Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 3

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

Some cities, like Denver as you pointed out, helped to finance a CCH with bonds and other mechanisms in order to help the developer offset the cost of the building. SL County has specifically stated over and over that the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) tool will be used to pay back the developer the cost that will be incurred to build the convention and parking space that will be part of the new CCH, not the rooms. The County will ultimately be paying for the convention and parking space and the County will operate/manage the new convention space and parking as part of the Salt Palace. Convention space that is desperately needed in order to attract some larger conventions and retain OR.

As I have mentioned several times before, without a direct connection to the Salt Palace it impossible for the County to operate, manage, and market the new convention space as part of the Salt Palace, because if it's not connected to the Salt Palace, and thus it's not part of the Salt Palace.

If all the County needed in order to say the Salt Palace had more square footage was have hotels with convention space nearby they could simply buy the convention space in the Marriott and the Raddison, and magically the Salt Palace just added over 35,000 square feet of convention space. But come on we all know that counting the meeting space in those two hotels doesn't add square footage to the Salt Palace.

But hey, if someone can explain how having convention space that isn't connected to the Salt Palace, adds more convention space to the Salt Palace I would be anxious to hear that.

So, if Dinwoody and Arrow Press were to be the location of the CCH and the expanded square footage of the Salt Palace convention space, it would make sense that it would have to have a tunnel under W. Temple.

One potential possibility would be for the developer to build the hotel on one of many sites surrounding the Salt Palace and then build convention space on the Royal Wood Plaza site. That would ultimately increase the overall cost to the developer because that then involves two sets of building plans, two foundations, acquiring more parcels, additional meeting space and parking in the hotel only, rather than a shared agreement with the SP space. I really don't see the developer going in that direction, does anyone else? Once again why the RWP site makes the most sense. Plenty of space for Salt Palace expansion, with a direct connection to existing expo space, plenty of space for a tall, or wide, or two hotel towers, with room for additional convention space in the future.

The city, county, and state are paying for land acquisition, infrusture and the convention space in the hotel. This is not marketed as an addition to the convention center. We are using public funds to help make SLC a better convention destination. The convention space in the hotel will not be managed by the city, though it will certainly be in the interest of the private hotel to be synergistic with the convention center and if it fails to accomadate a certain amount of conventions it will lose out on payments of the incentive money. This whole thing is about proximity and built in convention space (like Denver's cch and the future Portland cch). While I don't doubt that there may be additions to convention centers where they slap on a hotel and call it a convention center hotel, that has never been the assertion in any of the SLC plans. It keeps sounding pretty much like Denver and Portland for us.

I can't find any info where SLC has agreed to administer over any actual functions of the hotel, parking, or convention space within the hotel beyond approval of the location and design. Literally it looks like they will price into their $100 million dollar combined state, county, and city incentive all the costs for the private developer to acquire the land, build the parking, and convention space. That's it. You approach a private developer and say, "hey we think these hardships should be covered by $100 million dollars, so please build all this stuff we want and do what you are supposed to on your own and we will pay you incrementally each year until you make all $100 million." SLC dumped $20.4 million into the building of the Delta Center, they don't administer or own any part of the Delta Center. That's how private subsidies work. This really isn't too different from giving Adobe tax breaks to build their offices in Utah...

Originally Posted by jtrent77

Hey! my name begins with a lower case j.

Shhhh, no more tears... Only dreams now.

[jubguy3]

Originally Posted by s.p.hansen

Shhhh, no more tears... Only dreams now.

my jimmies have been rustled

[Reachforthesky]

So in looking at the Salt Lake City Wikipedia page,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City Someone has played with our Urban population numbers again and has now switched it to 1,021,243 which is incorrect. This info is located in a box on the right side of the page underneath the skyline shots and such.




The correct number should be our Urban CSA population of 2,389,225. The opening paragraph even states that that is our Urban population, one of only two major urban areas in the Great Basin, and the largest in the intermountain west.

[bob rulz]

Some people really need to get together and dedicate themselves to making that Salt Lake City Wikipedia page better. Some of the sections are good, but those economy and arts & culture sections....yikes. Talk about a mess.

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

Some people really need to get together and dedicate themselves to making that Salt Lake City Wikipedia page better. Some of the sections are good, but those economy and arts & culture sections....yikes. Talk about a mess.

My most recent Wikipedia disappointment is that the I-15 CORE Project doesn't even have a page.

[ToysNoiz]

I tried fixing the flaws in the opening, but someone changed it back...

[Old&New]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

I'm really disappointed with where the livestock stables at the fairgrounds are going.. It looks like they are going with a corrugated steel roof.. It looks like it's going to look horrible and not maintain the classic look of the building's at all.. It probably won't even have the windows that use to be up on the roof area... Hopfully I'm wrong and the put somthing over the metal roofing.. It's not looking good at this point though :-(

Do you not have a phone camera?

