Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 3

[delts145]

Utah tourism industry poised to hit $1B in tax revenue

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86559...try-poised-to-hit-1B-in-tax-revenue.html

Keith McCord, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s ski resorts and the Sundance Film Festival attract a lot of tourists this time of year, and there’s a lot of optimism for 2014.

“If tourism were a stock, if people could invest in Utah tourism, people would be putting their money down,” said Vicky Varela, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism...

...The state has interactive billboards in place right now in New York and Los Angeles to promote the state’s skiing industry. The billboards can be instantly updated. The signs reflect the latest snowstorm totals as of Thursday.

"On Jan. 9, we got 18 inches for breakfast. Be here for lunch," the billboard read.

Those boards will be up at New York's Penn Station during the Super Bowl as well.

"Utah is no longer a secret,” Varela said. “Utah is a ‘bucket list’ destination for tourists around the world."...


Hogle Zoo Continues Expanding Ways

...One of the places people love to visit is Hogle Zoo.

“The zoo usually comes out in the top five of the top paid tourist attractions in the state, and that’s even rivaling some of our national parks,” said Erica Hansen, Hogle Zoo community relations coordinator.

The zoo saw more than 1 million visitors during four of the past five years, despite several construction projects.

The zoo has seen some big construction projects over the years. It welcomed back polar bear Rizzo, three sea lions (Big Guy, Rocky and Maverick), three harbor seals and two river otters with its Rocky Shores exhibit, which opened June 1, 2012. Rocky Shores reintroduced grizzly bears to Utah. The Bear Meadows exhibit houses three grizzly bear siblings.

The zoo's latest project, African Savanna, has been under construction since summer of 2012. The 5 acre, $15 million attraction is expected to open in May.

The new area will be a mixed-species exhibit, as opposed to just the lions confined to one area and the zebras in their own enclosure.

“This is kind of the new, cutting edge for zoos, to let them kind of mix and mingle and see how they do,” Hansen said.

And the popular ZooFari Express will be back.

“It’s going to be a bigger, better train — handicapped accessible, much more comfortable for the grownups, and the train ride is longer,” Hansen said.

[StevenF]

I have a Booster pass to the Hogle Zoo that allows me, my wife, 4 kids and 2 guests to get into the zoo. I think we ended up going there 4 times since last May. Looking forward to the new Safari exhibit and hope we can see it before our pass runs out at the end of May. Depending on my wife being excepted to an out of state University we probably won't be renewing our pass this year. I love the Hogle Zoo and think the changes it has gone through the past few years have been great and is putting the zoo into the top 10 best US zoo's. I will miss having it so close as we love taking our kids there.

[skyguy414]

Salt Lake City at night from orbit aboard International Space Station.

Dated Dec. 12, 2013


Source: NASA

[Palladio]

Love that picture!

[DerrickSLC]

Happened upon this from Sprawl Repair Manual who has been in Salt Lake City the past couple of days exploring, examining our city and valley, along with one of our most notable features: the big (really big) block size.

Here is @SprawlRepairMnl's tweet: "SLC lessons: Historic Mormon fabric of 660/660' blocks can be carved into new patterns from rural to most urban."

Adding: "SLC lessons: Large blocks work as long as they have secondary layer of finer fabric in their interiors, interrupted by pedestrian passages."

[DerrickSLC]

These examples led to a conversation on now how to ask/convince the city to provide potential incentives to developers to build projects that fit this type of development pattern.

Could this be the type of agreement/solution for the recent attention towards the raised impact fees, ultimately with an end result of better quality, more urban, mixed-use and pedestrian-oriented development?

Also to note, the council recently passed a form-based code project area in November for the Granary District, southwest of downtown and the CBD. The measure is something I have yet to really look into, the specific boundaries or what it fully entails. But it's a good test area and assume it to be centered around the success of Granary Row and to help expedite projects in that neighborhood.

Who's ready for spring?!

[(Eco)nomy_404]

Originally Posted by Stenar

By the way, Iowa's population is only 189,544 ahead of us and the 3 states ahead of us have very slow growth rates. The three states immediately larger than Utah would be fairly easy to surpass. Just larger than Iowa is Connecticut, which is 500,000 larger than Iowa, so that would take quite a while to pass them by.

Exactly my point. I put up a picture of the capital of Iowa saying I would take a population that could produce that kind of a skyline any day - meaning I find it a worthwhile milestone for us to pass up their population in the next few years. This was in response to your snarky, sarcastic remark seemingly implying that passing such a state's population meant absolutely nothing. Going only as far back as 2000, Utah had 450,000 less people than either Kansas or Arkansas while we had 600,000 less than Mississippi and 700,000 less than Iowa. Back then, we had 75% of Iowa`s population - today, we have 75% of Oregon`s population. We are certainly making good progress in a short period of time. I realize you often take negative outlooks on things, but can`t we just appreciate the fact that we are moving up in the world?

