Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 4

[Stenar]

[QUOTE=Orlando;7518073]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Don't be a jackass Stenar. You live in sprawl land, ie. Draper. So, Herriman and Saratoga Springs aren't too far from you. The whole damn point is that those communities are prime examples of sprawl and leapfrog development.

Whatever way you look at it, Saratoga Springs and Herriman are not way out there.

You're being quite unkind with name calling.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by Comrade

I think he's confused on what the west desert is.

The West Desert is the far-west area of Tooele County out by Wendover and the Nevada border. Herrriman is certainly NOT considered the west desert lol

The west desert is a place with a lot of holes, and a lot of problems are buried in those holes.

[Comrade]

I agree in part, though, that Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain are way out there. In my eyes, that area and beyond is like a completely different world than where I live. Might as well be a different state/people - and I'm sure they think the same about us crazy Salt Lakers.

[Marvland]

Algae, Tooele and CSA stats aside. Anybody else wondering why every large project is quiet now? I get the distinct sense overall that our national market is grinding to a halt and we are feeling it here. Anemic job growth numbers, terror, elections and a generally dour mood are taking hold. We are not alone BTW. Construction starts are down and the luxury RE markets in primary markets have STOPPED, not slowed.

Is CCH alive? "Air" Tower? Regent Boutique? 151?

[s.p.hansen]

Originally Posted by Marvland

Algae, Tooele and CSA stats aside. Anybody else wondering why every large project is quiet now? I get the distinct sense overall that our national market is grinding to a halt and we are feeling it here. Anemic job growth numbers, terror, elections and a generally dour mood are taking hold. We are not alone BTW. Construction starts are down and the luxury RE markets in primary markets have STOPPED, not slowed.

Is CCH alive? "Air" Tower? Regent Boutique? 151?

We've been pulling out of a national retail recession with negatives across the board from the low end to the very high end. There's a bubble in luxury real estate in Manhatten mostly propped up by foreign investment. Other than that, the overall economy is doing ok. I think people are worried about the prospects of interest rates rising but the Fed doesn't really have a 🞵🞵🞵 to their head to do that.

[Marvland]

Originally Posted by s.p.hansen

We've been pulling out of a national retail recession with negatives across the board from the low end to the very high end. There's a bubble in luxury real estate in Manhatten mostly propped up by foreign investment. Other than that, the overall economy is doing ok. I think people are worried about the prospects of interest rates rising but the Fed doesn't really have a 🞵🞵🞵 to their head to do that.

This market is marginal at best. This really weird year (Brexit, China correction, bad election, Rock n Roll apocalypse: Prince, David Bowie, Merle Haggard, Lemme HOLY 🞵🞵🞵🞵!!) doesn't smell right. Goldman just predicted a 10% drop in equities over the next quarter. The fed is pinned into a corner and simply can't raise rates. That fact that they are still so artificially low speaks volumes to this economy. My Spidey Sense says we are on the verge of a correction. Not 2008, just maybe a longer grind it out style stagflation episode.

We are equipped to weather the storm better than most other cities, not being tied to energy and not really in bubble glut of inventory of some but Intel just laid off 1k workers in Lehi and there is more in the horn as the recent phony stock peak relaxes. This vibe is palpable in the development set right now. Sorry to bring grumpy beans to the table.

[asies1981]

Update on the proposed changes to TSA zones.

[jedikermit]

Off-topic, but the energy comment above reminded me -- I live out in the hood (Kearns)(yeah, I KNOW) and there's been a big push by solar companies to get solar into older homes in the suburbs. I know a dozen families in my neighborhood/ward who are having it done in the next few months, and another dozen are looking at doing it next spring. My own living situation is going to be up in the air over the next year, so I'm not.

Anyway. Encouraging to see that push toward renewable energy, even in the poorer parts of the valley. Anyone else seeing this in their neighborhoods? I know that over the last five years or so solar has become more common in new housing, but this summer is the first time I've seen it in my own area.

[UTPlanner]

I'm certainly no financial expert but having worked in and around development for some time now, I can say that late summer is generally very slow for the industry. Developers now are looking to finish up existing projects or looking towards breaking ground in spring 2017. There are over 2,500 apartments under construction right now in SLC and there are almost that many working to get permits. I think the residential market will continue to boom in the near future.

Marvland, the only project that you mentioned that I think will move forward in the near future is the Regent Street Hotel. I think 151 will happen but not until 2017 sometime. I have no faith whatsoever in the CCH or the Air Center/Void Center gaining any traction this year or next year. These are large, complex projects that have not proven that they have any substantial funding behind them. I realize that there are tax incentives for the CCH but that's only a drop in the bucket when compared to the actual total cost for the facility.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by jedikermit

Off-topic, but the energy comment above reminded me -- I live out in the hood (Kearns)(yeah, I KNOW) and there's been a big push by solar companies to get solar into older homes in the suburbs. I know a dozen families in my neighborhood/ward who are having it done in the next few months, and another dozen are looking at doing it next spring. My own living situation is going to be up in the air over the next year, so I'm not.

