Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[palmloverking]

Originally Posted by Orlando

Oh yes, I am in love with, and very excited about 9 Dekalb ave, Orlando. I think it will be a timeless American landmark. Treasure of the 21st century.

[RC14]

I have a few more photos and updates.

Revival (taken 4/6/21):


I forget the name of this project (Next to the liquor store on 200 West... Tore down those historic homes for this..):


Other updates:

Edison House- This property has been fenced off including the sidewalk in front of the property.

Kensington Tower- I walked by this site yesterday morning and noticed that the site is completely empty. There is no equipment of any kind on site.

[Orlando]

/\/\/\ No photos shown.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by RC14

I have a few more photos and updates.

Revival (taken 4/6/21):


I forget the name of this project (Next to the liquor store on 200 West... Tore down those historic homes for this..):


Other updates:

Edison House- This property has been fenced off including the sidewalk in front of the property.

Kensington Tower- I walked by this site yesterday morning and noticed that the site is completely empty. There is no equipment of any kind on site.

Bummer on Kensington, any one have inside knowledge? Hopefully it doesn’t drag on like a few here in Phoenix have. Construction cost issues seem to be the most common guess we formers have.

[Atlas]

I don't think there's any indication Astra (Kensington) Tower has been further delayed. "Summer 2021" has been the groundbreaking window for the last six months, they just announced the name change last week, and:

Originally Posted by Schmoe

Just demolition of the Carl's Jr. and then clearing the lot so Jacobsen Construction can use it for staging while it finishes Liberty Sky across the street.

[Ironweed]

I am just grateful that we are seeing any kind of building and gentrification downtown at all. Box towers or not. I am older than most of you 'kids'. I remember when the current Key Bank (Beneficial Tower) was built in 76'. It was an eternity, or at least I thought so until the building wave of the early eighties. I assumed that downtown was finally hitting It's stride. The oceanic parking lots would soon be eliminated. Not to be. Another long term building drought happened. What I see occurring now is beyond comparison. It is pretty cool.

[Blah_Amazing]

Since Toronto (a much MUCH larger city) was brought up, I thought I would point out how many of the towers in the city are nearly identical to one another, with some color differences, and yet it is often considered one of the prettiest skylines in North America. The same can be said for any major skyline.

Most of the towers are boxy cubes with flat roofs, and the towers that aren't stand out even more because they are different than the rest. That is why I am not as bothered as many of you by the planned towers we have currently being somewhat similar.

If every tower in a skyline was aiming to be an angular cantilevered hypermodern 'signature tower' masterpiece, it would all be just a jumbled mess. Essentially, I think the old but true statement 'if everything is special nothing is' comes to fruition.

The more 300-400 ft boxy towers we get now, filling in our relatively sparse skyline, the more future angular towers and legitimate 'skyscrapers' will stand out.

****

All this being said, I think in future we all do need to stop constantly trying to compare Salt Lake to other cities, especially ones far, far larger. Cause your just setting yourself up for disappointment.

I think it is important for people to remember that up until now, Salt Lake has been little more than a minor regional capital that was (and still frankly is) relatively obscure to the rest of the country, let alone the rest of the world. That is slowly (I emphasize slowly) changing, but many of you seem to think the city should somehow go from the depths of obscurity to a world capital overnight. It just doesn't work that way.

You all keep bringing up examples of 1,000 ft+ tall towers that cost $500 million+ each asking 'why SLC isn't getting something like this?' It's cause Salt Lake is not Brooklyn, New York.

I do believe the future is bright, and I think the 2020s will be Downtown Salt Lake's greatest decade yet.

But this whining about why every tower doesn't look like it was designed for the rich in a place like Dubai or apartments towers for billionaires in New York needs to stop. Saying a slight design change or addition here or there is one thing, comparing our early days developments or our skyline to buildings (like 9 dekalb avenue) and cities much larger (like Phoenix) is getting ridiculous.

[mattreedah]

Originally Posted by Orlando

Here are some contemporary highrises that show a little more creativity than just a boxy flat top:

Is this from Lord of the Rings? Gandolf chilling up top?

