Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[jedikermit]

Originally Posted by msbutah

So the CEO could fly in, have a private elevator to their offices, and not have to mingle with the rest of the building.

I have a similar setup at the high school I teach in. Always avoid the riffraff.

[Comrade]

Fun story:

Years ago, there used to be a banquet hall on the top floor of the Wells Fargo Center. I am not sure if it's still there, but anyway, I e-mailed the hall one day asking if it would be possible to come up and take some photos. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but they were open to the idea on one condition: I take some photos for them, which I agree to do and we set up a time. Of course, this was when I was still pretty young, probably in a high school at the time, and I had a little dinky handheld digital camera.

So, I go to the tower, call the reception area to let 'em know I am here, they tell me to come up and when I get to the top, and introduce myself to the event coordinator, she's clearly skeptical from the start. She gives me the once-over and then asks where all my equipment is. I had the camera in my pocket, and I pull it out and say something like, "oh right here!" and she just looks at me like in complete disbelief. She huffed a bit and told me I only had ten minutes and then left. She was not pleased. I guess she thought I was a professional photographer.

Anyway, I found some of the old photos I took (boy, I have an entire gallery still online from like 2004-2008! Maybe I'll post a bunch of my old photos) from the top of the tower back years ago:







I also took this photo from the top of the COB around the same time. I am not sure if they even let you go up there anymore?



Good memories!

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Ha, ha that it is a pretty funny story. It reminds of crashing a reception at the Lion House many years ago and taking pictures of the bride and eating the food. We should have noticed the groom and groomsmen were badasses and a lot bigger than us.

[Orpheum]

What is that new structure on the roof of the Boston building? Trying to post a pic but don’t know how..

[ThePusherMan]

Originally Posted by Orpheum

What is that new structure on the roof of the Boston building? Trying to post a pic but don’t know how..

https://flic.kr/p/2f52eJH

I was told it is a rooftop patio for the lawyers and what not to entertain their high end clients. The structure is elevator entrance to the roof and elevator equipment. I think it looks terrible. Can't believe the city approved it.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by Orpheum

What is that new structure on the roof of the Boston building? Trying to post a pic but don’t know how..

https://flic.kr/p/2f52eJH

My browser claims that this is "adult content" and I have to sign in to a Flickr account to see it (which I don't have).

In my experience, Imgur is the easiest site to use to post a picture. They provide a link that can be posted directly onto a forum without any extra steps. I'm not sure if Flickr has the same thing.

Really you can blame this incredibly outdated website though.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by Orpheum

What is that new structure on the roof of the Boston building? Trying to post a pic but don’t know how..

https://flic.kr/p/2f52eJH

Here you go.

[Comrade]

Since it's slow as fuck here, and I'm not yet tired, I thought it'd be fun to look back at the development pages of the last two threads to see just how much progress Salt Lake has made since 2017 (when this thread was started) and 2016 (when Part 4 was last updated):

If you have anything to offer in regards to updates on these projects, please do...

Convention Center Hotel

We finally got some definitive news on the convention center hotel and it looks like we may be as close as ever to actually seeing this rise. I'm still skeptical we'll see construction in 2019 but we started talking about this goddamn thing back in 2009 - a fucking decade ago.



The Regent Street Hotel

Renderings of this project hit in 2015. The last news on this was in 2017. Nothing since. I'm gonna say, at best, it's On Hold - and at worst, canceled.

Too bad. This was one project I really wanted.



151 South State

This project has more incarnations than Michael Jackson's face. Now it's called Liberty Sky.

What was originally proposed (left) and what will be built (right):



Air Hotel

This project, like 151 South State, went through a few incarnations too, before settling on an ambitiously tall tower - and it flopped.



370 Millennium Tower

370 Millennium Tower took Air Hotel's place and optimism returned that this site would house a pretty decent skyscraper. The renderings were even impressive.

Initial renderings were released in October, 2017, but there's been little in the way of news about whether this project will even happen. The project was to be developed by Held Properties. As of this post, their website is no longer online and redirects to an Online Pharmacy (scaaaaam). I'm not going to say this project is canceled but, like with The Regent Street Hotel, at best, it's on hold - I am doubtful we'll ever see this development.



Arrow Press Square

News broke in 2015 of a potential skyscraper on the Arrow Press Square site and then nothing. There's very little known about this project. Hell, it's not even listed on the Downtown Rising website. I'd say, as with the others, it's at best on hold but I suspect this project is canceled.



Utah Theater

Can we give up on there ever being a Utah Theater project? This has been floated around for most the time I've been on SSP. I'm convinced it ain't ever going to be renovated.



The Cascade

This project was originally designed as a 107-unit condominium building with street level retail and below grade parking. However, this full design was never realized during initial construction due to market conditions.

Maybe one day market conditions will allow for another residential tower on this site (located between West Temple & Main on 100 South).

State Street Plaza

We know the history of this one...



There's hope, though, as they now have a new building proposed for the site. We'll see if it has better luck!



The Exchange Project

This was approved for construction late last year - so, I am hopeful this is developed this year.