[Stenar]

For years, Visit Salt Lake has been saying they need a convention hotel that is directly connected to the Salt Palace. I was actually surprised with the bill from the Legislature saying it had to be within 1,000 ft., since according to the people who manage the Salt Palace, it has to be directly connected.

Originally Posted by s.p.hansen

The city, county, and state are paying for land acquisition, infrusture and the convention space in the hotel. This is not marketed as an addition to the convention center. We are using public funds to help make SLC a better convention destination. The convention space in the hotel will not be managed by the city, though it will certainly be in the interest of the private hotel to be synergistic with the convention center and if it fails to accomadate a certain amount of conventions it will lose out on payments of the incentive money. This whole thing is about proximity and built in convention space (like Denver's cch and the future Portland cch). While I don't doubt that there may be additions to convention centers where they slap on a hotel and call it a convention center hotel, that has never been the assertion in any of the SLC plans. It keeps sounding pretty much like Denver and Portland for us.

I can't find any info where SLC has agreed to administer over any actual functions of the hotel, parking, or convention space within the hotel beyond approval of the location and design. Literally it looks like they will price into their $100 million dollar combined state, county, and city incentive all the costs for the private developer to acquire the land, build the parking, and convention space. That's it. You approach a private developer and say, "hey we think these hardships should be covered by $100 million dollars, so please build all this stuff we want and do what you are supposed to on your own and we will pay you incrementally each year until you make all $100 million." SLC dumped $20.4 million into the building of the Delta Center, they don't administer or own any part of the Delta Center. That's how private subsidies work. This really isn't too different from giving Adobe tax breaks to build their offices in Utah...



Shhhh, no more tears... Only dreams now.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Reachforthesky

So in looking at the Salt Lake City Wikipedia page,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City Someone has played with our Urban population numbers again and has now switched it to 1,021,243 which is incorrect. This info is located in a box on the right side of the page underneath the skyline shots and such.




The correct number should be our Urban CSA population of 2,389,225. The opening paragraph even states that that is our Urban population, one of only two major urban areas in the Great Basin, and the largest in the intermountain west.

What is the actual definition of an urban population? Is that well defined? They've obviously just used Salt Lake County's population...

[asies1981]

Update on North Sixth apartments. http://www.theslcblog.org/?p=182 If anyone is interested in being a freelance contributor email me at [email protected]. I hope you all have a great 4th of July!

[Orlando]

Thanks for the updates! I wish there were more of the local members there that were more willing to get out and take photos.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by s.p.hansen

My most recent Wikipedia disappointment is that the I-15 CORE Project doesn't even have a page.

That seems iffy for their notability guidelines.

[Lilljemalm]

What about something like the Gaylord National Harbor hotel and convention center built on the RWP block for the CCH?

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by Old&New

Do you not have a phone camera?

Yes but I was driving up the street and did not have time to get it out. I will try to get some photos next time I go by.

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

That seems iffy for their notability guidelines.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_T-REX_Project_(TRansportation_EXpansion)

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by Stenar

For years, Visit Salt Lake has been saying they need a convention hotel that is directly connected to the Salt Palace. I was actually surprised with the bill from the Legislature saying it had to be within 1,000 ft., since according to the people who manage the Salt Palace, it has to be directly connected.

Still have yet to find any of this outside of hear say. Since the convention center hotel was thrusted upon us by the outdoor retailers convention, maybe they didn't actually know what the fuck they were talking about when they were saying all that. Or they were just really bad communicators. It kinda reminds me of when UTA first started talking about street cars years back... They got a lot better by the time it came to educating Sugar House concerning its then potential line.

[Old&New]

‘Anti-gay group’ to hold 2015 convention in Salt Lake City

Fox13 Salt Lake City

Watch video:

http://fox13now.com/2014/07/01/controversial-group-to-hold-2015-convention-in-slc/

SALT LAKE CITY — Human Rights Organizations call the World Congress of Families an anti-gay hate group and they’re coming to Salt Lake City next year.

The group’s backers include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the conservative think-tank, Sutherland Institute.

The World Congress of Families is a global group.

The Sutherland Institute is organizing what they call a celebration but not everyone feels that way.

“I think it’s very disappointing,” said Steven Ha, the Executive Director of the Utah Pride Center.

The global group with close ties to Utah has picked Salt Lake City to host a conference, centered on celebrating what they describe as the natural family, but not everyone is thrilled about their venue or their cause.