[delts145]

Commercial real estate in Salt Lake market improving in 2014

By Jason Lee, Deseret News

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86559...-Salt-Lake-market-improving-in-2014.html

...A report released Thursday by the Salt Lake office of CBRE, a commercial real estate firm based in California, indicated that 2013 was a good year overall for the Salt Lake market.

The improvement occurred across a wide geographic area along the Wasatch Front, with most market segments experiencing positive absorption for the year — meaning more space was leased than vacated...

...Looking forward, marketwide vacancy is expected to continue decreasing in 2014, he said...

...Another positive sign, Smith noted, was that there is currently more square footage under construction this year than at this time a year ago...

...In the industrial sector, 2013 marked a year of steady growth and strong fundamentals in the Salt Lake market, the report stated. Both availability and vacancy decreased...

...Since 2009, the industrial base has grown more than 7 million square feet. Even with the growth, availability rates decreased, dropping 2 percentage points since the fourth quarter of 2012 to 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

The average lease rate surpassed pre-recession levels, ending the year at 41 cents per square foot, an increase of 4 cents per square foot...

...Though traditionally dominated by a handful of developers, a surge of developers new to the Salt Lake industrial market has increased competitive activity, and industrial land is being quickly absorbed, Dye said.

“This activity indicates that new development can be expected in the immediate future,” he said. "Salt Lake County is an attractive location for all types of industrial operations, (offering) low energy, land and labor costs. These factors, coupled with our strong economy, are attracting a great deal of new users to the market.”

The report showed that of the 1.4 million square feet of construction completed in 2013, 70 percent was pre-leased. Analysts said it's a further indication of high levels of demand within the market. Currently, there is 1.1 million square feet under construction.


With steady demand in both the office and industrial markets, and given the strong fundamentals of Utah’s economy, the outlook for 2014 is also upbeat, Dye said. Improvement and growth within the Salt Lake market should continue into the new year, he added.

Meanwhile, the overall commercial real estate market may also benefit from the upward trends of the office and industrial sectors, one expert said...

[jedikermit]

This may have already been posted -- I picked it up on Slate, but it looks like it originally came from Business Insider:

15 U.S. Cities that are Driving the Future

http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2014/01/11/best_performing_u_s_cities_of_2013_2014.html

5. Salt Lake City, Utah

Job growth over the last year in Salt Lake City is up to fourth in the rankings. It’s a sign of how well this city is doing, thanks to the recruitment of numerous financial services firms (including Goldman Sachs), as well as the healthy growth of start-ups coming out of nearby universities.

The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (or USTAR), founded by the University of Utah, has become a leader in technology-based development. The healthy growth has created a strong recovery in housing and commercial construction. Outdoor tourism has continued to expand as well, bringing in jobs in leisure and hospitality.

2. Provo–Orem, Utah

Provo has had a steady climb in the rankings, jumping from seventh to second this year. With the city capturing the top ranking for job growth in 2012, Provo’s climb looks set to continue.

The city has a thriving tech sector, anchored by Brigham Young University and software company Novell. Provo is also one of three U.S. cities with Google Fiber, the company’s superfast fiber optic service, which will continue to make Provo an attractive place for tech companies. Add in the new data storage center being built by the National Security Agency and you have a recipe for strong job growth.

[Plaid Shirts]

Hey everyone. I'm new here! Can't wait to contribute and continue to hear everyone's opinions and updates!

[ToysNoiz]

We needed some Plaid Shirts around here....

[jedikermit]

Welcome Plaid Shirts!

[DMTower]

Originally Posted by DerrickSLC

This is exactly why I get upset every time a developer gets the green light to build some sprawling low-rise mid-block in the middle of downtown... because it means one more block that won't see another opportunity to meet its potential for another 50 years at least.

[jimmycdii]

Yeah agreed. I love these designs. They had some similar ones up at CNU 21 last year and it was exciting to see all they ways people have thought of for making SLC blocks into really great spaces.

But then you go out in the city and realize almost none of them are actually like this. I wish the city would more aggressively pursue this idea.

Originally Posted by DMTower

This is exactly why I get upset every time a developer gets the green light to build some sprawling low-rise mid-block in the middle of downtown... because it means one more block that won't see another opportunity to meet its potential for another 50 years at least.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by DMTower

This is exactly why I get upset every time a developer gets the green light to build some sprawling low-rise mid-block in the middle of downtown... because it means one more block that won't see another opportunity to meet its potential for another 50 years at least.

