Salt Lake:Official development news thread - Part 2

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by cololi

This is essentially what happened with the ESA. In the next 25 years or so, the building and property revert back to the City. Under agreement, the land was used as leverage to build the arena and also to generate a tax increment, which obviously was very successful consideringthe amount of development that has happened around the arena. My guess however is that unless there is major changes to the business models for NBA franchises that requires much more seating, the ESA would be renovated to live out the initial length of the contract.

The land in the Granary is not entirely owned by the RDA. A lot of it is owned by the City (including about one large 8 acre piece), which technically is a different entity. There is a reason why streetcar routes are aimed at the granary.

You are right, it's not owned by the RDA. I recently looked on the assessors website and there is no land in the Grainery district that is owned by the RDA, I know that they are however interested in acquiring land in that area.

[shakman]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

I agree, the Jazz are a huge part of why downtown is what it is today. I too wouldn't mind seeing 1300 South be the spot of a MLB stadium, and I agree that it has huge potential to be a nice mode of urban living. I think we talked about this a while back but while the SLC blocks are a good size, it would take a very odd and interesting layout to place a MLB park in that same spot and would most likely require putting either W. Temple or Main Street below grade, in order to accommodate the stadium.

Placing major thorough fares underground would be quite costly (i.e. utility relocation, construction of a super structure above in order to support the MLB stadium above). It maybe more practical to go up with the stadium. Examples would be some of the NFL stadiums such as in Seattle and Philadelphia. In order to minimize any height impact, build below grade and then up and out (or out then up).

[Future Mayor]

The shear size of a MLB stadium would nearly prohibit placing it in it's current location. I think it could be done, but I think the design would be so odd that it may not be very aesthetically pleasing. I will work on placing several different parks on that block and post the examples.

Rather than going below grade there is the option to redirect either Main or W Temple to go around the stadium. Or the road could stay at grade and the structure could simply be built above the road, similar to the previous version of Rice Stadium.

[Future Mayor]

The first image is AT & T Ballpark in San Francisco, which has a very unique design in order to fit in this spot. This field takes up about 800' x 650' including some of the surrounding grounds outside the stadium.

The second and third, images show the outline of how much space that would require in it's current location, with the option of rerouting Main Street over to Richards street. (obviously this could be done a little more smoothly), or it could be routed at surface level underneath the stands, as mentioned above.

The fourth image is if they could arrange it to use more space the other direction. N/S Which after looking at it again I think this would be a feasible option.

[urbanboy]

Salt Lake City experimenting with street lamps

Associated Press - January 27, 2010 7:15 AM ET

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Salt Lake City is experimenting with more efficient lighting for some of its streets.

Twenty-nine street lamps at eight spots around the city have been outfitted with induction lamps or LED bulbs.

Mike Barry, the city's transportation engineer, says the new lighting will not only 🞵🞵🞵🞵 less power but also require less maintenance.

The city is looking for the public's feedback on the street lamps, including whether they notice a difference in the color and effectiveness of the light.

If the results are good, city officials say they'll consider replacing a large portion of its 15,000 street lights.

On the Net:

http://www.slcgov.com/

http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11886686

[urbanboy]

This would have been a great place for the soccer stadium:

[esirhgih]

My grand scheme from long ago to bury the freeway and rail lines west of downtown included a new MLB park built around the Salt Lake Hardware building:

[Future Mayor]

A mile long bridge deck, not that is an extensive project. That would open up west downtown that is for sure. It would be nice to not have the North Temple Grand Boulevard separated from downtown by I-15. I'm assuming the rail lines would be below grade as well.

Not to mention the magnificent view of downtown and the Wasatch Range from the seats in the ball park.

[TonyAnderson]

Would building it where the current stadium sits really be that plausible, such as an extension of the stadium, or would they just have to tear down the stadium and start from scratch there anyway?

[skyguy414]

U of U the 80th best University in the World.

The U. cracks top 100 in global ranking
By Brian Maffly The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 01/22/2010 06:46:35 PM MST

The University of Utah broke the top 100 in an international ranking of the world's best universities, cheering U. administrators weary of the state flagship's usual middling showings in U.S. News and other subjective-based college rankings.

The Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) pegged the U. at 80th in the world, just behind University of Arizona and ahead of Michigan State University. Utah State University cracked the top 500 and Brigham Young University the top 400.

Continued: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14250227

[skyguy414]

Does anyone else think the Fairpark could use some redevelopment? I think it would be a good site for a stadium (yes, I know it was a possible location for Real). I think it would be nice to keep some of its historical buildings in place but change the rest of the grounds into a large park to tie in with the jordan river parkway and if practical, build a stadium on a portion of it. Nothing worthwhile really happens at the fairgrounds anymore anyways, except for the fair and there are other places that can go. Tear down the KOA trailer park while they are at it and make it part of the same park. This area is going to be good real estate once the grand boulevard is complete.

[SandSailor]

Kinda crazy to think SLC could get or even support a mlb team! Maybe 20 years from now!

[urbanboy]

Sweet!!!!!