Anyway. Encouraging to see that push toward renewable energy, even in the poorer parts of the valley. Anyone else seeing this in their neighborhoods? I know that over the last five years or so solar has become more common in new housing, but this summer is the first time I've seen it in my own area.

I'm seeing a pretty big trend down here in Payson. In know, nothing to do with Salt Lake City, but the subject was brought up. Thus far in 2016, 29 Solar permits have been applied for. In 2015 there were 22 solar permits, and only 7 were issued up to this point last year, that's a 400% increase ytd 2015 to 2016 in a small city under 20,000 people. Obviously as the number of solar units increases, costs will come down and even more people will have them installed. I think once the Tesla storage battery becomes more affordable that there will be a massive shift towards more solar.

[sethbrown4]

Story on County plans to tear down the homeless shelter near the Gateway.

Future plans include building 2 new shelters on different sites, 2 detox centers and more low-income housing.

Not only could this significantly improve the homeless issue in Salt Lake but it also benefits the Gateway and makes the planned Station Center development much more exciting. Also, increased effort in building low-income housing could result in a few more apartment buildings coming up around downtown.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by sethbrown4

Story on County plans to tear down the homeless shelter near the Gateway.

Future plans include building 2 new shelters on different sites, 2 detox centers and more low-income housing.

Not only could this significantly improve the homeless issue in Salt Lake but it also benefits the Gateway and makes the planned Station Center development much more exciting. Also, increased effort in building low-income housing could result in a few more apartment buildings coming up around downtown.

Interesting. Thanks for posting. It will be tough to get those sites okayed by the public no matter where the city chooses to put them. But, I do like the idea. It will definitely help the Gateway area.

[ImaJem]

I'm thinking back to Hatman's idea of putting frontrunner in a trench along 500 West. I think turning Rio Grande into a station and the gateway into a station would go a long way in helping this area. The gateway could be the main transfer point for the UTA system. That way we'd have a Salt Lake Central instead of "Salt Lake... over-there-by-some-freeway"

[Liberty Wellsian]

My top 2 transit projects that I think should break ground tomorrow are:

1)7th E/Van Winkle BRT. In the future it could be extended to downtown holiday or the ski resorts but the core of it could be built today and be an asset.
2)9th South line. I wouldn't care if the vehicle was Bus, Trax, or streetcar so long as it has trax like stops and pulls into the central ninth station before heading down Indiana Ave. Again in the future it could be extended, north in this case ,but at least the core should be built now as I believe it would have an immediate impact not only on ridership but also on development.

[airhero]

After seeing the initial paint work on the Gateway, I find it very dull and not at all better than the original paint. I think painting the whole thing like this:



would actually be a successful draw in and of itself. Never mind the terrible paint editing on my part.

I think we should lobby for color. Or am I kidding myself?

[airhero]

Adding onto the idea. Going along with the Olympics theme of the Gateway you could paint half of it in summer-themed colors like above and the other half in winter-themed colors.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by jedikermit

Off-topic, but the energy comment above reminded me -- I live out in the hood (Kearns)(yeah, I KNOW) and there's been a big push by solar companies to get solar into older homes in the suburbs. I know a dozen families in my neighborhood/ward who are having it done in the next few months, and another dozen are looking at doing it next spring. My own living situation is going to be up in the air over the next year, so I'm not.

Anyway. Encouraging to see that push toward renewable energy, even in the poorer parts of the valley. Anyone else seeing this in their neighborhoods? I know that over the last five years or so solar has become more common in new housing, but this summer is the first time I've seen it in my own area.

Almost everyone in my neighborhood in Draper has solar now, and my sister, who lives in a less-wealthy area in Riverton has most of her neighbors with solar now.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by ImaJem

I'm thinking back to Hatman's idea of putting frontrunner in a trench along 500 West. I think turning Rio Grande into a station and the gateway into a station would go a long way in helping this area. The gateway could be the main transfer point for the UTA system. That way we'd have a Salt Lake Central instead of "Salt Lake... over-there-by-some-freeway"

I recently found an article in the newspaper archives that said the original plans for Frontrunner were to make it underground at the Gateway and use the old UP station. Unfortunately, I didn't save the link. I was looking for something else at the time.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by Stenar

I recently found an article in the newspaper archives that said the original plans for Frontrunner were to make it underground at the Gateway and use the old UP station. Unfortunately, I didn't save the link. I was looking for something else at the time.

Interesting. I never knew there was an actual plan, but I have always thought that is exactly how it should have been. Boyer and the City were very short sighted when they built the Gateway. It wouldn't have saved the Gateway single handily but it would have helped to have 1000's of additional people coming through your development each and every day.

[jedikermit]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Almost everyone in my neighborhood in Draper has solar now, and my sister, who lives in a less-wealthy area in Riverton has most of her neighbors with solar now.

Must be finally getting around to my kind of neighborhoods. Next stop: shantytowns!