


http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12135440



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[cololi]

Originally Posted by Urban_logic

I don't know, didn't the Triad Tower have beams onsight when it was cancelled? Then you look at the few developments around the area that have been half-way constructed and are stalled

In happier news, it looks like Target is coming to Salt Lake!!!



I found this article, but I think it is a little out of date - it's hard to tell seeing as it doesn't have a date on it. Real professional journalism right there



The reason that I think this is out of date is because Target already has this store on its system - a clear indication that this is not just an open-ended proposal anymore. If you look at Target's store locator from its website, you can clearly see a target symbol over SLC where there is deffinately no Target currently. You see the 5 clustered to the southern end of the valley - Ft Union, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, West Jordan SW (Jordan Landing) - then there's a 6th one right over the down town area.

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/sea...57513902712&mapHeight=100.59262344720318

Plus, as a Target insider, I can tell you that our system we use to look up items at nearby stores shows a "Salt Lake City" Target Store that is shaded grey and says N/A on the on-hand count because the store doesn't exist yet. It won't let you open it up like you can with other stores to view store info, backroom locations, sales floor locations, etc. It also has a store number. I will double check tomorow to be sure, but I believe it was something like store 2641 or 2642

It looks like this will be the site for the new Target Store:



Trust me Salt Lakers, you will love Target! We already have 2 of them here in West Jordan with a 3rd just over the souther border in South Jordan. I was hoping yours would be an urban store like they have in big cities like San Francisco, Minneapolis, etc. and would be located in the CBD somewhere. Judging by the site location, it will be your average suburban-style Target store. According to the article, it will be larger than a regular store, but smaller than a Super. Maybe this is a good time to introduce Utah to Target Grateland

It is also nice to see that the store will only be a block or two away from the Ballpark TRAX Station and can be acessed by two freeway on/off ramps. One can take the 9th South exit, turn left onto 9th South, turn left onto 3rd West, then turn right into the development. Or, one can get of at 13th South, turn left onto 3rd West, then turn left into the development. I imagine TRAX riders will frequent this store.

Shhh! *wispers* I hear rumor that Target is exploring new stores in Park City and Provo. Cross your fingers

They had their approval from the City a year and a half ago. They are waiting to relocate a few existing businesses before they start construction. The biggest, YESCO, is building a new office out on the west side. I think 90% of SLC shops at Target in Fort Union. This store is your typical suburban style development, which sucks.

[utahboozer]

Originally Posted by Urban_logic

Trust me Salt Lakers, you will love Target! We already have 2 of them here in West Jordan with a 3rd just over the souther border in South Jordan. I was hoping yours would be an urban store like they have in big cities like San Francisco, Minneapolis, etc. and would be located in the CBD somewhere. Judging by the site location, it will be your average suburban-style Target store. According to the article, it will be larger than a regular store, but smaller than a Super. Maybe this is a good time to introduce Utah to Target Grateland

It is also nice to see that the store will only be a block or two away from the Ballpark TRAX Station and can be acessed by two freeway on/off ramps. One can take the 9th South exit, turn left onto 9th South, turn left onto 3rd West, then turn right into the development. Or, one can get of at 13th South, turn left onto 3rd West, then turn left into the development. I imagine TRAX riders will frequent this store.

Shhh! *wispers* I hear rumor that Target is exploring new stores in Park City and Provo. Cross your fingers

Did I miss something? Do you work for Target? Since when is the news of another big-box store joining the crowd of Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Costco, Lowes, etc., along the 3rd West corridor exciting news?

I'm not attacking you personally. I just fail to see how this is something to look forward to. Target=the new K-Mart, IMHO. And I used to love K-Mart. Now it only sells Al Harrington's piece of crap shoes.

[WASDEN]

yeah whats so great about Target? Especially that close to downtown?

[ski_steve]

State Reports Growth in Tourism



AP- The Utah Office of Tourism says traveler spending in the state increased 6.2 percent in 2008 to $7.1 billion.

The tourism department also says 20.4 million people visited the state last year, up by about 200,000 visitors from 2007.

Economic development officials say they're hopeful those numbers will continue to increase as word spreads that state lawmakers have agreed to change some of the state's notoriously quirky liquor laws.