[felixg]

That makes me so happy to hear Ironweed! Very cool indeed

Also I fully agree with Blah Amazing, nothing we’re getting yet is going to be signature, hypermodern, or totally cutting edge, we need to build to that point first before letting ourselves down that it’s not happening. I think architectural boldness can be translate to either beauty or dated ugliness, and until we have a more distinct visual identity, attract quality design, and real infill, I won’t be feeling too upset by the lack of it, partly because of its potential to go wrong at this stage when there aren’t as many eyes on the city

[Utah_Dave]

All this residential building is exactly what the downtown core has always been missing. This will really drive the urban core and bring the city to life. Ironweed, you must remember what a ghost town SLC was on the weekends, other then State street at night. Lol

I’m going to repeat myself and say the city needs a bad ass Rec center/ gym.

[bob rulz]

Residential density downtown is definitely what Salt Lake City has been lacking, and why the downtown boom of the 80s mentioned above never really reached its potential - those were all office towers, only bringing 9-5 traffic into town.

Downtown pre-Covid was already was feeling quite a bit more vibrant than it did even 10 years ago.

[Ironweed]

Originally Posted by Utah_Dave

All this residential building is exactly what the downtown core has always been missing. This will really drive the urban core and bring the city to life. Ironweed, you must remember what a ghost town SLC was on the weekends, other then State street at night. Lol

I’m going to repeat myself and say the city needs a bad ass Rec center/ gym.

You're absolutely correct. I was a teen in the early eighties. Downtown was a disaster. It had the two failing malls right next to each; Crossroads and ZCMI. The only things to do in downtown at that time were skateboarding, watch people in the malls, or fill sandbags for state street during the flood of 83'. Cruising state street at night was a pastime for some?

The places for fun for me were in Sugarhouse or South SL. I frequently went to dance clubs with friends at the Bay or the Ritz. Then Denny's on 45'th for late eating.

Things have changed significantly and in a positive way. Culinary opportunities are much better, bars, diversity, etc.

As an older adult, it would be great if SLC were to build a high end social club/restaurant kind of like the Bretschnieder (sp?) guy had planned.

I can definitely appreciate the development and opportunities today vs. "The old days."

[Old&New]

Originally Posted by stenar

no, that's not true. Slc bought the theatre with the express position of restoring it and then mayor biskupski decided on her own that the city needed to dispose of the property. There was no public input. Everything we'd been told before that was that the city was going to restore it.

This

[Atlas]

I'm not one to complain about the tower projects that we are seeing in SLC. I don't think they are bad (except Liberty Sky) and they will definitely add quality density. Could they be better or more interesting? Well yes, but beggars can't be choosers. That said, I don't think it's wrong to have the contrary opinion and I don't mind seeing people complain a bit. I just scroll on by and keep doing what I'm doing.

I do agree that the tabletop effect we are seeing is influenced by the current zoning restrictions. I also think we'd be seeing larger projects in the Depot District, for example, if the height limits weren't so low. That kind of thing is actually worth complaining about, in my opinion. Of course, there are other major factors that influence our development scene too, like the size of SLC blocks and just the amount of capital available in the metro.

The reason Phoenix was brought up is because, despite ostensibly being a much larger city, it is geographically rather close and has a comparable skyline to SLC. Portland comparisons were less about skyline and more about social culture/health. In both cases, I find these comparisons interesting to make and potentially insightful (albeit taken with a grain of salt). No one is comparing SLC to Toronto. I just brought it up because we were talking about contemporary tower designs.

[wrendog]

I'm currently in downtown Nashville. This place is hopping with developments and tower. Very impresseive. I hope SLC can make even a quarter of the jump this place is making.

[delts145]

I would be curious to know the exact comparisons as far as CSA buildup stats go. Perhaps Blah Amazing, Makid or someone keeps better track of those details. From the latest Census, housing, transportation, etc. reports I would think that the greater Wasatch Front has a more well-rounded, larger buildup than greater Nashville by a comfortable margin. I keep track of the Comp. Thread where Nashville forumers primarily resides. At the moment I think Nashville is more active in their 300 ft. plus tower building than Salt Lake City, but when everything else is taken into account in the greater metro especially transportation, single and multi-family residential, commercial, and growth in general I think the Wasatch Front is growing at a faster clip.

