Salt Lake NHL and MLB News Thread

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Juancrocco

I have been saying it in this thread from the beginning. Ryan Smith never said he was taking things to the point. In fact he said more to suggest downtown than otherwise. Everyone worried sick about the suburbs has been operating off of nothing but their own fears not actual facts or statements from anyone involved. I’m zero percent surprised. The Jazz will not leave downtown.

I mean, if you give a billionaire a billion dollars he or she will go wherever the hell you tell them to.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by Juancrocco

I have been saying it in this thread from the beginning. Ryan Smith never said he was taking things to the point. In fact he said more to suggest downtown than otherwise. Everyone worried sick about the suburbs has been operating off of nothing but their own fears not actual facts or statements from anyone involved. I’m zero percent surprised. The Jazz will not leave downtown.

I don't think it was baseless. The state has a long history of screwing over Salt Lake City because of their liberal politics. Real Salt Lake, the prison, and the inland port are all classic examples.

[nushiof]

Originally Posted by Comrade

I wish it was on the Newhouse block if only because that's an entry point to the city that has been vacant of any development for like 40 years.

But by the Salt Palace would be a good spot and continue to help expand downtown westward.

I'm excited.

I agree with this. Newhouse would be best because of walkable proximity to Main St, trax, hotels, etc. The new pedestrian only stretch on Main would be amazing on game nights.

But I’ll take anything downtown as a huge win compared to any option in the suburbs.

[airhero]

Originally Posted by Juancrocco

I have been saying it in this thread from the beginning. Ryan Smith never said he was taking things to the point. In fact he said more to suggest downtown than otherwise. Everyone worried sick about the suburbs has been operating off of nothing but their own fears not actual facts or statements from anyone involved. I’m zero percent surprised. The Jazz will not leave downtown.

You weren’t paying attention then. True there weren’t a lot of public statements. Ryan Smith said very little publicly until the last month, but prior to that there was plenty of evidence the point was being considered as a place for a professional team including, eventually, the Jazz. In December, the trib reported that the Jazz organization made an inquiry about a site at the point: https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2...-downtown-one/

That coupled with statewide focus on developing the point into what is essentially a southern valley downtown was plenty to think it a legitimate possibility. Recent statements have obviously quelled concerns.

[mstar]

Well, I am excited! I agree with a prior post how downtown could possibly could look in 10 years. We have to factor in what changes the Olympics could bring as well. I get the resistance of some for tax funds to move this along. However, these exciting improvements don't happen without them! Cudos to Mayor Mendenhal!

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by airhero

You weren’t paying attention then. True there weren’t a lot of public statements. Ryan Smith said very little publicly until the last month, but prior to that there was plenty of evidence the point was being considered as a place for a professional team including, eventually, the Jazz. In December, the trib reported that the Jazz organization made an inquiry about a site at the point: https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2...-downtown-one/

That coupled with statewide focus on developing the point into what is essentially a southern valley downtown was plenty to think it a legitimate possibility. Recent statements have obviously quelled concerns.

I think most doomed about the suburbs because of how things played out in the past. I didn't expect the legislature to side with SLC and I'm sure Smith would happily have built out in the suburbs if he got the incentives he'll be getting from the government.

Also credit to Mayor Mendenhall. She clearly has cultivated a relationship with the legislature that makes them less hostile to the city. Had the city elected Rocky, who I ended up voting for because I knew he wouldn't win anyway (would have reluctantly voted for Mendenhall if I felt the race was close), I'm not sure any of this is happening.

[RC14]

Every rumor I had heard (from people close to this) up until this point was that he was looking at building the NHL arena at the south end of the valley. Not necessarily at the Point.
The reset news is welcome and exciting. Although, it is still early and we've seen how these things can go south. Like with Real going to Sandy and plans repeatedly falling through for the Yotes in Arizona. But yes, this is great news and I think we probably have Mendenhall to thank for it.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by airhero

You weren’t paying attention then. True there weren’t a lot of public statements. Ryan Smith said very little publicly until the last month, but prior to that there was plenty of evidence the point was being considered as a place for a professional team including, eventually, the Jazz. In December, the trib reported that the Jazz organization made an inquiry about a site at the point: https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2...-downtown-one/

That coupled with statewide focus on developing the point into what is essentially a southern valley downtown was plenty to think it a legitimate possibility. Recent statements have obviously quelled concerns.

This was really bad, or at the very least delayed reporting. In truth they had one meeting about the jazz moving to Draper…. A year before it was reported. Nothing has happened or been planned since.

On a positive note. The reporting really lit a fire under people’s ass. Now it’s looking less likely that it will move to Draper. The only thing Draper deserves to take from salt lake is a homeless shelter.