Still waiting for Block 67 and 650 South Main. I don't think either of these projects are on hold specifically but there's still been no substantial developments beyond renderings and talk.

Tower 8 Offices

This legit looks like it could be Salt Lake's next newest tower. I trust that this project will happen - and hopefully this year.



Disappointing that there's been so many canceled/on hold projects. But at least there's some hope.

[Old&New]

Was going through my imgur and found this oldie but goodie:

[RC14]

Originally Posted by arkhitektor

FWIW (possibly nothing) the plans label the lounge on the top floor as 'Regency Club' which would indicate to me that it may be operated as a Hyatt Regency:

https://www.hyatt.com/brands/hyatt-regency



Many of their locations feature a 'Regency Club' like this one at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco:

I just noticed that IHG has a flag called Regent.
https://www.ihg.com/regent/hotels/us/en/reservation

[DCRes]

Comrade, nice run down, it's good to have a reminder of all that's going on.

One note, demolition has begun on The Exchange site, that project certainly looks like it's moving forward this year.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by Old&New

Was going through my imgur and found this oldie but goodie:

What's a NBL Stadium? IS that meant to be MLB or something else?

I'd love for the NFL to take up shop here in Salt Lake but it seems very unlikely. There just isn't a big appetite for professional football in the market. Just look at the Salt Lake Stallions. I know it's AAF, and it's not an equal gauge to the NFL, but I think it gives us an indication of how popular professional football would be in the state and the Stallions rank dead-last in the AAF in attendance and it's not even close.

Salt Lake is averaging 9,972 fans a game. The league averages 15,638 fans a game - with the second closest team to Salt Lake's lowest average Atlanta, who has a NFL team, at 10,717 fans. Compare these numbers to other AAF cities without NFL franchises, which is more equal, and it's pretty bleak for Salt Lake:

Birmingham: 13,362
Memphis: 12,801
Orlando: 20,293
San Antonio: 28,157
San Diego: 17,404

I know it's not an apples to apples comparison, and I absolutely believe Salt Lake would support a NFL team in the short term, but long term? There just isn't the fan base to sustain something quite like that here and I'd also wager we would struggle with the corporate sponsorships, as well, since SLC isn't really a hotbed for that type of thing.

Now MLB? I think there's a much better opportunity there. It won't directly compete with anything - not college football or the NBA - and you don't need massive stadiums to fill up (the smallest NFL stadium, once the Raiders leave Oakland is the Chargers' and they're relocating to the 70,000 seat Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park with the Rams in 2020, so, that would put Soldier Field, at 61,500, as the smallest). You could realistically build a MLB stadium to seat 35,000, as there are seven MLB stadiums that seat fewer than 40,000. It's entirely possible Salt Lake could get away with a 35,000 seat stadium (around the size of Progressive Field, home to the Cleveland Indians), which is only 20,000 more than Smith's Ballpark (the largest stadium in the PCL).

[Orpheum]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Here you go.

Thanks. But what is it? They built it this last summer.. shouldn’t they have needed to get permission to change that building? I don’t remember seeing anything with the planning commission?

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by Orpheum

Thanks. But what is it? They built it this last summer.. shouldn’t they have needed to get permission to change that building? I don’t remember seeing anything with the planning commission?

Looks like an elevator entryway to the roof.

[Old&New]

Originally Posted by Comrade

What's a NBL Stadium? IS that meant to be MLB or something else?

I'd love for the NFL to take up shop here in Salt Lake but it seems very unlikely. There just isn't a big appetite for professional football in the market. Just look at the Salt Lake Stallions. I know it's AAF, and it's not an equal gauge to the NFL, but I think it gives us an indication of how popular professional football would be in the state and the Stallions rank dead-last in the AAF in attendance and it's not even close.

Salt Lake is averaging 9,972 fans a game. The league averages 15,638 fans a game - with the second closest team to Salt Lake's lowest average Atlanta, who has a NFL team, at 10,717 fans. Compare these numbers to other AAF cities without NFL franchises, which is more equal, and it's pretty bleak for Salt Lake:

Birmingham: 13,362
Memphis: 12,801
Orlando: 20,293
San Antonio: 28,157
San Diego: 17,404

I know it's not an apples to apples comparison, and I absolutely believe Salt Lake would support a NFL team in the short term, but long term? There just isn't the fan base to sustain something quite like that here and I'd also wager we would struggle with the corporate sponsorships, as well, since SLC isn't really a hotbed for that type of thing.

Now MLB? I think there's a much better opportunity there. It won't directly compete with anything - not college football or the NBA - and you don't need massive stadiums to fill up (the smallest NFL stadium, once the Raiders leave Oakland is the Chargers' and they're relocating to the 70,000 seat Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park with the Rams in 2020, so, that would put Soldier Field, at 61,500, as the smallest). You could realistically build a MLB stadium to seat 35,000, as there are seven MLB stadiums that seat fewer than 40,000. It's entirely possible Salt Lake could get away with a 35,000 seat stadium (around the size of Progressive Field, home to the Cleveland Indians), which is only 20,000 more than Smith's Ballpark (the largest stadium in the PCL).

