Quote:
Originally Posted by Makid
One more thing to remember the hotels are that about 50% of this project was a surface parking lot and the other was abandoned buildings.
Another thing to keep in minds is that this means that there is now less empty areas to build which will mean higher land prices which in turn brings taller buildings.
Now, I don't like the looks of the hotels but, I would rather have them than a surface lot and a place for transients to hang out in (remember DV8?)
I do agree that we should be seeing more highrise buildings with the current level of growth and expansions that are happening in the Salt Lake area.
Salt Lake is at a tipping point. We are starting to see more growth and infill but currently it is all low rise construction. This is increasing density as well as increasing the costs of land. As land costs increase, building heights are increased to see a better return on the expenses.
This is where we are now. As we do begin to see more highrise buildings go up, we will also see the quality of material increase for both highrise and low rise building as developers try to encourage the use of their buildings. This is what will cause a reduction in the use of stucco on so many buildings as developers will want to stand out from the crowd.
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I agree that it's good something is taking the place of an abandoned warehouse. I disagree we should be happy it's this type of development, especially when it's a fairly decent area of land with the ESA right across the street.
My problem is that this mentality, covering up parking and blighted buildings at all costs, gives us, in many instances, cheap development that really doesn't add much to the area - or at the least, very little to the area. The concern here is not that we're finally covering parking, or doing away with an ugly warehouse, that's great, it's that we're replacing it with something that will be every bit as much apart of that area for the next two or three decades. That block is now already set in its development for the foreseeable future and it's unlikely we'll be able to come back and address it for a considerable amount of time.
We don't have unlimited land. These aren't just temporary buildings like the storefronts that were built on the 222 South Main site prior to the construction of that tower - these will be buildings that should exist for a good amount of time. So, it comes back to whether or not we're making good use of the land and the area as a whole? Sadly, I don't think we've been good at doing that because there hasn't been a cohesive plan in that area of downtown.
I mean, forget Main Street, which has been the focus of downtown since the 90s, we need to really address what we want western downtown to look like because that's really the area with the most available land. Are we content with cheap-looking stucco buildings going up solely because it's taking away a surface parking lot ... or do we want to potentially invest more in the area? I've always thought that part of downtown had potential for something more than what we're getting, but for whatever reason, it just hasn't transpired. The way I see it, and I know you're all getting tired of me comparing SLC to Portland, but I would love to see Salt Lake expand its skyline a bit and establish residential towers in that area. Nothing too high - but maybe 15-20 story ones. You know, something like this:
But it doesn't seem we're going in that direction. Instead, we're seeing smaller developments, and you know, maybe that's all SLC can handle, but it is depressing watching all these other cities build up and embrace high-rise living, while Salt Lake gets stuck with...
If this is all we're going to get between now and say, 2023, then I think it's safe to say we've wasted valuable land and a chance to really change the dynamics of our downtown.
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