Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 4

[delts145]

Good to finally have something more urban on that corner. I wish The Grand and Little America properties would take the initiative and redevelop their engagement of 600 S. also. It could be a lot more vibrant and interesting along that area. 600 S. has so much unrealized potential. Hopefully, it will gradually become the grand gateway that it should be.

[UTPlanner]

The 600 South Apartments have come a long way from when they first made application. The initial design did not meet a lot of the city's design standards and it was just bland overall. Work force housing is desperately needed in the downtown area but that does not mean that the buildings cannot be beautiful and add positively to the surrounding neighborhood. I think the structure will turn out nice, not spectacular, but certainly an improvement to the site and the area as a whole. I hope it adds more energy to State Street and keeps pushing redevelopment south. State Street has so much potential. I would love to see new development occurring while respecting and retaining some of the historic structures in the area. I really, really wish that developers would step out of their comfort zones a bit and add some color to their designs. Not every building in SLC needs to be white, gray and/or brown.

[delts145]

Good points all UTPlanner. Very much agree. Also, I would love to see the BRT dream for State come to fruition sooner than later.

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

The 600 South Apartments have come a long way from when they first made application. The initial design did not meet a lot of the city's design standards and it was just bland overall. Work force housing is desperately needed in the downtown area but that does not mean that the buildings cannot be beautiful and add positively to the surrounding neighborhood. I think the structure will turn out nice, not spectacular, but certainly an improvement to the site and the area as a whole...

Thankyou! You're doing god's work.

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

I would love to see new development occurring while respecting and retaining some of the historic structures in the area. I really, really wish that developers would step out of their comfort zones a bit and add some color to their designs. Not every building in SLC needs to be white, gray and/or brown.

I want this too. I think as more parking lots get grabbed up and more spaces close up for redevelopment downtown maybe that's when we'll go from nice structures to spectacular ones. I hold out hope.

[delts145]

The statistic below brought up in this article about the recent Comic Con was particularly positive. I know a lot of us were wondering about it a couple of seasons ago. Looks like Downtown Salt Lake has another big trending reason for increased hotel space and a CCH.

Salt Lake Comic Con's third installment wraps up with big stars, big attendance


Chris Evans poses in front of the crowd at Salt Lake City Comic Con - Farris Gerard for Salt Lake Comic Con

McKenzie Romero - Deseret News

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86563...ps-up-with-big-stars-big-attendance.html

"Like the Carr family, as much as 25 percent of Salt Lake Comic Con's guests came from outside Utah, organizers said Saturday. That's an increase of out-of-state attendance by 10 percent."

[brankrom]

Originally Posted by asies1981

The Planning Commission approved the variances for the 600 South Apartments.

I wonder how many more developments like this need to happen until UTA decides to finished the 600 S Trax station that has been planned since day 1 in 1999? The outline of a station is already there, they just need to pave over the grass island.

[Orlando]

Does anybody know what happened to this open market idea? And, does anyone have a rendering or a weblink for this?

delts145
Registered User

Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 13,190
Could an iconic public market transform SLC?

By Derek P. Jensen
The Salt Lake Tribune

A developer who stirred Salt Lake City’s east bench into a frenzy about the relocation of the Blue Boutique now wants to transfigure downtown’s southwest tip with an eye-popping year-round public market...


Rendering courtesy of Rinaldo Hunt The entryway to a proposed San Francisco-style public market would feature a signature archway sign near the off-ramp from Interstate 15.

A developer who stirred Salt Lake City’s east bench into a frenzy about the relocation of the Blue Boutique now wants to transfigure downtown’s southwest tip with an eye-popping year-round public market.

Rinaldo Hunt and his property group are pitching a $30 million to $50 million plan to create a San Francisco-style Ferry Building galleria in a cavernous steel foundry alongside 600 South and 500 West.

The vision calls for produce vendors, eateries, an urban agriculture education center, and a tree-lined promenade beneath an iconic “public market” sign visible from Interstate 15’s City Center exit.


Rendering courtesy of Rinaldo Hunt A plan pitched by developer Rinaldo Hunt and a local property group would create a San Francisco-style public market in a warehouse near 600 South and 400 West in downtown Salt Lake City. Here is a view from the southeast parking area at the pedestrian entryway.

