Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[Atlas]

The Sugar Alley site has been active for a few weeks. I do think the project is now underway.

Maybe someone close by can get some photos of that and the other Sugar House projects for us!

[airhero]

They tore up the street south of the Vue in preparation for construction of Sugar Alley. It's getting very close to beginning. I'm not sure they plan on starting construction until LPG's other project Dixon Place is finished but it is nearly complete so shouldn't be long.

Sugarmont on the other hand continues to march on at an agonizingly slow pace.

[berger4]

I suck at getting pictures on this site, but yes I live 2 blocks from the Sugar Alley development and can get some pictures of that site. Sugarmont has a full crew every day so the first phase should hopefully be done soon.

[Boz]

Originally Posted by berger4

I suck at getting pictures on this site, but yes I live 2 blocks from the Sugar Alley development and can get some pictures of that site. Sugarmont has a full crew every day so the first phase should hopefully be done soon.

All you need to do is use a photo hosting site, like flickr or something similar.

Upload your photo to the photo hosting site and then use the URL (link) it provides and copy/paste the URL into a new post and it will display the picture.

Make sure the tags are on the front and back of the URL (link). Like this:

[img] http://imageaddress [/img] (without the spaces)

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by Comrade

I am glad they're keeping the history of Snelgrove double scoops & the old sign, even if the proposed building is a hulking mess.

I would be surprised if there weren't some changes to the design. I anticipate a lot of backlash over this one.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by airhero

They tore up the street south of the Vue in preparation for construction of Sugar Alley. It's getting very close to beginning. I'm not sure they plan on starting construction until LPG's other project Dixon Place is finished but it is nearly complete so shouldn't be long.

Sugarmont on the other hand continues to march on at an agonizingly slow pace.

So, Atlas says it's been active for a few weeks now, but you say they haven't? Who's correct?

[berger4]

Originally Posted by Orlando

So, Atlas says it's been active for a few weeks now, but you say they haven't? Who's correct?

I don’t know if it’s just site pre but there’s an active crew at the site working daily, even Saturdays over the past 3 or so weeks.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by delts145

^^^
There was a post that it was about to begin, and then a post a few days later that it hadn't begun yet. I hope it's any day now. Sugar Alley is one of my favorites.



Is COVID-19 the ‘great accelerator’? Utah set to win big as big cities continue to lose residents

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/11...-new-york-city

Utah could be perfectly positioned to become one of the top destinations for those fleeing urban residential settings that have become, for some, considerably less desirable amid the current public health crisis.

Two national experts on urban development, Joel Kotkin, presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University, and Wendell Cox, senior fellow at the Urban Reform Institute, presented research and insight last week during an online discussion hosted by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

I was actually very disappointed in what they said. They were essentially arguing that sprawl is just fine because due to the pandemic, mass transit is not necessary and living in close proximity to each other in downtowns isn't either. That's quite a narrow view to base it on the pandemic, which will be short-term in the long range of things. There's still many reasons why sprawl is bad.

[scottharding]

Yeah, that article was pretty poorly done. They also claim that income equality is one of Utah's attractive qualities (no source citation, because it's Deseret news), when Utah is dead last in gender disparity in the workplace in the whole US.

[jedikermit]

The Tribune article on that same event was also terrible:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/11/...rawl-way-grow/

Headline was "Utah Urged to Build More Single Family Homes," which gives a good idea about how that goes.

Essentially a developer think tank, doing a study paid for by developers, to turn in a report to advisors to legislators who are also developers...what did you THINK it was going to say??

A favorite WTF? in the article:

“You basically solve the sprawl problem within the sprawl,” said Kotkin, also executive director of the Urban Reform Institute. “You don’t make people miserable so that you can have a planner’s model that really limits people’s choices.”

The results, the researchers argue, promote greater income equality and strengthen family units. They also believe the perceived benefits of mass transit are overblown.

“Mass transit really does not work very well in most places,” Kotkin said in a presentation for the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute in Salt Lake City. “Frankly, we’d be better off building day care centers than spending a fortune to build these light rail systems.”

...there are other voices in the Tribune article pushing back on them, at least, making more arguments that we would see in the forum here. But the event and "research study" itself are a circle jerk.

[airhero]

Originally Posted by Orlando

So, Atlas says it's been active for a few weeks now, but you say they haven't? Who's correct?

I think we're on the same page. There's equipment on site. Site work has been underway, like I said they tore up the road and all the fencing is up now. But no serious excavation/construction had begun as of two days ago. Just looks like a dirt lot at this point. But they've taken the step from being the staging area for the other two developments to preparing for construction on that lot. I really need to be better about taking pics I live one block from the site.

[RC14]

Originally Posted by Orlando

I was actually very disappointed in what they said. They were essentially arguing that sprawl is just fine because due to the pandemic, mass transit, is not necessary and living in close proximity to each other in downtowns isn't either. That's quite a narrow view to base it on the pandemic, which will be short-term in the long range of things. There's still many reasons why sprawl is bad.

Maybe I'm looking too closely at it but I also didn't like how the article seemed to conflate Utah and Salt Lake City. There was a line in there about how people are leaving cities with Metro populations of over 1 million and moving to places like Utah but they have a picture of Salt Lake City at the top and Salt Lake City's MSA population is over 1 million. Utah also, has a population which is 85% urban. Most of that urban population lives in the Salt Lake CSA which has a population of over 2 million.

