Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[bob rulz]

Utah's in-migration rates are not as bad as you guys are making it out to seem.

https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2...ate-total.html

Open the bottom table here: Estimates of the Annual Rates of the Components of Resident Population Change for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: July 1, 2015 to July 1, 2016 (NST-EST2016-06) [<1.0 MB]

Utah had the 10th highest rate of domestic in-migration of any state. It's true that Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada are some of the ones that have higher rates, but 10th out of 50 is hardly some kind of dire situation.

Also, if you want to harp on the Mormon thing, I think I probably know more non-Mormon millennials than Mormon millennials. Of course, my perception is probably colored by living in South Salt Lake and working downtown, I'm sure it's not the case in, say, Utah County. The Mormon Church is losing a LOT of youth, though.

I know a lot of people that have moved here from out of state and love it. I work at a retail location downtown, and a pretty good chunk of the regulars have recently moved here from out of state and usually have good things to say about Utah.

My point is that of course Utah is going to always suffer because of the Mormon thing, whether fair or not. It's always going to be a little bit of its own bubble. But there is more than enough of a non-Mormon, ex-Mormon, out-of-state influence to drive a true cultural transformation of SLC. It's happening already. Look at the reputation Salt Lake has for, say, their microbreweries. There was recently a national article about Salt Lake's surprising coffee scene. Who really cares if most people think SLC is some weird Mormon backwater? The people who pay attention and who care know that's not the case. People here are way too obsessed with Salt Lake City's national perception, and way too convinced that everyone thinks we're a joke.

[San Diego-Honolulu]

On Aeromexico's website under the city search, this is what they had under Salt Lake City..."Discover the City of Saints and get lost in the capital city's small town charm, traditional values, and incredible weather."

That pretty much sums up and describes Salt Lake City from an outside perspective.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

Utah's in-migration rates are not as bad as you guys are making it out to seem.

https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2...ate-total.html

Open the bottom table here: Estimates of the Annual Rates of the Components of Resident Population Change for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: July 1, 2015 to July 1, 2016 (NST-EST2016-06) [<1.0 MB]

Utah had the 10th highest rate of domestic in-migration of any state. It's true that Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada are some of the ones that have higher rates, but 10th out of 50 is hardly some kind of dire situation.

Also, if you want to harp on the Mormon thing, I think I probably know more non-Mormon millennials than Mormon millennials. Of course, my perception is probably colored by living in South Salt Lake and working downtown, I'm sure it's not the case in, say, Utah County. The Mormon Church is losing a LOT of youth, though.

I know a lot of people that have moved here from out of state and love it. I work at a retail location downtown, and a pretty good chunk of the regulars have recently moved here from out of state and usually have good things to say about Utah.

My point is that of course Utah is going to always suffer because of the Mormon thing, whether fair or not. It's always going to be a little bit of its own bubble. But there is more than enough of a non-Mormon, ex-Mormon, out-of-state influence to drive a true cultural transformation of SLC. It's happening already. Look at the reputation Salt Lake has for, say, their microbreweries. There was recently a national article about Salt Lake's surprising coffee scene. Who really cares if most people think SLC is some weird Mormon backwater? The people who pay attention and who care know that's not the case. People here are way too obsessed with Salt Lake City's national perception, and way too convinced that everyone thinks we're a joke.

They're pretty average over a prolonged period of time. A year isn't nearly enough time to create a trend and while maybe 2015-16's numbers prove to be the beginning of that trend, it's disingenuous to suggest anything other than it being an anomaly at this point. Here's Utah's state migration figures from 2012-2016:

2012: 1.6
2013: 3.8
2014: 1.6
2015: 4.9
2016: 8.4

That's a five-year average of 4.06. There, in that average, Utah is not a top10 state.

So, it's not a dire situation but again, it's telling about the state's dynamics that we're so far behind our regional peers.

I'll be interested to see what the numbers are for 2016-2017.

[FullCircle]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

Here is the listing. It’s just for the building and not the eat-a-burger lot... thing is though. The developer did acquire that building, but I’m not sure if they ever even acquired the eat-a-burger site. The eat-a-burger building was sinking and starting to crack in half... it was unusable. I’m guessing the city offered to tear it down for the owner so they could use it as a staging site.


http://astro.ngacres.com/Core/GetPro...er-10450-0.pdf

Update: Somthing took place with eat-a-burger in 2015... might have been a change of ownership. I’m not paying to find out though.