At 14 acres, covering nearly two city blocks, the proposed project is almost as big as City Creek Center. And, in terms of transformative potential for the warehouse-laden granary district, it’s nearly as ambitious.

Besides creating jobs and vibrancy, Hunt believes an 80,000 square-foot public market would be a triumph to the burgeoning local-food movement as well as Mayor Ralph Becker’s sustainability push.

“It is one of a kind — no one’s done this yet,” Hunt says about his blueprint hugging the city’s gateway. “It can actually be done in this economy. This is basically going to be the mecca for information on urban agriculture.”


Rendering courtesy of Rinaldo Hunt

But questions stack as high as the foundry’s 47-foot ceiling.

Is it too big? Too far from public transit? Would it ruin Pioneer Park’s popular Downtown Farmers Market? Could it really get funded?



For nearly a year, Hunt’s Downtown Salt Lake Public Market LLC has done its homework. The group is made up of property owners from 400 West to 600 West, sandwiched between 600 South and 700 South. They believe the money could be raised through a triple-headed strategy of private cash, Redevelopment Agency dollars, and reinvested taxes through a Community Development Area.

Hunt has a track record, albeit on smaller projects. In recent years he moved the adult novelty shop Blue Boutique and opened Italian restaurant Sea Salt across the street from Emigration Market.

The public market price tag is actually half of Becker’s planned Broadway-style theater on Main Street, though Hunt argues the market would do more to brand Utah’s capital for tourists — not unlike Pike Place Market in Seattle.

The mayor says he is unaware of the proposal, though a representative is scheduled to tour the site Sept. 7 along with 20 city officials.

“It’s a really ambitious idea — I won’t fault the grandiosity of the idea,” says Jason Mathis, executive director of the Downtown Alliance. “But I don’t know that it’s the right thing to do for our community at this time.”

Mathis points out key problems. No doubt a “cool” building, it is four times larger than a consultant recommended in a 2008 feasibility study. It lacks a public-transportation hub. And because the central business district ends at 400 South, he notes there is no way the Alliance could support the project with marketing.

Instead, Mathis says the city should capitalize on the strength of “one of the most successful farmers markets in the country.”

“It would be a shame to draw away from what is going on in the Pioneer Park area right now,” Mathis says, “to support a project that is outside the central business district.”

Hunt argues the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. The 600 South freeway ramp shoots 50,000 cars right by the building each day. More than 425 parking stalls would be available one block east. And if city engineers indeed pursue a streetcar route along 400 West, the market would be easily accessible for TRAX and FrontRunner commuters.

The large scope is also intended to make the market a destination. Large patches have been penciled for retail shops. A two-story residential building, perhaps built with RDA help, is planned. And Hunt hopes to partner with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food for an outdoor produce area west of the foundry.

To create yet more ambiance — the building would have bay doors and movable windows for an open-air experience —500 West would be narrowed to one lane, sharing space with pedestrians and a possible orchard.

“I’m actually excited about how ambitious it is and the ties with the local food economy,” says downtown City Councilman Luke Garrott. “You don’t want to locate something where it is the single, pioneering project. But due to its scale, it might be the catalyst to spur development in the whole granary, depot district.”

Still, Garrott questions the sprawling parking lot and whether it could be managed without Downtown Alliance help.

In any case, the timing seems right. Plenty of evidence suggests the local food movement is growing in the progressive capital. Two micro-markets popped up this summer: local growers set up weekly produce booths at 9th and 9th and at the Sugar House monument.

More and more restaurants, from Squatters and Tin Angel to Sages and Pago embrace the “pasture to plate” concept. Some buy from backyards. And more residents each year patronize co-ops and local-food providers. Becker also beefed up the city’s food-policy task force recently as part of his sustainability drive.

Claire Uno, executive director of Wasatch Community Gardens, praises Hunt for trying to tap a local food community that already exists. “In theory, I think the idea of some sort of public market for Salt Lake is fantastic,” she says. “People are excited to learn where food comes from and how to grow it.”

The foundering economy has seemingly been a boon to the local food industry. On that front, city leaders have tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a public market near Pioneer Park and the light-rail lines. They briefly considered the warehouse north of the transit hub, though Utah Transit Authority, the building owner, prefers a mix of shops and housing.