On July 1, customers will no longer have to fill out an application and pay a fee for the right to enter a bar. Utah is the only state in the country that currently considers bars that are open to the public to be private clubs.

http://www.kutv.com/content/news/topnews...h-in-Tourism/6ZZQQUPDjEqC44l6p504Yw.cspx

[Makid]

yeah whats so great about Target? Especially that close to downtown?

The best part is that this means that SLC will get to keep its share of the tax revenue instead of seeing it go to other cities.

That will help the SLC tax base to attract other companies as well as to work towards adding street cars to SLC.

While it is a big box retailer, many people shop at them and this gives more options for those residents while adding to the tax revenue of the city. The design fits the area more then it would along 4th south or near the Gateway.

[ski_steve]

U to devote area to track, field facility

The U women’s track and cross-country teams have been making use of alternate tracks since before 2002, but with the construction of a new track and field on a parking lot across from the Eccles Broadcast Center along Mario Cappechi Drive, they won’t need to go elsewhere.

The athletics department received a $2 million donation from the McCarthey Foundation, which is funding most of the track facility besides a $100,000 gift from the U rugby club. The new field will take up about 500 parking spots across from the Eccles Broadcast Center used by KUER radio and the medical facilities on upper campus.

Construction will start in May on the international-style track and synthetic field. Rugby players will gain primary access to the facility because of additional funding they are providing. U campus design and construction expects the track and field to be completed by mid-October or early November.

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/news/u-to-devote-area-to-track-field-facility-1.1713614

[ski_steve]

Geology building complete- U of U

Dedicate held last friday.




The Sutton Building's east entrance, located on the second floor, is part of a rotunda-like lobby linking it with the Browning Building. One of Sutton's most stunning features is the "fish wall" in the lobby: a display of 103 Eocene-age fish fossils - some of them 50 million years old - from the Green River Formation's Fossil Lake near Kemmerer, Wyo. The fossils are arranged so they look like a school of swimming fish.



The building is the first on the University of Utah's main campus with LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), Chan says. The building also incorporates some student-designed environmental features, including a roof garden, on-site storm water capture, xeriscaping, top-floor tubular skylights and a system to display energy and water use.




The University of Utah Seismograph Stations moved from the seventh floor of the Browning Building to the ground floor of the Sutton Building, which is more stable in the event of a large earthquake. Offices of the Seismograph Stations are located next to the new Rio Tinto Earthquake Information Center, named for the international mining group and parent of Kennecott Utah Copper, which pledged $600,000 for the facility. The center will include a number of quake-related displays, including a large video wall upon which quake recordings will be displayed for the public.



http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=040909-1

[arkhitektor]

There's no comparison at all between a Target and a K-Mart.
When my wife and I lived downtown, we would drive to Fort Union whenever we needed to do "big box" shopping.
I know that there are urban idealists that oppose all big box stores across the board, but the fact is that not everyone can afford to shop at trendy organic local boutiques for all of their food and clothes, and you can't buy socks and toothpaste at the farmers market.
Most of the "commoners" who live downtown shop at Target / Walmart anyway, why not have them much closer, adjacent to a transit line and generating tax revenue for the city???

[utahboozer]

I guess what I want to know is, what is the difference between Wal-Mart and Target, and isn't it redundant to have both along the same road? 300 West is already up to its nuts in trafffic.

I can buy everything I need from Albertson's on 2nd South (old habits die hard) and Smith's on 5th South. These seem more local to me than Twin Cities-based Target.

[Comrade]

As was discussed a couple of months ago, it's not the big box retail that turns me off, rather the development it brings. Are we going to get an urban Target or just another typical suburban version that once again caters to the automobile? That's the issue at hand and yes, I will continue to complain if 300 West continues to turn itself into a typical suburban street.

So yeah, I have no problem with the big box retailers, unless they don't fit into the urban model that I believe is best for this city. And from what I've seen with the 300 West development, they don't. Until they do, I will continue to oppose that type of development.

[DMTower]

Target is a hell of a lot nicer than Walmart... plus I don't have to worry about getting mugged on the way out.