Kotkin and Cox said data shows residents, on a net basis, have been moving out of U.S. metro areas with populations of 1 million or more and finding new homes in smaller cities going back to 2012.

I realize this is probably a minor complaint but it bothers me that so many Utahans see this as a rural state when, at least percentage wise, we are one of the most urban.

Along those lines, I fear our governor elect not only doesn't have an urban mindset but seems to be actively anti "big city."

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by jedikermit

The Tribune article on that same event was also terrible:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/11/...rawl-way-grow/

Headline was "Utah Urged to Build More Single Family Homes," which gives a good idea about how that goes.

Essentially a developer think tank, doing a study paid for by developers, to turn in a report to advisors to legislators who are also developers...what did you THINK it was going to say??

A favorite WTF? in the article:

“You basically solve the sprawl problem within the sprawl,” said Kotkin, also executive director of the Urban Reform Institute. “You don’t make people miserable so that you can have a planner’s model that really limits people’s choices.”

The results, the researchers argue, promote greater income equality and strengthen family units. They also believe the perceived benefits of mass transit are overblown.

“Mass transit really does not work very well in most places,” Kotkin said in a presentation for the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute in Salt Lake City. “Frankly, we’d be better off building day care centers than spending a fortune to build these light rail systems.”

...there are other voices in the Tribune article pushing back on them, at least, making more arguments that we would see in the forum here. But the event and "research study" itself are a circle jerk.

They're urban experts? What?! More like conservative suburban think tankers. They also said to stop going to Portland to study that city as a model because of all the extreme liberal protesting. Portland is amazing for its city planning and transit, but their overblown protests just make them look bad.

[Atlas]

Originally Posted by RC14

Along those lines, I fear our governor elect not only doesn't have an urban mindset but seems to be actively anti "big city."

This is my concern too. He won the nomination by appealing to Utah County and rural voters in general, so to me that means he will feel obligated to position himself against SLC in some ways. At best, he will continue the status quo (indifference) while publicly supporting sprawl-y projects like endless office parks and the State Prison shenanigans.

If we wanted the state to help out on transit expansion or urban housing (beyond what is currently planned), Huntsman would have been our guy.

[Atlas]

Some nice images from KUTV on facebook below. I'm liking the density that's starting to develop west of downtown (second image).

[RC14]

Rocky Mountain Power plans development for west SLC land

The land to be developed begins on the south side of North Temple and extends to Interstate 80. It stretches from Redwood Road east to the Jordan River. It lies directly on the route from the Salt Lake City International Airport to downtown...

The site will include new headquarters for Rocky Mountain Power, along with housing, businesses and restaurants. The power company believes in addition to beautifying this section of Salt Lake City, the project will add to the quality of life and benefit the environment.

“Several aspects of the neighborhood are going to be greatly improved for cycling, for walking, access to the river,” Hall said. “We want it to be a model of sustainability — we want it to show what the future is going to look like.”

A project team is expected to be in place by May 2021. It could be several years before the public notices any changes to the property.

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-...-west-slc-land

[stayinginformed]

We scooped this news by over a month.

Originally Posted by Makid

It looks like more changes will be coming along North Temple in the somewhat near future.

A new project area was recently announced. 1407 W North Temple, also known as the Rocky Mountain Service Center.

100 Acres in total but will be done in 2 phases. The Gadsby power plant will be shutting down in the next few years and Phase 2 will be the existing power plant area.

Investment Highlights

100+ Acre Redevelopment Site is Accepting Request for Qualification & Redevelopment Concept.

Brand new Rocky Mountain Power Headquarters anticipated to anchor the site

Excellent site location within 5 minutes of downtown, an international airport, Utah's largest transit hub and miles of outdoor trails and recreation

---
Additional info from the RFQ Document: https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/hwCam...4/document.pdf



There are also emails/documents from SLC Mayor Mendenhall and the Head of Economic Development Corp of Utah (EDCU) both offering support and assistance.

The Mayor also mentioned:


Theresa Foxley from the EDCU Stated:


It does seem that this will be very big for the area and the City overall.

[Atlas]

I really like the name they are going with for the RMP project: the "Power District." It's a slick rebranding and compliments the existing (Granary/Depot) "District" naming scheme that the city is using.

Hopefully it actually turns out to be the mixed-use, transit-oriented gateway to the city that they are envisioning.

[Blah_Amazing]

I pulled the images from the PDF (discussed above ^^) for the Rocky Mountain Power Development. I believe these are meant to act more as an overall idea/ concept of what RMP wants the development to be like, rather than actual project renderings.

https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/hwCam...4/document.pdf

These were also the same images used in the fox13 newsclip that was mentioned earlier as well.

https://kutv.com/news/local/tents-cr...ll-the-city-do

Project Site Map:

Images from PDF:






Personally, I think these initial idea renderings are a good sign that RMP is taking the project seriously and wants to make it a great place to be. I really like that they appear to be going for pedestrian plazas & groundfloor retail as the main groundlevel feature, with mixed-use development and mostly 7+ floor buildings as well.

I am also really encouraged by the project goals for this development as well as the threshold criteria for developers:

[Marvland]

Love seeing the renderings with the Gadsen plant smokestacks intact. I think they should preserve and paint them with giant letters that say "Salt Lake City". Those stacks are the closest thing to an iconic form as you enter the city from the airport (well except for our amazing mountains). Gadsen will be decommissioned as I understand.