Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 4

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by Stenar

The reason Rocky lost RSL is specifically because he pushed so hard for the Fairpark location when Checketts wanted a location downtown. Rocky didn't favor a downtown location.

That is just not true. The Fairpark site only became a realistic option AFTER the city realized it could not build the stadium downtown due to the Utah legislature passing a law that said RDA funding could not be used on the stadium. The city didn't have the resources to buy the land and Checketts wasn't about to foot 100% of the bill.

[SLC Projects]

And this is a big reason why I'm glad Dell Loy Hansen is now the owner of RSL. Checketts was a cheap 🞵🞵🞵. Hansen would of paid for 100% for the stadium.

[gusam26]

[StevenF]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

And this is a big reason why I'm glad Dell Loy Hansen is now the owner of RSL. Checketts was a cheap 🞵🞵🞵. Hansen would of paid for 100% for the stadium.

He pretty much has paid for it 100% now that he is the full owner and other investments he has added to the stadium. Though I am not sure if he would have put it in downtown even if he was the owner at the time. Wasn't he the one that punched Rocky and stormed out of the city county building after a heated argument with Rocky?

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by Comrade

That is just not true. The Fairpark site only became a realistic option AFTER the city realized it could not build the stadium downtown due to the Utah legislature passing a law that said RDA funding could not be used on the stadium. The city didn't have the resources to buy the land and Checketts wasn't about to foot 100% of the bill.

No, the city put forth several locations for the stadium, including Fairpark, long before the state put the lockdown on SLC. Rocky always favored the Fairpark. Rocky is like a dog with a bone. When he's decided he won't compromise, which doesn't make an effective leader.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by Stenar

No, the city put forth several locations for the stadium, including Fairpark, long before the state put the lockdown on SLC. Rocky always favored the Fairpark. Rocky is like a dog with a bone. When he's decided he won't compromise, which doesn't make an effective leader.

Rocky only started going with the Fairground site AFTER it became apparent the block on Main would prove nonviable for the city.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson has been campaigning intensely for Real Salt Lake to choose Salt Lake City as its soccer stadium site. Anderson had previously backed a stadium on Block 22 at the corner of 600 South and Main Street but has recently shifted focus to the Fairpark west of the city because it may be a more viable option than immediately downtown, he said.

Council member Dave Buhler said that the Fairpark did not come at the expense of the downtown site but that the Fairpark seemed more immediately viable.

"If there were a viable option more downtown, I'd be in favor of that, but I just don't see that in the cards right now," Buhler said.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600139947/SL-Council-backs-Rocky-on-Fairpark-stadium.html?pg=all

The 600 S, Main Street site was a non-starter due to the financing. The RDA issue arose in early 2005, long before Rocky opted to push for the Fairpark site:

Although recent legislation prohibits the city from using redevelopment agency money to buy land for the stadium, the city's RDA board may shell out plenty of public money to build infrastructure around the proposed stadium site.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600117356/Murray-has-plans--RSL-stadium-or-not.html?pg=all

Rocky made the push for the Fairpark in June, 2005. The legislature passed its RDA bill blocking funding of RDA $$$ for the stadium in March, 2005.

[SL,UT]

Originally Posted by Comrade

We should just gather 'em all up and burn 'em.

Low life pathetic idiots on this forum. I would suspect the majority of homeless people are mentally ill. You can thank our republican-led state for consistently cutting social programs and housing for the homeless population. We need REAL leadership at the state level with real solutions to curb chronic homelessness. Not idiotic band-aid solutions that the GOP are so good at implementing. By stabilizing people through shelter, moving them into permanent housing, and implementing assistance programs to keep them in their housing, we can not only reduce, but eliminate homelessness. We need someone with real balls in the capitol to get the ball rolling.

A great article by Monte Paulsen addresses the homeless problem in Vancouver BC and seven proposed solutions to fix the problem. If we could implement these solution here in Salt Lake, we would eradicate homelessness and all the Mormon housewives would feel safe again in downtown.

http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/01/08/HomelessSolutions/

Oh ya, here is an idea. Instead of Bitching and moaning like everyone on here always does, why don't you start doing something about the problem.

[SLC Projects]

I'm not a fan of the north end of the Hyatt building. Looks kind of cheap, and I feel these guys could of done more to have it look more then just a plain flat white-ish wall with windows.

[DMTower]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

I'm not a fan of the north end of the Hyatt building. Looks kind of cheap, and I feel these guys could of done more to have it look more then just a plain flat white-ish wall with windows.