It's entirely possible that the modified plans to include the Felt building just didn't pan out, given it's historic designation and all, and the developers decided to go back to the original plans, which didn't include the Felt building. This may be wishful thinking on my part. It would be great to hear an update from someone in the know. Asies1981?

[nushiof]

On a more positive note,

https://www.utahbusiness.com/downtow...ding-new-life/

also say CCH is still in the works.

"A new hotel, with retail and housing, is in the works to support the Salt Palace Convention Center."

[airhero]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

Unfortunately I’m correct... kinda. That building was going to be a part of the Hotel... Well, it looks like this project is probably not happening. Unless they have heavily altered their plans

http://www.buildingsaltlake.com/hist...-find-new-use/

Originally Posted by FullCircle

It's entirely possible that the modified plans to include the Felt building just didn't pan out, given it's historic designation and all, and the developers decided to go back to the original plans, which didn't include the Felt building. This may be wishful thinking on my part. It would be great to hear an update from someone in the know. Asies1981?

Yeah the original plan didn't include the Felt building. That was incorporated later, so I don't see how them dropping the Felt building from the project indicates that it's dead; however, the fact that we've heard nothing meaningful about this project in over a year certainly indicates it's dead.

[airhero]

Originally Posted by delts145

Grasscom, a sincere compliment. I love Southern California. There are many areas in the greater L.A. metro that are fantastic as far as home sites with great views. I notice you are from Draper. There is no place, not even the most scenic areas of So. Cal. that can surpass the views from Draper's benches.

Subjective indeed delts. I would take a view over rugged hills meeting the ocean over any view Draper has to offer. Though I think there are some views in and around the Wasatch Front that do compete.

[SLCLvr]

Originally Posted by airhero

Yeah the original plan didn't include the Felt building. That was incorporated later, so I don't see how them dropping the Felt building from the project indicates that it's dead; however, the fact that we've heard nothing meaningful about this project in over a year certainly indicates it's dead.

From my FB
Derek Kitchen With regard to the hotel project, the RDA is still in negotiations with a developer as it relates to the Agency property at 167-169 Regent Street and adjacent property on 400 South (I think he means 200 South) that was a former fast food restaurant. As far as the building mentioned in the news report, the developer did look at also purchasing this property and incorporating it into their overall project. However, due to the high acquisition cost of the building they ultimately decided that it was not necessary to move forward with the rest of the project.

[scottharding]

Originally Posted by SLCLvr

From my FB
Derek Kitchen With regard to the hotel project, the RDA is still in negotiations with a developer as it relates to the Agency property at 167-169 Regent Street and adjacent property on 400 South (I think he means 200 South) that was a former fast food restaurant. As far as the building mentioned in the news report, the developer did look at also purchasing this property and incorporating it into their overall project. However, due to the high acquisition cost of the building they ultimately decided that it was not necessary to move forward with the rest of the project.

Encouraging news. Thanks for digging up this info.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by SLCLvr

From my FB
Derek Kitchen With regard to the hotel project, the RDA is still in negotiations with a developer as it relates to the Agency property at 167-169 Regent Street and adjacent property on 400 South (I think he means 200 South) that was a former fast food restaurant. As far as the building mentioned in the news report, the developer did look at also purchasing this property and incorporating it into their overall project. However, due to the high acquisition cost of the building they ultimately decided that it was not necessary to move forward with the rest of the project.

The property is listed at 2.5 million. That is not a high acquisition cost for a building with over 10,000 square feet that is in reasonable condition and has a huge amount of adition property behind it. If they think that is unreasonable then I think that their expectations are skewed, and now I’m concerned for other reasons. There is another building on main with 6,300 square feet that recently sold for 1.6... and it wasn’t in nearly as good of shape.... 2.5m should be a drop in the bucket in regards to the scope of the whol project.... just saying.

With that said... I do hope they move forward without that building. We will see I suppose.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by nushiof

On a more positive note,

https://www.utahbusiness.com/downtow...ding-new-life/

also say CCH is still in the works.

"A new hotel, with retail and housing, is in the works to support the Salt Palace Convention Center."

“The vacant Dick’s Sporting Goods space at The Gateway is being converted to office space”

That is the most unique indoor space at Gateway... what a waste.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by jubguy3

... I would like to see the Mormon church take a stance on sprawl seeing as that they can impact people's lives better than any group in Utah. I think the church is smart enough to see that endless sprawl is bad for Utah....