This is the exact reason I spoke against the 500' long Alta Gateway project at the Planning Commission. Yet the commission unanimously supported the project. One large 500' by 4 story wall along 500 W, with ZERO retail and only parking ingress/egress and a couple of emergency exits to engage 500 W.

[Lilljemalm]

American Lung association has released a report concerning metros and counties with the most and least polluted air. You'll be glad to know that SLC/Ogden and Provo did not make the list of worst. They did make a list, however, of metros that have problems with spikes in air pollution - but then again, is not the worst. California cities dominate all lists.

Worst year-round particle pollution metros: Bakersfield, Merced, Fresno, Hanford CA, LA/Long Beach/Riverside, Modesto, Visalia, Pittsburg PA, El Centro, Cincinnati OH, Philadelphia, Louisville KY, Allentown/Bethlehem, Canton OH, Fairbanks AK, Macon GA, Atlanta GA, Phx AZ, Cleveland OH, Indianapolis IN, Steubenville OH, Wheeling WV, Birmingham AL, Dayton OH

Worst "spikers" w/bad 24 hour periods of particulates: Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, LA/Long Beach/Riverside, Modesto, SLC/Ogden, Pittsburg, Merced, Fairbanks, Logan UT, Provo, Stockton CA, Las Cruces NM, Eugene OR, Visalia, Chicago, Green Bay, Seattle/Tacoma, Harrisburg PA, Indiapolis, Phx, Allentown/Bethlehem, San Diego, Portland OR, South Bend

worst overall ozone polluted metros: LA/Long Beach/Riverside, Visalia, Bakersfield, Fresno, Hanford, Sacramento, Houston TX, Dallas TX, Washington DC, El Centro, Merced, San Diego, Modesto, Birmingham AL, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, Louisville, NYC, Charlotte, Beaumont TX, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phx, Pittsburg, San Luis Obispo, St. Louis, Tulsa

So you can say "Yea, we're not the worst!" SLC has more hope than many others, too. The population seems to be very aware and wanting the spiking problem fixed. That can't be said of other spikers like Seattle (I'm a former Seattlite) and Portland and Phoenix where they deny they have a problem. I have high hopes for SLC to solve their air quality issues anyway.

[DerrickSLC]

The city is not lacking vision but determination and ability to implement/execute such practices. Future development agreements HAVE TO include this vision. Even limiting the amount of square footage for a building footprint, making a project go vertical instead of horizontal, is a simple step that could bring a great deal of change. As stated Salt Lake, specifically downtown, will continue to miss opportunities that last for generations.

Every staff member at the city, in any related department of planning, needs to have a basic understanding of urban design and it's importance in these decisions. It should be the same person/s responsible for reviewing such applications/permits, like that of Alta Gateway, to fix and suggest improvements. Details that are being overlooked or not fully vetted in what should be considered the community master plan.

It's an issue that deserves attention and is a needed step forward in planning the best future for the city and downtown.

[DerrickSLC]

While looking through new development projects, I came across this in the Lower East Side of New York City called Essex Crossing. NYC is experiencing a rapid and extreme form of gentrification currently and this specific project is replacing four large parking lots and a small number of buildings.

This type of development can be pictured along 200 South, built concurrently with the Convention Center Hotel or broken up along West Temple in one of the few empty lots in downtown. The overall takeaway is that of scale and street engagement. The lower pedestal building is a significant footprint but the overall massing is done well.

Utah needs architects that understand urban design and developers capable of building it. If not, we need to search outside of the state. No more stucco five story or suburban office tower. Salt Lake is a capital city. It's time to act like it.

[DerrickSLC]

Also, those are not Salt Lake City blocks. The entire Essex Crossing project could fit onto a single SLC block. Even so, notice how it is broken it up with lanes, sidewalks and green space. We must demand better from local developers and if that means calling em out for it, then we should. Community is equal to profit.

[Stenar]

SLC RDA ought to buy up some empty lots, and send out requests for proposals and pick developers willing to build quality projects in Utah.

Originally Posted by DerrickSLC

While looking through new development projects, I came across this in the Lower East Side of New York City called Essex Crossing. NYC is experiencing a rapid and extreme form of gentrification currently and this specific project is replacing four large parking lots and a small number of buildings.

This type of development can be pictured along 200 South, built concurrently with the Convention Center Hotel or broken up along West Temple in one of the few empty lots in downtown. The overall takeaway is that of scale and street engagement. The lower pedestal building is a significant footprint but the overall massing is done well.

Utah needs architects that understand urban design and developers capable of building it. If not, we need to search outside of the state. No more stucco five story or suburban office tower. Salt Lake is a capital city. It's time to act like it.