Half of the property under the Hunt proposal, from 400 West to 500 West, is part of the Granary District Redevelopment Area. Even so, the RDA does not own any of that property, according to executive director D.J. Baxter.

“We just haven’t had time to absorb it or analyze it,” Baxter says about the public market proposal. One problem he sees: such a large-scale plan would not work at a commercial-market rate because vendors could not afford it.

“It seems like the rates at the market would have to be very low for that to work. That probably requires a nontraditional financial structure,” Baxter says.

Hunt insists his grand market meets more of the city consultants’ marks than it misses. A review of the list reveals that is mostly true.

“What we’re trying to do is direct some tax dollars to create jobs,” Hunt says. “I want the community to be involved. At the end of the day, this is a true representation of the city.”

What’s next? City plans tour

Nearly two dozen city officials have agreed to tour an 80,000 square-foot steel foundry and surrounding property Sept. 7, which a new development group envisions as the Salt Lake City Public Market. The project site, which hugs the 600 South City Center freeway ramp, is just a proposal.

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Last edited by delts145; Aug 16, 2010 at 5:06 AM.

[s.p.hansen]

Orlando, I'm also of the belief that Salt Lake City getting a GOOD public market is of the utmost importance. The Ferry Building in San Francisco and the Public Market in Seattle are such amazing opportunities for small scale sales of fresh meats, produce, flowers, etc. Public Markets really function as the front porch of a city.

You need that iconic spot. The best cool old building for a public market in SLC would have been Trolley Square, but the location of trolley square isn't that great for a public market. In my opinion, a good public market needs to be near another touristy thing to create critical mass. It needs to be somewhere near Temple Square.

If the gateway goes tits up, it would be nice to just bulldoze the north portion of the project and build a public market around Union Pacific Station. To do a public market right we're gonna need a mayor focused on it as much Becker was focused on the Performing Arts Center. I can't stress tho I that I truly believe we need a public market done right more than anything right now.

[s.p.hansen]

Just to add to my post before. Other than the Public Space afforded by all the grass surrounding the City Campus from the Courthouse up to the new Public Safety Building, I think it's a really wasted opportunity. It kills the energy in that area unless there is an event like Pride, the Art Show, and so forth. If we could create a public market using that lawn, we could retain the public space for events but still have something going on there all year long. The over-sized plaza and vegetation space (notice how I keep avoiding using the term "green space" because it's a term that makes people's brains turn off on this forum; there is nothing "green" about more grass).

[billbillbillbill]

Wasn't there something in the works with the Rio Grande building last year? I know it doesn't fit the criteria of being close to another tourist venue.

[delts145]

Unless I missed something I had understood that the Rio Grande and surrounding property was still the city's planned venue development for a public market.

[asies1981]

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

The 600 South Apartments have come a long way from when they first made application. The initial design did not meet a lot of the city's design standards and it was just bland overall. Work force housing is desperately needed in the downtown area but that does not mean that the buildings cannot be beautiful and add positively to the surrounding neighborhood. I think the structure will turn out nice, not spectacular, but certainly an improvement to the site and the area as a whole. I hope it adds more energy to State Street and keeps pushing redevelopment south. State Street has so much potential. I would love to see new development occurring while respecting and retaining some of the historic structures in the area. I really, really wish that developers would step out of their comfort zones a bit and add some color to their designs. Not every building in SLC needs to be white, gray and/or brown.

Amen to that. I made sure to point out the contributions from the City planning department in the article. We would have had another Seasons at Library Square if it wasn't for the planning recommendations.

[asies1981]

Originally Posted by delts145

Unless I missed something I had understood that the Rio Grande and surrounding property was still the city's planned venue development for a public market.

I believe that is still the case.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by DCRes

I remember hearing a few years ago that Flying J had purchased an office building downtown on State Street. A co-worker has a friend that works for Flying J and he told me yesterday about the plans for the building. It is the approximately 12 story building on the north east corner of 200 S State Street. He said that Flying J has moved their corporate offices to the top 2 floors and has a pretty cool build out, with lots of pictures showing the history of the company and such. Maverick (owned by Flying J) is taking a number of floors in the building as well, and a call center will be in part of it too. They will be putting a Maverick convenience store at ground level and there will be a Maverick sign on the top of the building.

