Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[Blah_Amazing]

ABC 4 News

https://www.abc4.com/news/religion/l...nsign-college/

Well, it looks like its official. I'm wondering if their plan is to still expand their campus, as has been previously discussed on this forum.

LDS Business College will officially be renamed Ensign College on Tuesday, September 1, 2020.

According to school officials, the announcement to change the college’s name was made back in February.

“LDS Business College has always been ‘a unique and treasured part of the Church Educational System,’” Elder Paul V. Johnson, Church Educational System Commissioner said. “The changes announced…do not change the nature of the institution. They build upon the college’s deep commitment to students and position it to better bless their lives in new and meaningful ways. [Ensign College] offers its students much more than programs in business and this name change will be a catalyst for re-introducing the College and all that it offers.”

School officials say the term “ensign” has scriptural and historical significance. President Bruce C. Kusch said, “An ensign is defined as a banner, a standard, or a symbol.”

In addition to the name change, Ensign College will begin to offer a limited number of Bachelor of Applied Science degrees beginning fall 2021.

Classes for fall 2020 begin September 14.

[Makid]

Originally Posted by Blah_Amazing

Well, it looks like its official. I'm wondering if their plan is to still expand their campus, as has been previously discussed on this forum.

I know the goal, pre-COVID, was to expand the student base. The shift to Ensign College is adding additional Associates Degrees as well as at least 1 Bachelors Degree, with more planned in the future.

I don't think things have changed other than possibly the time frame for updates.

Now, my understanding is that the plan is to complete fill the Triad building, excluding the KSL/Deseret Media sections. They will do this before building additional school buildings.

As for Student Housing, the plan has been to eventually fully occupy the Plaza Hotel before building a dedicated student housing building/complex. The speed at which the housing will be constructed will be determined on the overall enrollment for non-commuting students.

[mattreedah]

Originally Posted by Makid

I know the goal, pre-COVID, was to expand the student base. The shift to Ensign College is adding additional Associates Degrees as well as at least 1 Bachelors Degree, with more planned in the future.

I don't think things have changed other than possibly the time frame for updates.

Now, my understanding is that the plan is to complete fill the Triad building, excluding the KSL/Deseret Media sections. They will do this before building additional school buildings.

As for Student Housing, the plan has been to eventually fully occupy the Plaza Hotel before building a dedicated student housing building/complex. The speed at which the housing will be constructed will be determined on the overall enrollment for non-commuting students.

I think this has changed now, from https://www.ldsbc.edu/housing-update...dsbc-students:

Housing Update for LDSBC Students
13 May. 2020

The LDS Business College (LDSBC) does not own, operate or control any student housing facilities. However, as an informal service to its students, LDSBC provides a list of recommended off-campus properties. Two of these properties, the Plaza Hotel and The Lodge, will no longer be options for LDSBC students. Students currently living in these facilities may continue to do so through the end of the Spring 2020 Semester, but should begin making alternative housing arrangements for the Fall 2020 Semester.

[Makid]

Originally Posted by mattreedah

I think this has changed now, from https://www.ldsbc.edu/housing-update...dsbc-students:

Housing Update for LDSBC Students
13 May. 2020

The LDS Business College (LDSBC) does not own, operate or control any student housing facilities. However, as an informal service to its students, LDSBC provides a list of recommended off-campus properties. Two of these properties, the Plaza Hotel and The Lodge, will no longer be options for LDSBC students. Students currently living in these facilities may continue to do so through the end of the Spring 2020 Semester, but should begin making alternative housing arrangements for the Fall 2020 Semester.

Ah, hopefully this means they will look into building their own housing facilities sooner.

Originally, they were going to partner with BYU for their BYU-SLC campus but those plans were pushed back as BYU has slowed their expansion. When that happened, I had heard the housing plan I mentioned, but that was about a year ago.

I do hope they are able to finalize some plans soon though as I can see enrollment growing as they begin to offer additional courses and degrees.

[Atlas]

"Ensign College" sounds much better to me than "LDS Business College" and I think that change alone will help the school expand its enrollment, particularly with potential LDS students from outside of Utah.