[skyguy414]

Originally Posted by SandSailor

Kinda crazy to think SLC could get or even support a mlb team! Maybe 20 years from now!

"If you build it, they will come."

But seriously, whether its MLB or NFL (preferably NFL), I think people would support the team. This area takes pride in its sports teams. Real Salt Lake has some of the highest regular attendance in the league, even when the league was first born. The 2-2.5 million catchment area here (population area where people would generally be willing to commute to a game) could support a team.

[Future Mayor]

I would love an NFL team, however I think a MLB team would be more feasible in a shorter amount of time. NFL franchises are the most expensive to own, requiring more corporate sponsors and 70,000 + fans each week for only 7-9 days a year.

MLB on the other hand, while it wouldn't bring as many fans to each game as NFL, it would bring a lot more fans to an area over the course of a season, and could enliven an area of the city on a slightly more regular basis.

[cololi]

Originally Posted by skyguy414

Does anyone else think the Fairpark could use some redevelopment? I think it would be a good site for a stadium (yes, I know it was a possible location for Real). I think it would be nice to keep some of its historical buildings in place but change the rest of the grounds into a large park to tie in with the jordan river parkway and if practical, build a stadium on a portion of it. Nothing worthwhile really happens at the fairgrounds anymore anyways, except for the fair and there are other places that can go. Tear down the KOA trailer park while they are at it and make it part of the same park. This area is going to be good real estate once the grand boulevard is complete.

I recommend people look at the station area plans for North Temple. All of these things are talked about at some place in the document.

[delts145]

Neighborhood bars win narrow nod in SLC

Split vote » By a 6-4 count, Planning Commission recommends Becker's alcohol "normalization" to City Council.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14283194

After adding a cocktail of conditions, the Salt Lake City Planning Commission opened the capital's long-locked gates to neighborhood bars Wednesday, with one veteran planner calling the move "logical and quite frankly overdue."

Whether residents can soon drive (or walk) shorter distances to pull pints is now up to the City Council.

In a 6-4 vote, the commission forwarded to the council a positive recommendation to allow bars in neighborhood commercial centers -- think 9th & 9th and 15th & 15th -- which should face a binding vote this spring...

.

[East2Westback]

That said, a downtown stadium would really show off the downtown and also have a commanding view.

While the Jazz really represent the best and most successful aspect of what a "Major League" level can be, I really question the fact that SLC could bring in a viable attendance in baseball to maintain itself. Some day it could happen for sure but with 2,000,000 plus in the entire populace area, it is like saying that every person in the area would have to attend at least one game.

Not only that but those attendances would have to be the minimum because over the course of a season you would only be selling 25,000 seats per game in what would most likely be a minimum of 40,000 seats. Of course this also means it would have to happen 81 times a year.

Salt Lake City is a terrific sports city but that does not guarantee that people will shell out the money on a consistent basis.

I could be totally wrong (I hope that I am wrong) but the numbers seem a little out of kilter to maintain such a lofty goal.

These are the bottom dwelling attendances from last year:If you ever watch a game in these cities, they are like ghost towns. Every area is considerably larger than the Wasatch Front.

24 Baltimore 78 1,950,075 25,000 51.9 80 31,653 70.0 158 28,369 60.7
25 Texas 80 1,945,677 24,320 49.5 80 29,765 66.4 160 27,043 57.6
26 Tampa Bay 80 1,780,791 22,259 52.8 80 30,342 66.5 160 26,301 60.0
27 Oakland 81 1,665,256 20,558 48.3 79 29,943 65.2 160 25,192 57.0
28 Pittsburgh 80 1,609,076 20,113 52.4 81 33,700 75.8 161 26,949 65.0
29 Kansas City 79 1,578,922 19,986 49.0 81 29,926 66.2 160 25,018 58.1
30 Florida 80 1,335,075 16,688

[Future Mayor]

Combined SLC, Ogden, and Provo MSA, has approximately 2 million people.

East2West:
Based on the same statistical source used above, what are the attendance numbers for the following teams?

Cincinnati; msa population of 2.1, the next closest major msa is Columbus and that is 2 hours away.

Milwaukee; msa population of 1.7, the next closest major msa is Madison, which is also 2 hours away.

[East2Westback]

[QUOTE=Future Mayor;4671308]Combined SLC, Ogden, and Provo MSA, has approximately 2 million people.

I am not trying to diss the possibility of SLC getting a team. That would be awesome. The difference is not the core area of what we see as potential fans to put in the seats. I am also not talking about CMSA or MSA areas.

An MLB team needs fans. SLC could supply fans but how many and for how long?

The difference with Milwaukee and Cincinnati are basically the following:

The difference to me is that Wisconsin has 6,000,000 people that the Brewers can draw from and the majority are in the south east part of the state.

Cincinnati is not only in a state of almost 12 million but it has way more than potential to draw from the immediate area. Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Louisville are not more than 80 miles apart. Yes 80 miles is a lot but it is also not a long drive for true baseball fans.

SLC is a great sport's city. I am sure there will be a time when MLB comes knocking.