I know that Flying J has a fairly large office in Ogden (about a 7 story building in a campus feel on Harrison). I'm guessing they're not moving all of that to SLC.

Flying J is only a name they were bought out by pilot about two years ago.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by delts145

The statistic below brought up in this article about the recent Comic Con was particularly positive. I know a lot of us were wondering about it a couple of seasons ago. Looks like Downtown Salt Lake has another big trending reason for increased hotel space and a CCH.

Salt Lake Comic Con's third installment wraps up with big stars, big attendance


Chris Evans poses in front of the crowd at Salt Lake City Comic Con - Farris Gerard for Salt Lake Comic Con

McKenzie Romero - Deseret News

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86563...ps-up-with-big-stars-big-attendance.html

"Like the Carr family, as much as 25 percent of Salt Lake Comic Con's guests came from outside Utah, organizers said Saturday. That's an increase of out-of-state attendance by 10 percent."

We have the 3erd biggest comic con after San Diego and New York... Why stop there. We should expand and try to take the international comic con from San Diago. The people organizing our event are getting very good at what they do.

They also brok the world record for most cosplay super heroes in one place this weekend. ������

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

The Planning Commission approved the design and additional height for the Regent Street Hotel last night at their meeting. I can't comment on a groundbreaking date but I would be surprised to see work commencing the first quarter of 2016. Generally, with projects like this they do not even have their financing lined up yet as they are waiting for their approval for the design first. They will begin shopping the project to financiers, they will need to complete building/structural plans for the project and then submit them for review by the city. Completing the plans will take a few months and the review on a project this substantial will take 4 to 6 months easily. So, in my opinion, I think it's far more reasonable to assume that they will not start moving dirt until the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2016.

So can they still tear down eat-a-burger... Like soon?

[delts145]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

We have the 3erd biggest comic con after San Diego and New York... Why stop there. We should expand and try to take the international comic con from San Diago. The people organizing our event are getting very good at what they do.

They also brok the world record for most cosplay super heroes in one place this weekend. ������

I think its only a matter of time before Salt Lake City becomes the largest event and gathering for Comic Con.

[jedikermit]

Originally Posted by delts145

I think its only a matter of time before Salt Lake City becomes the largest event and gathering for Comic Con.

I always admire your optimism, but that's verrrry unlikely. I don't think "the industry" would want to get that far away from both California and New York, even if for a week. Also with the sheer numbers, although we're impressive, our hotel and especially convention center space can't handle that kind of growth. Even with an expansion and more hotel rooms coming online, I doubt we'll see SLCC unseating either of the Big Two anytime soon.

Even though I've attended each of the last five cons (Comic Con and Fan-X) as an exhibitor/panelist/exhibitionist, I still feel like this bubble of goodwill is strained and tenuous for local geeks. Maybe we can keep it up. Kinda surprised the numbers were as high this time around.

On the positive side, they did make some changes this year that made for less grumbling in the fan community, and overall it seems like a much more positive experience than 2014's Comic Con and 2015's Fan-X. Seems like they've worked out some logistical kinks for such a massive undertaking. Any grumbling I have heard has mostly been about the outrageous prices for a Chris Evans photo op, which is probably more agents and Evans and supply and demand than Comic Con itself.

So it seems to be going well; I still wonder about the two cons per year thing, if they're going to keep that model, they need to do more to distinguish the two events. Right now it's Comic Con and Mini Comic Con.

The other really great thing is that the big geek sites, Superhero Hype, Comicbook.com, CBR, others were all reporting on the panels at SLCC, the same way they do with the other big cons. Still not as much going on, but SLCC has been mentioned on all of the major comic book geek sites this week. And if that's the target audience, word is getting out.

[Viperlord]

222 South Main Reaches 100% Occupancy
September 29, 2015
http://www.globest.com/news/12_1206/salt...Main-Reaches-100-Occupancy-362090-1.html

Attention developers: Feds have prime property up for grabs in downtown Salt Lake City
Sep 17 2015
http://www.sltrib.com/home/2962544-155/attention-developers-feds-have-prime-property

Liberty Square Apartments
461 South 600 East
http://www.slcdocs.com/Planning/HLC/2015/237.pdf

[asies1981]

Post on the Motor Pool property (across from the former public safety complex). RFP's are out and an info session is next week. I'm going to the info session and will let you guys know what I find out.