“We feel like this group, their platform is religious fundamentalism, that promotes a narrow definition of the human family and therefore can sometimes can distort the definition of a great human family that comes in the practice of compassion, and love that is very expansive and diverse,” Ha said.

The World Congress of Families is a global network of organizations, which some human rights advocates say condemns homosexuality.

The group’s headquarters in Illinois is listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate map. Its members include Stanford Swim, a trustee of the Sutherland Institute. Elder Dallin Oaks, one of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, in the LDS Church is listed as an Honorary Member.

“I think it comes as a shock that there is an association between the church and this group that other law centers have dubbed this group to be a hate group,” Ha said.

The LDS Church released a statement saying:

“Although the Church wasn’t involved in the decision of the World Congress of Families to come to Salt Lake City [We're only one of the main financial backers of the group, come on guys!], we appreciate the efforts of organizations working to strengthen the family and society.”

“It’s not to be anti-anything,” said David Buer, spokesman for Sutherland Institute.

The conservative think-tank is organizing the conference, which will include speakers, musicians and scholars who will shine a light on traditional marriage.

“It’s a great opportunity for Salt Lake City to get on the world stage for such an important event on a topic that’s really front and center in American society and across the world,” Buer said.

Sutherland says there’s nothing hateful about the conference.

“It’s a celebration with all that is good with traditional marriage,” Buer said.

The conference will take place in 2015 in October at the Little and Grand America Hotels. They anticipate at least 3,000 people to attend.

No, the KKK didn't hate blacks, they were just celebrating white people.

If their conference is not "hateful," at the least it seeks to parade a heterosexual union as being somehow superior to any other type of union. In other words, it's very hetero-supremicist.

I'd rather that this possible association between salt lake city and an "anti-gay hate group" (closely associated with Dallin H. Oaks, and therefore the lds church) not be made at all. This association (especially on a "world-wide stage") will hurt economic development.

Group opposed to gay marriage plans Utah gathering

Miami Herald

SALT LAKE CITY -- An international conservative group that opposes homosexuality is planning its first worldwide conference in the U.S. next year — a four-day gathering in Utah, which has become a focal point in the gay marriage movement.

The Rockford, Illinois-based World Congress of Families has about 40 partner organizations, including the Focus on the Family and Concerned Women for America. The group brings together people of different religions and ethnicities to promote the "natural human family," which its website says consists of a man and woman raising children with love and discipline.

The organization had to cancel this year's international conference in Moscow due to turmoil related to Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

It chose Salt Lake City for its October 2015 gathering over St. Louis and Atlanta because it is an international city with experience hosting the Olympics [Atlanta is also an international city with experience hosting the Olympics], said Larry Jacobs, the group's managing director. The conference is expected to draw about 3,000 people...

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/01/4212709/conservative-group-plans-conference.html

[Stenar]

Visit Salt Lake has been discussing the need for a convention hotel for over a decade before the Outdoor Retailers convention "thrust" it upon us. OR is the catalyst to get it done, though.

Originally Posted by s.p.hansen

Still have yet to find any of this outside of hear say. Since the convention center hotel was thrusted upon us by the outdoor retailers convention, maybe they didn't actually know what the fuck they were talking about when they were saying all that. Or they were just really bad communicators. It kinda reminds me of when UTA first started talking about street cars years back... They got a lot better by the time it came to educating Sugar House concerning its then potential line.

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Visit Salt Lake has been discussing the need for a convention hotel for over a decade before the Outdoor Retailers convention "thrust" it upon us. OR is the catalyst to get it done, though.

Again, for the third time. I still cannot find any info to back up what you are saying. Everything from this year seems to indicate a very standard convention hotel that is neither managed by the convention center nor attached to it. So regardless my point seems to stand, that the Arrowpress Site is not immune to being redeveloped into the convention center hotel. As it stands from the point of the last bit of news concerning the final public funds being secured, it looks like the project has at least evolved into a Denver / Portland CCH setup.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by s.p.hansen

Again, for the third time. I still cannot find any info to back up what you are saying. Everything from this year seems to indicate a very standard convention hotel that is neither managed by the convention center nor attached to it. So regardless my point seems to stand, that the Arrowpress Site is not immune to being redeveloped into the convention center hotel. As it stands from the point of the last bit of news concerning the final public funds being secured, it looks like the project has at least evolved into a Denver / Portland CCH setup.

When Marriott wanted to build a 1,000 room hotel back in 2003, there was a rendering of a hotel on Arrow Press Square on the front page of the Tribune. So, that site is a possibility. I think it should be directly connected, though.

Personally, I will fight tooth and nail to prevent any buildings from being demolished on Arrow Press Square.

The biggest problem with Arrow Press Square is that it is not large enough to contain a large amount of meeting space.