[WeST]

Originally Posted by Comrade Reynolds

As was discussed a couple of months ago, it's not the big box retail that turns me off, rather the development it brings. Are we going to get an urban Target or just another typical suburban version that once again caters to the automobile? That's the issue at hand and yes, I will continue to complain if 300 West continues to turn itself into a typical suburban street.

So yeah, I have no problem with the big box retailers, unless they don't fit into the urban model that I believe is best for this city. And from what I've seen with the 300 West development, they don't. Until they do, I will continue to oppose that type of development.

AMEN

[SLC Projects]

If the developer gives that new Target Store a "urban look" I wouldn't mind.

[cololi]

I just want it up to the street, with a store entrance from 300 West and just a few display windows. I've never understood why grocery stores can't put some windows in, like in the produce section, and break up their super long walls with a bit of articulation. I'm taling windows that you can actually see in and out of, not the dark reflective stuff that is shadowboxed and is not actually any kind of window at all.

Unfortunately, the target on 300 W is pushed all the way back against I-15 with parking up against 300 W and a few small retail pad sites in between. At least my wife won't spend as much money on gas driving to fort union. Imagine how cool it would be to have a street car run up the abandoned rail spur that crosses 300 W in front of this store. You could do a target store with a few levels of retail above at the location and serve it by mass transit. Instead, we get Fort Union. Lame.

[Comrade]

I don't know why the city is content with this type of development up and down 300 West. You'd think they would have learned their lesson after the 400 South debacle, a street the city admits needs a complete overhaul because it's too tied to suburban development.

Pfft!

[East2Westback]

Originally Posted by urbanboy

I thought this was a pretty nice shot:





http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...%3D63%26um%3D1&ei=BAvkSYqcOpjItAOdpdD_Cg

It does make an over 400 foot building look like 200 feet...still a great shot.

Photo by: swilsonmc

[Future Mayor]

I too am glad to see Target comping to the capital, but I too am very disappointed at the typical suburban type store they are going to build. I know Target has built more urban type stores, even in suburbs. I think it is simply the developer being narrow minded and not having a vision of how a Target in the city could be improved that much more.

One thing we can do, for those of us that live in SLC proper is to send an e-mail to your City Council person and express your ideas and opinions regarding the great opportunity they have to make 300 W into a more urban/pedestrian friendly gateway into the city. Yes 300 W south of 13th is a lost cause, (at this point) but north of 13th doesn't need to be.

I have just sent a letter to my Council rep and encourage all of you to do the same. I tend to find that my e-mails that are of a more calm nature seem to get the more understanding response. I'm not saying that City Council doesn't know what they are doing or have some of the same idea, I just think it's a wise move to let them know what those of us that they actually represent are thinking.

[arkhitektor]

Originally Posted by delts145

City seeks to remake 2 downtown tenements


http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12135440



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I would love for something, anything to happen on that site on State St. The apartments that are currently there are appalling, I'm surprised that the residents aren't jumping at the chance to go somewhere better. The article is not exaggerating when it describes how awful the smell is. On a hot summer day, its strong enough to make me queasy just waiting for a bus in front of the building. I'm sure that they are comfortable where they are, but, at the risk of sounding politically incorrect, beggars can't be choosers.

If you're going to live in ridiculously cheap subsidized housing, you shouldn't complain about having to live "at the edge of the city" on 10th S. and Main.

Such a prime spot in DT deserves a much better use.

[Future Mayor]

You are right, this property has SO MUCH potential. I have actually contacted a developer that I know to see if he is interested in partnering on the RFP proposal that the city is asking for. I would do it myself but they want a developer that has prior experience and this would be a great opportunity for me to get my feet wet.

Anywho, there is potential to rehab the property or demo and build new. I would prefer to retain as much of the property as possible. I have figured out that if a developer were to take out just one of the buildings along State it could create another east west mid-block connector that the city so despreately needs.

The red lines are existing roads and or named alleys. The yellow are some of the pedestrian connector routes. By removing one building you could connect (green) State with the street and alley that run N/S in the mid block. This could simply be a pedestrian corridor which would allow for some retail to face the connector and provide some nice sidewalk dinning opportunities.