[taboubak]

I remember hearing a few months back we were close to seeing new renderings from Hines for the Utah theater tower. Does anyone have any info regarding this project and how its looking? Also any info on Dakota Pacific and the Regent St Hotel site would be awesome too.

[ThePusherMan]

Originally Posted by taboubak

I remember hearing a few months back we were close to seeing new renderings from Hines for the Utah theater tower. Does anyone have any info regarding this project and how its looking? Also any info on Dakota Pacific and the Regent St Hotel site would be awesome too.

My only inside information on the theater tower is that Murphy's just sold to someone. Either that person spent a good chunk of change without securing a lease longer than month to month or project isn't happening in the near future. I'd bet money this is five years out if it even happens at all.

[Makid]

Just a quick FYI for people, tomorrow nights City Council meeting topic number 1:

Ordinance*: Zoning Text Amendment to Increase Building Height Limits in a Portion of the G-MU Zone
The Council will accept public comment and consider an ordinance that would increase the building heights within a portion of the G-MU (Gateway Mixed Use) zoning district from a current maximum of 120 feet up to 190 feet across portions of two separate blocks located between 500 West and the railroad tracks (approximately 625 West) and 200 South and 400 South. The applicant is requesting the change for a specific development project. Other sections of Title 21A – Zoning may also be amended as part of this petition. Petition no.: PLNPCM2019-00639

*The Planning Commission forwarded a negative recommendation, therefore an ordinance has not been drafted. If the Council decides to approve the zone amendment, an ordinance would be drafted and considered for approval.

FYI – Project Timeline: (subject to change per Chair direction or Council discussion)
Briefing - Tuesday, January 14, 2020; Tuesday, April 21, 2020; and Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Set Public Hearing Date - Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Hold hearing to accept public comment - Tuesday, September 1, 2020 and Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 7 p.m.
TENTATIVE Council Action -

If you cannot attend the virtual meeting, you can submit comments though I am not sure how exactly.

[bob rulz]

I hope the City Council has more sense than the Planning Commission. I fail to understand what "character" the planning commission was hoping to preserve with the denial.

[Makid]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

I hope the City Council has more sense than the Planning Commission. I fail to understand what "character" the planning commission was hoping to preserve with the denial.

The Planning Commission is locked in by the zoning and can only make a few minor changes. A change this big requires the City Council to act.

I am fairly certain that the City Council will do the zoning update. I say this knowing that when the initial request came to the City Council last year, a few members (still on the council) wanted to do the zoning change immediately.

On a positive side, once the zoning is changed to allow increased heights, it can be extended to nearby areas by the Planning Commission. This was previously done with Block 67 - Phase 2, using the d-4 overlay that was created for the CCH. The Planning Commission was able to extend the overlay to this new area.

[Orlando]

I think the concern from the Planning Commission is that they want to encourage denser use to the CBD. There are so many parking lots in the CBD, and if they allow this dispersement of height & density to extend all the way out to the intermodal hub, there is the possibility of The Gateway affect. Remember what happened to downtown when the Gateway was built? The CBD still needs a lot more infill to make it vibrant. Galileo and other tech firms either don't get it or are too impatient. They jump into a quicker and more efficient development in Lehi, etc, but at the sacrifice of good long-term development. The connectivity and infrastructure already provided in the more urban locations like SLC, do take a little more time, but it is the right way if you care about placemaking, connectivity, where their employees want to work and live, the environment, etc.

[meman]

The Carls jr at 2nd South and Main has closed permenently.

I wonder if this is a precursor to the construction of the Kensington apartments

or if this is just another Covid casualty?

I thought Kensington was not supposed to start construction until Summer 2021. Has it been moved up?

Does anyone out there know?

[taboubak]

Originally Posted by meman

The Carls jr at 2nd South and Main has closed permenently.

I wonder if this is a precursor to the construction of the Kensington apartments

or if this is just another Covid casualty?

I thought Kensington was not supposed to start construction until Summer 2021. Has it been moved up?

Does anyone out there know?

This is great news. I believe the lease was up at the end of the year anyway to allow for demolition and construction. Maybe this will get things moving just a tad sooner. Hopefully they get rid of it quickly I'm sick of it being there haha.

[meman]

Correction to my previous post.