However, again I would be really interested in seeing the actual stats in their different categories.

If anyone is passing by The Post House, Hardison, or Marmalade grab some shots. Also, the Beverly should be about finished by now.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by delts145

I would be curious to know the exact comparisons as far as CSA buildup stats go. Perhaps Blah Amazing, Makid or someone keeps better track of those details. From the latest Census, housing, transportation, etc. reports I would think that the greater Wasatch Front has a more well-rounded, larger buildup than greater Nashville by a comfortable margin. I keep track of the Comp. Thread where Nashville forumers primarily resides. At the moment I think Nashville is more active in their 300 ft. plus tower building than Salt Lake City, but when everything else is taken into account in the greater metro especially transportation, single and multi-family residential, commercial, and growth in general I think the Wasatch Front is ahead by quite a longshot.

I'm just comparing the downtown/urban footprint area. Nashville is light years ahead of SLC. Which is ok. SLC is still doing great compared to other metros right now.

And yes, SLC definitely ahead in public transportation

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Atlas

I'm not one to complain about the tower projects that we are seeing in SLC. I don't think they are bad (except Liberty Sky) and they will definitely add quality density. Could they be better or more interesting? Well yes, but beggars can't be choosers. That said, I don't think it's wrong to have the contrary opinion and I don't mind seeing people complain a bit. I just scroll on by and keep doing what I'm doing.

I do agree that the tabletop effect we are seeing is influenced by the current zoning restrictions. I also think we'd be seeing larger projects in the Depot District, for example, if the height limits weren't so low. That kind of thing is actually worth complaining about, in my opinion. Of course, there are other major factors that influence our development scene too, like the size of SLC blocks and just the amount of capital available in the metro.

The reason Phoenix was brought up is because, despite ostensibly being a much larger city, it is geographically rather close and has a comparable skyline to SLC. Portland comparisons were less about skyline and more about social culture/health. In both cases, I find these comparisons interesting to make and potentially insightful (albeit taken with a grain of salt). No one is comparing SLC to Toronto. I just brought it up because we were talking about contemporary tower designs.

Fair enough, SLC is smaller than PHX but I don't see it as massively different, not like comparing it LA, Toronto or Chicago for example. Phoenix is much younger, despite being larger, and the geography enabled it to sprawl more. Recently though the more desirable areas of Phoenix have become landlocked and density is going in like never before. SLC is seems to also be hitting it's stride in a similar way, with the SL valley full. I think it's an interesting comparison as well, especially for me personally as I spend a lot of time in both places.

Speaking on skylines, the primary difference I see is that Phoenix has an established uptown and downtown (image below captures both, which is rare most you'll find online just show downtown) plus the regional area has larger node skylines in Tempe and Scottsdale. When you take them collectively I don't see the two being very comparable. There just isn't anything like Tempe or Scottsdale around SLC. But I'm really happy with the progress and can't wait to visit this summer to see all the new activity up there.

[Atlas]

New BSL article with a new mass timber proposal near the U:

https://www.buildingsaltlake.com/mas...er-this-month/

Harbor Bay, the Chicago-area company wading into the waters of university-neighborhood land use politics in Salt Lake City, is floating a 10-12 story mass timber, likely mixed-use, all-studio project (with townhomes along one street frontage)

The site is at the northwest corner of University Street (1350 E) and 300 South. It is currently zoned RMF-30 and R-2. It would need a zoning change to TSA station area core to build to 125 ft.

It is also in the University Local Historic District, which largely prevents the demolition of “contributing structures.”

[jedikermit]

I'm very interested in the potential of Mass Timber -- also interested to see the conversation here about this project. To me it seems out of scale for that particular site, but I'm also having a hard time setting it in context. Across from Pioneer Memorial Theater, it would take down an LDS Church/Institute building and some single family homes (maybe that Pie Annex on 1300 East too?). Hard for me to imagine something that size and scale in that location.