I think not using any brick on the north side (ground floor especially) was a huge mistake. It will look grungy really quickly. None of the new developments downtown seem to be learning anything from the Gateway's mistakes.

[brankrom]

Went out to eat at the Rio Grande Cafe and needed to get some shoes for my kid who is starting basketball tonight. I try to be car free as much as possible so the car was at home in the driveway. So we eat dinner (average at best but I like the old school feel and it was fairly well patronized) which is more than I can say for The Gateway. We left Rio Grande and walked past the shelters and the soup kitchen and I have to say I haven't been there been there after dark in a long while ever since I took Amtrak to the Bay Area years ago. Talk about eye opening.

I'm not afraid but certainly aware of my surroundings. There were hundreds of people milling around vomit, needles intoxication, coughing, hacking and stench. Is this really the best we can do?

Next we walked north through the Gateway which as has been discussed here before is a shuttered mess. We found the Foot Locker and worker seemed shocked that anyone came in. The selection sucked, there were no prices on anything. So we went to 🞵🞵🞵🞵's which was even worse selection wise and it took 10 minutes to track down someone to tell us there were no 10.5 in the back room and both the up and down escalators in Dicks were out of service. One other thing we checked out was the Game Works, again we were the only people in the place which for a restaurant is a BAD sign. I honestly don't see anything surviving at the Gateway and wouldn't be surprised if Dicks shutters after the holiday season. Again holiday season at 7 pm and the only people in the whole damn Gateway were a dad and two kids and some pot smoking likely homeless kids sitting next to one of the fire rings on the second level. All the workers seemed shocked that we were even there. So we hopped on the train to City Creek and found a pair of shoes.

Like it or not the homeless situation will continue to negatively impact this area until the issue is addressed. Incidentally there was an editorial in the city weekly that mentioned how the homeless services were consolidated to the Pioneer park Area.

http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/mayor-maybe/Content?oid=2619757

It's to his credit because advocating for, then acting to, the benefit of the homeless, is often a lonely and noble cause; and it's to his bane because to this day, his efforts to centralize the entire homeless community in a district bounded by Pioneer Park and Rio Grande Street on Salt Lake City's near west side has flummoxed developers and potential, yet cautious, new residents for decades.

[Comrade]

Maybe we should just start a full thread devoted entirely to bitching about the homeless and stop rehashing the same 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 argument every page.

[asies1981]

On a positive note, Salt Lake is about to have its first true neighborhood bar.

[EPdesign]

a little bigger

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Maybe we should just start a full thread devoted entirely to bitching about the homeless and stop rehashing the same 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 argument every page.

Only if I can moderate it!!!!

[delts145]

Originally Posted by SLC Projects

I'm not a fan of the north end of the Hyatt building. Looks kind of cheap, and I feel these guys could of done more to have it look more then just a plain flat white-ish wall with windows.

I was thinking the same thing Projects, but then I took another look at the photos taken recently, like the one below by Isaac. The pic below is more accurate as far as a true perspective of the length of the massing. That said, I'm not a fan either, and I definitely would have put more variation into the wall's materials and its design. Still however, Gusam's pic above does exaggerate the bland design by elongating it quite a bit.

The Hyatt House and the Courtyard by Marriott as seen from the intersection of 100 South and 300 West. Photo by Isaac Riddle.

[Comrade]

It's a pretty ugly building. But I was expecting ugly. Salt Lake doesn't seem to get good mid-rise developments anymore.

[Future Mayor]

While it's far from gorgeous, I think once the Marriott is finished that white/beige won't be nearly as noticeable because it will simply be a small part of the overall north facade of both buildings. Again, I don't love it, and I'm not one to have development simply for the sake of development, I do think these two hotels are a great addition to the area, and I think they will help foot traffic at Gateway, so that's a bonus on multiple levels.

[ajiuO]

I hate that building... I use to be able to see all the nice looking brick buildings in the rio grande area... That totally blocks them.... The building is plane and ugly... I always think of Alcatraz when I look out my window and see it

[Comrade]

The whole project is a disappointment. But much of the architecture around the Gateway is god-awful.

[Hatman]

Naw, it could be much worse. It could have neon lights, it could have gold balcony railings, it could have a great glass elevator.
It could be painted bright pink. It could have orange polka-dots. It could be coated in LED screens and play commercials all night long.
At least it isn't agressively ugly. If it is ugly (and I'm not sure it is), at least it's a passive, bland, and forgettable type of ugly. I think it fits in well next to the arena, and I'm very glad that there are two hotels built up to the street on that block. Even if the buildings were as worst-case ugly as I described, they would still be better than what was there before.