The Carls Jr is at 2nd South and State.

[bob rulz]

It was always going to close by the end of the year, perhaps Covid just accelerated the process. At the corporate level, it certainly makes sense from a cost-cutting perspective to close a store early when things get a little tight, when that store was going to close anyway.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by Makid

Just a quick FYI for people, tomorrow nights City Council meeting topic number 1:

Ordinance*: Zoning Text Amendment to Increase Building Height Limits in a Portion of the G-MU Zone
The Council will accept public comment and consider an ordinance that would increase the building heights within a portion of the G-MU (Gateway Mixed Use) zoning district from a current maximum of 120 feet up to 190 feet across portions of two separate blocks located between 500 West and the railroad tracks (approximately 625 West) and 200 South and 400 South. The applicant is requesting the change for a specific development project. Other sections of Title 21A – Zoning may also be amended as part of this petition. Petition no.: PLNPCM2019-00639

*The Planning Commission forwarded a negative recommendation, therefore an ordinance has not been drafted. If the Council decides to approve the zone amendment, an ordinance would be drafted and considered for approval.

FYI – Project Timeline: (subject to change per Chair direction or Council discussion)
Briefing - Tuesday, January 14, 2020; Tuesday, April 21, 2020; and Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Set Public Hearing Date - Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Hold hearing to accept public comment - Tuesday, September 1, 2020 and Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 7 p.m.
TENTATIVE Council Action -

If you cannot attend the virtual meeting, you can submit comments though I am not sure how exactly.

Did anyone attend the meeting? I tried the different links, but I did not figure out how to get the video going. What was the outcome? Are there meeting notes?

[stayinginformed]

Originally Posted by Orlando

Did anyone attend the meeting? I tried the different links, but I did not figure out how to get the video going. What was the outcome? Are there meeting notes?

You can watch it on the Salt Lake City Youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqy...AgQ7kBMVDaZt8A

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by stayinginformed

You can watch it on the Salt Lake City Youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqy...AgQ7kBMVDaZt8A

Thanks. I watched this, and was just amazed at how the public just hijacked this meeting. Only two people actually commented on the items on the agenda. It was all protesters objecting to some of the methods that the city is using to police the protesting. There were also a few comments objecting to a proposed development in Rose Park, called the Elliott? development due to concerns of gentrification. It was opposed by a group called the Rose Park Brown Berrets. Out of the two people that commented about the height increase at the Gateway, one was from the development party, and the other person said that height increase should only be allowed if the developer provides affordable housing or pays a fee for affordable housing to be used by the city. The Council wisely deferred judgement to September 15th on the height increase to allow for another chance for more people to speak about this issue.

[Makid]

Regarding the Carl's Jr. closing and Kensington Tower, it was my impression that the reason it had a Summer 2021 start date was because of scheduling for the contractors.

With all the other projects going on at the same time, I think we are shy of workers needed for some of these larger projects to run simultaneously.

With a Summer 2021 start, Kensington Tower would be able to utilize possibly the same crew that is currently doing the concrete and steel work for Block 67 Phase 1. Sure, excavation could happen earlier same the drilled supports. But until a team is ready to start the upward construction, we would be left with an empty hole.

Now, I hope I am wrong and would love for this to start sooner.

[Orlando]

Since my last post was the last comment on the last page, I wanted to repost this on the new page so that it wasn't missed. I'm curious what you forumers think of the meeting. Here's my post:

Originally Posted by stayinginformed

You can watch it on the Salt Lake City Youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqy...AgQ7kBMVDaZt8A

Thanks. I watched this, and was just amazed at how the public just hijacked this meeting. Only two people actually commented on the items on the agenda. It was all protesters objecting to some of the methods that the city is using to police the protesting. There were also a few comments objecting to a proposed development in Rose Park, called the Elliott? development due to concerns of gentrification. It was opposed by a group called the Rose Park Brown Berrets. Out of the two people that commented about the height increase at the Gateway, one was from the development party, and the other person said that height increase should only be allowed if the developer provides affordable housing or pays a fee for affordable housing to be used by the city. The Council wisely deferred judgement to September 15th on the height increase to allow for another chance for more people to speak about this issue.