Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 4

[DCRes]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

I thought this was the church owned building where they did the virgin sacrifices.

I am in the group of people that love this building, but hope for a better use. I've mentioned it before, but I think it would be a good location for a third department store for City Creek, as the city gets larger, and more dense with high end residential, something like a Saks would be a nice fit. I had also thrown out the concept of keeping the facade to be used for the dept store purpose but basically rebuilding the entire building and placing a set back residential tower there. Dept store first 3 floors, residential on the next 3 and then a set back tower for 25 floors above that.

Something along these lines. I am in no way pretending to be an architect, and I'm now even suggesting the material be the same, I actually think a glass and steel building rising up would be really cool. This is just an example of the possible massing.

The tower should have the same materials as the new base of the Key Bank Tower. Then it would almost look like those two buildings had their tops and bases switched.

[asies1981]

Prep work has started on the Almond Street Townhomes. I love these missing middle projects coming along. Twenty-two townhomes on 1.5 acres is a nice workable kind of density that could fit in any city neighborhood. I like the look and location of these, but I don't have $500,000 to buy one .

[Comrade]

I much prefer these to the apartment-like townhomes built years ago behind 'em.

[Ironweed]

Originally Posted by Stenar

I would much prefer it had been called "... Performing Arts Center" over theatre, especially since we already have two other Eccles Theatres in Utah.

They could have donated anonymously. Some folks have insatiable egos.

[Ironweed]

Originally Posted by nushiof

All quiet on the CCH front.

This article says it is still in the works, and 800 rooms are on the way.

http://www.successfulmeetings.com/News/Destinations/West/utah-meetings-developments-2016/

Does anyone have a better update on timeframe or progress?

800 rooms will disqualify SLC for the big conventions. Not dissing you, but this thing sounds like a total fail. Hope I am proven wrong.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by arkhitektor

I think the Eccles Theater in Logan will suffer some name confusion, because the theater in SLC isn't even open and already a google search for 'Eccles Theater" brings up 10 results for the Salt Lake Theater and only one result for Logan on the first page of results. Where is the other existing "Eccles Theater" in Utah?

Most people will just call it the Eccles Theater, nobody says "I'm going to the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theater" or "the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center"

Well, I guess technically the one in Park City is called the Eccles Center, but when Sundance uses it for the festival, they call it the "Eccles Theater."

[Marvland]

Cool article on what might have been at the Triad Center: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=40561000&nid=148&title=remembering-slcs-largest-skyscraper-that-never-was

[Comrade]

Triad has always intrigued me as a 'what if' because it leaves me with conflicting feelings.

I am always wary of mass-projects like this because I feel they don't necessarily give off an organic feel and things can quickly become dated, but also very repetitive. Looking at the renderings of the Triad, I certainly believe both would've been at play here. The building is the quintessential 1980s skyscraper - glass but with heavy earth tone colors (think Denver or Dallas), so, the look would've been dated by now. It's also lacking diversity in its structures - all the structures are a copy of another (whether the two taller twins, the triplet residential towers or the structures that would've been located on the north-east block). The great thing about downtown is that it developed naturally, so, there's a whole ton of architectural diversity. Sure, you'll see similar buildings development, but in many ways, those buildings compliment earlier structures.

One example: One Utah Center and the Wells Fargo Center.

Despite being nearly a decade apart, I feel these two buildings fit next to each other very well. They're not at all similar, beyond their heights, but it feels like they work together well. Maybe it's how the copper red contrasts so well with the blue of Wells Fargo - I don't know. But it works.

I look at the Triad and I don't see that at all. It's all too similar to an office park, just on a much larger scale. Its interaction with downtown feels limited, as it is currently, and while it would've provided Salt Lake a new largest tower, and expanded downtown to the west, which is something I definitely am intrigued by, it'd also create kind of a gated zone in that area as its street-level interaction in every rendering, and read I've seen, looks nonexistent and it would've been isolated from the major part of downtown.

No question, though, it would have dramatically impacted the way SLC developed. The Delta Center would've been built somewhere else, Gateway might actually be the hub of downtown now and who knows if the gap between Main and 300 West even exists with this - something that has plagued downtown for 40-plus years.

[Marvland]

Originally Posted by Comrade

The building is the quintessential 1980s skyscraper - glass but with heavy earth tone colors (think Denver or Dallas), so, the look would've been dated by now. It's also lacking diversity in its structures - all the structures are a copy of another (whether the two taller twins, the triplet residential towers or the structures that would've been located on the north-east block). The great thing about downtown is that it developed naturally, so, there's a whole ton of architectural diversity. Sure, you'll see similar buildings development, but in many ways, those buildings compliment earlier structures.