Haha, yes, MLB. Keep in mind it’s an old illustration.

I don’t know, maybe We can score an NFL team from a comparable metro region. How about Utah Buffalo Bills?

Seems like Salt Lake’s population will grow faster than Buffalo’s too. But SLC’s population is already ahead of Buffalo’s now.

[scottharding]

Brief DowntownRising blog about the Convention Center Hotel:

https://downtownslc.org/downtown-eve...tel-first-look

[Reachforthesky]

Originally Posted by Comrade

What's a NBL Stadium? IS that meant to be MLB or something else?

I'd love for the NFL to take up shop here in Salt Lake but it seems very unlikely. There just isn't a big appetite for professional football in the market. Just look at the Salt Lake Stallions. I know it's AAF, and it's not an equal gauge to the NFL, but I think it gives us an indication of how popular professional football would be in the state and the Stallions rank dead-last in the AAF in attendance and it's not even close.

Salt Lake is averaging 9,972 fans a game. The league averages 15,638 fans a game - with the second closest team to Salt Lake's lowest average Atlanta, who has a NFL team, at 10,717 fans. Compare these numbers to other AAF cities without NFL franchises, which is more equal, and it's pretty bleak for Salt Lake:

Birmingham: 13,362
Memphis: 12,801
Orlando: 20,293
San Antonio: 28,157
San Diego: 17,404

I know it's not an apples to apples comparison, and I absolutely believe Salt Lake would support a NFL team in the short term, but long term? There just isn't the fan base to sustain something quite like that here and I'd also wager we would struggle with the corporate sponsorships, as well, since SLC isn't really a hotbed for that type of thing.

Now MLB? I think there's a much better opportunity there. It won't directly compete with anything - not college football or the NBA - and you don't need massive stadiums to fill up (the smallest NFL stadium, once the Raiders leave Oakland is the Chargers' and they're relocating to the 70,000 seat Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park with the Rams in 2020, so, that would put Soldier Field, at 61,500, as the smallest). You could realistically build a MLB stadium to seat 35,000, as there are seven MLB stadiums that seat fewer than 40,000. It's entirely possible Salt Lake could get away with a 35,000 seat stadium (around the size of Progressive Field, home to the Cleveland Indians), which is only 20,000 more than Smith's Ballpark (the largest stadium in the PCL).

Fox 13 ran an interesting story a bit ago researching what it would take to bring an NFL team to Utah. They did a great job delivering the facts that show having an NFL team in Utah is plausible.

https://fox13now.com/2016/02/05/brin...y-and-why-not/

Contrary to the popular myth, Sundays are not as big of an issue as many think, and there have been multiple sold out Jazz games held on Sundays. Salt Lake County is MAJORITY Non-LDS, as is Salt Lake City. With the state being close to 50/50.

"Not All NFL Home games would be on on a Sunday anyway."

Fox 13 also spoke to Val Hale, Director of the Governors Office of Economic Development. He thinks a Stadium would still fill up, and made a great point as well: An NFL Team hosts only 8 Home games a Year. With some at Night, and some games on Monday and Thursdays.



But, one thing he pointed out as well, is that we lack big corporate headquarters. If you look at a lot of the other NFL cities out there you'll see that they have big title sponsorship's, mainly from big headquartered companies in their area.

Some people seem to think SLC is too small a market to have an NFL team. But that is just NOT true! As of 2019, SLC is the #23rd largest CSA in America. With a population of: 2,559,350. We're LARGER than #26 Las Vegas (Future home of an NFL team, the Raiders) And larger than these Current NFL cities:


Indianapolis
Nashville
Cincinnati
New Orleans
Jacksonville
Buffalo
Green Bay

Sports illustrated: Placed SLC on their list of potential NFL expansion cities. As have others.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/08/22/nf...m-draft-cities

I'd love it if we had a team. Not sure how soon that actually happen but,
According to FOX13, they state "Bottom line: If Utah had an owner, and big sponsors, the Wasatch Front is plenty big enough to support an NFL team."
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[airhero]

Originally Posted by scottharding

Brief DowntownRising blog about the Convention Center Hotel:

https://downtownslc.org/downtown-eve...tel-first-look

Nice. And some higher quality renderings.

[Orpheum]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Looks like an elevator entryway to the roof.

I wish it was a restaurant or something.. there's lots of glass.. looks like it's going to have a shade structure too. hmmmm...

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by Reachforthesky

Some people seem to think SLC is too small a market to have an NFL team. But that is just NOT true! As of 2019, SLC is the #23rd largest CSA in America. With a population of: 2,559,350. We're LARGER than #26 Las Vegas (Future home of an NFL team, the Raiders) And larger than these Current NFL cities:


Indianapolis
Nashville
Cincinnati
New Orleans
Jacksonville
Buffalo
Green Bay

Yeah, I just happened to see a list of NFL cities the other day and I thought, "Wow! SLC is larger than 5 or 6 of those cities."