The LDS church already took a stance on sprawl, they’re developing over 500 acres in Riverton.

[asies1981]

A developer wants to convert the Costume Building in Sugar House into 19 apartments. And the Regent Street Hotel project is still alive, they just aren't going to include the Felt Building. I'll reach out for updated designs.

[TonyAnderson]

Photo bump:


@perry_layne_productions https://www.instagram.com/p/BVxsozJljOQ/

[delts145]

That's a great pic Tony! Thanks for sharing

Very cool. Glad to see the reuse, and tastefully done. A lot of great memories tied to that building.

Originally Posted by asies1981

A developer wants to convert the Costume Building in Sugar House into 19 apartments. And the Regent Street Hotel project is still alive, they just aren't going to include the Felt Building. I'll reach out for updated designs.

Rendering of the proposed adaptive reuse of the Salt Lake Costume building. Image courtesy Salt Lake City public documents.

[ajiuO]

It looks like they are fixing the discoloration issue on Vivant Arena. This makes me happy. It has been driving me nuts for a while. I’m not sure if they are sandblasting the building or what, but they are destroying the sign in the process. I’m assuming they will reface the sign. You would think they would take it down and sandblast under it if they were going to replace it.


June 19th


August 16th

[Liberty Wellsian]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

The property is listed at 2.5 million. That is not a high acquisition cost for a building with over 10,000 square feet that is in reasonable condition and has a huge amount of adition property behind it. If they think that is unreasonable then I think that their expectations are skewed, and now I’m concerned for other reasons. There is another building on main with 6,300 square feet that recently sold for 1.6... and it wasn’t in nearly as good of shape.... 2.5m should be a drop in the bucket in regards to the scope of the whol project.... just saying.

With that said... I do hope they move forward without that building. We will see I suppose.

but... they planned to demolish it for parking and an elevator saving only the facade. So yeah it would be expensive given the planned use. I think this is a good thing. I would rather have the regent Hotel and a renovated felt building than the regent hotel/parking garage and the felt buildings facade.

[Liberty Wellsian]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

“The vacant Dick’s Sporting Goods space at The Gateway is being converted to office space”

That is the most unique indoor space at Gateway... what a waste.

They should do a land swap. Dick's for the Leonardo. The new owners to the Gateway could redevelop the Leonardo as residential with ground floor retail and get another draw to the Gateway.

Dicks could be turned into a great exhibit space for the Leonardo. Much better than their current space.

[Wasatch Wasteland]

Originally Posted by Liberty Wellsian

They should do a land swap. Dick's for the Leonardo. The new owners to the Gateway could redevelop the Leonardo as residential with ground floor retail and get another draw to the Gateway.

Dicks could be turned into a great exhibit space for the Leonardo. Much better than their current space.

True, the space in Dicks is much more engaging, however it has a significatly less total floor space than the Leo's current building. It's air space is larger, which would make the building seem larger than it actually is. Not to mention a move for the Leo would be very expensive as it would require a complete renovation (the current building was purpose built/renovated for that type of museum space) and would be exceptionally difficult given the Leo's current dire financial situation, massive debt, multiple ongoing lawsuits, declining interest, and management corruption. Actually, more like a lack of management at all.

[ToysNoiz]

Originally Posted by Ironweed

The LDS church did its part with the City Creek. I just don't understand why the little downtown of SLC hasn't hit critical mass?

This is a real pet peeve of mine. I'm not trying to single you out, Ironweed, but god people, can we stop saying this?

I mean, I understand that our downtown is smaller than it should be, but jeez it's not teeny tiny. Sometimes you guys act like we look like Provo from afar. Here's a positive thought:
I'd say we Salt Lakers are lucky that the large majority of our highrises are attractive. Not always "groundbreaking" or whatever, but nice to look at. Other mid sized cities haven't been as lucky. They've seen skyscraper development, however, you can expect most towers from and since the 20th century skyscraper boom to have bland or fugly designs. The only downright ugly building that made a dent in SLC's skyline was imploded over a decade ago.

I love you guys and this forum, but yall are making it a total bummer. Can we please try to use different rhetoric. I don't mean to imply that what's being said is always false, it's just not always productive.

I don't know, maybe I just feel entitled to a more positive vibe here. I don't want to check out of this site, I really enjoy reading. No one who I know in person cares about development or buildings. I need an escape that this site provides!

BTW, great pics!