I agree with you on that. Very dated although it had some fun verticalzig zaggyness that is sort of iconic and interesting.

Reading about Adnan Khashoggi, the Triad developer, he seems like a real character. Implicated in the Iran Contract affair, some sort of hijinks with Imelda Marcos. Acused of selling arms to Osama Bin Laden. Lots of shady money laundering and gangsta 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

[Ironweed]

No question, though, it would have dramatically impacted the way SLC developed. The Delta Center would've been built somewhere else, Gateway might actually be the hub of downtown now and who knows if the gap between Main and 300 West even exists with this - something that has plagued downtown for 40-plus years.[/QUOTE]



I especially agree with your first sentence. A development like that would have set a precedent as to what was possible in SLC.

Yes, Future Mayor is also correct. Demand is essential, but SLC metro has passed the point when an actual skyscraper should have been built long ago. The demand has been there for quite a while. (Consider the semi-ugly, sub-urban business parks springing up. Those should have been consolidated down-town.)

For a metro region as large as the Wasatch Front, it is peculiar how small the downtown skyline is.

The city's development has been retarded by both the young families wanting to live in the burbs, and poor city economic engagement. Those two things may quickly become irrelevent; If the metro develops the way it should, and the population growth projections prove out...... Along with people getting sick of pollution, intolerable traffic, and ugly sprawl.

It won't happen in my lifetime though. I fear that most people say they want one thing, but really want another. (I.E. the big house on a lot, with a garage, etc.)

P.S. I really wonder if the urban planners really know what the hell they are doing in this market. No offense to the planners out there.

[delts145]

I wouldn't mind having one of those towers from that era's design in SLC's downtown. That is, if the set back pattern we see on the one side were also carried over to the opposite side. Otherwise, a slick façade of that size coupled with that tint of glass would have made for an unattractive dark boring mass on the skyline. Immediately coming to mind is the Boston tower. We would have ended up with that same unappealing mass we see in Boston's skyline, can't remember the name of the tower. Also, very much agree with Comrade's assessment of the proposed Triad as being too much of the same thing. Now that we have several decades behind us since it was proposed, we can see that too much of the Triad look would have been pretty boring.

[arkhitektor]

For years, I've wondered what those short concrete pillars in the median on 300 West were for, now I know!

I always assumed they were leftover infrastructure from the Olympic plaza or something. I'm surprised that they've been there that long and haven't been removed.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by arkhitektor

For years, I've wondered what those short concrete pillars in the median on 300 West were for, now I know!

I always assumed they were leftover infrastructure from the Olympic plaza or something. I'm surprised that they've been there that long and haven't been removed.

It makes me wonder of LDS Inc either doesn't care or is thinking that maybe in the future they will connect Triad with BYU SL that they plan on the Medals Plaza block.

[asies1981]

The HLC approved the Liberty Square project last night.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by asies1981

The HLC approved the Liberty Square project last night.

I like this one. I like the pops of orange and the overall composition.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

It makes me wonder of LDS Inc either doesn't care or is thinking that maybe in the future they will connect Triad with BYU SL that they plan on the Medals Plaza block.

The LDS church purchased the Triad property... It's not really their responsibility to pay to have something in the middle of 300W removed. The original developers of the Triad center probably worked out a deal with the city to put that there. The city permitted it, so it's really the city's problem not the LDS churches... But on a side note, they don't seem to care about how ugly the brown glass looks, or have any ambition to replace it. So even if it was their responsibility. My guess would be that they don't care. ;-)

[delts145]

Originally Posted by mousquet

Lol, I can't tell how much I love this kind of things.



You know, it takes some care and quite some money to produce so much lovely transparency. Pretty sure the attachment materials to set glass panels up in this sleek fashion are sophisticated and expensive, so the developer is doing some good job there.

....................

[linguisize]

A new light tonight. I love what it adds to the skyline, it really fills in that gap.

[ctobsl]

^^^^^^^^^

hahahaha You beat me to it. I was going to post a photo of the blue lighting also. It looks nice from my place and I had to use it on my FB Page...

[delts145]

I like the blue lighting. IMO, There are a lot of reasons to be happy with the design of 111. I believe it fits its spot and accompanying performing arts center perfectly. It serves as excellent infill, particularly at the street level. While it is not a big game changer as far as its height in the skyline, it does make for a very attractive street presence on it's corner. The top is an attractive break from the body, and the lobby engagement is stunning. That said, it's now time for SLC to move on to a different type of curtain on the body of its next tower. I think 151 and the Regent will offer two very welcome variations to downtown.

Originally Posted by linguisize

A new light tonight. I love what it adds to the skyline, it really fills in that gap.