I kind of wonder where this new arena will get built. The rumor of it going next to the baseball stadium also got debunked.. although it’s very odd that all the land recently acquired by the millers is not where the baseball stadium is going… I don’t think the delta center will go there, but I can’t help but wonder what the deal is there… land swap maybe?

It kind of sounds like the plan is to keep the delta center right in the same area. I only see a few options.

- The most obvious would be to aquire the surface parking block from the LDS church. I don’t know that they would be willing to let that go though.

- The other option would be to tear down gateway. I think this might actually be the most likely option. A lot of that mall is still empty…. Perhaps the millers could even relocate the movie theater to some of the property they bought between north and south temple around redwood road.

- I suppose the third option would be to temporarily house the jazz elsewhere while they tear down the old delta center and build new.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

This was really bad, or at the very least delayed reporting. In truth they had one meeting about the jazz moving to Draper…. A year before it was reported. Nothing has happened or been planned since.

On a positive note. The reporting really lit a fire under people’s ass. Now it’s looking less likely that it will move to Draper. The only thing Draper deserves to take from salt lake is a homeless shelter.

I kind of wonder where this new arena will get built. The rumor of it going next to the baseball stadium also got debunked.. although it’s very odd that all the land recently acquired by the millers is not where the baseball stadium is going… I don’t think the delta center will go there, but I can’t help but wonder what the deal is there… land swap maybe?

It kind of sounds like the plan is to keep the delta center right in the same area. I only see a few options.

- The most obvious would be to aquire the surface parking block from the LDS church. I don’t know that they would be willing to let that go though.

- The other option would be to tear down gateway. I think this might actually be the most likely option. A lot of that mall is still empty…. Perhaps the millers could even relocate the movie theater to some of the property they bought between north and south temple around redwood road.

- I suppose the third option would be to temporarily house the jazz elsewhere while they tear down the old delta center and build new.

I think the third option is most likely.

[Juancrocco]

Originally Posted by Orlando

I think the third option is most likely.

Does anyone else think that the Delta Center doesn’t need to be changed at all? In my opinion it is one of the best arenas in the country. Steep seating that keeps every seat close to the action. Good vendors, great suites.

I think building a hockey-specific arena somewhere separate is the best case scenario. And I actually don’t really have strong convictions as to where that kind of arena should be. The key is just keeping the jazz downtown.

I wouldn’t be upset with a hockey arena a little further south or just east of pioneer park like others have suggested. I just don’t think the delta center needs replacing at all, and with an MLB stadium on north temple, happy to have a hockey arena elsewhere. Those two alone are great urban sports centers.

[bob rulz]

I agree that keeping the Delta Center would be great, but if Ryan Smith really is successful at bringing an NHL team to Utah, I doubt he would want to operate 2 separate arenas. That's just the reality of the business.

Originally Posted by ajiuO

The other option would be to tear down gateway. I think this might actually be the most likely option. A lot of that mall is still empty…. Perhaps the millers could even relocate the movie theater to some of the property they bought between north and south temple around redwood road.

I don't know how you come to the conclusion that tearing down Gateway is the most likely option. Not only would they have to actually acquire Gateway, but a lot of people live there. I still believe there's potential for Gateway; I think Covid derailed a lot of the positive momentum it had.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by Juancrocco

Does anyone else think that the Delta Center doesn’t need to be changed at all? In my opinion it is one of the best arenas in the country. Steep seating that keeps every seat close to the action. Good vendors, great suites.

I think building a hockey-specific arena somewhere separate is the best case scenario. And I actually don’t really have strong convictions as to where that kind of arena should be. The key is just keeping the jazz downtown.

I wouldn’t be upset with a hockey arena a little further south or just east of pioneer park like others have suggested. I just don’t think the delta center needs replacing at all, and with an MLB stadium on north temple, happy to have a hockey arena elsewhere. Those two alone are great urban sports centers.

If hockey comes to Utah and Ryan Smith is the owner, it would make 0 financial sense to have 2 arenas, so that option would be out of the question. The question just becomes is he willing to move the Jazz elsewhere for a year while the DC gets a complete gutting, which is what it'll need to work for hockey, or if he'd rather abandon it and build a new arena from scratch somewhere else.

The other possibility, though no one is talking about it, is if the Coyotes can't find a home, does that owner then try to move the team here but retain ownership? Not sure how badly the league would want new ownership along with a move, it's a pretty radical option to force a sale.

Whether Smith keeps it at the DC or a new location, he's going to want a lot of development surround it, which if he sticks to the DC location means hopefully taking control of the parking lot across the street, maybe losing the big open plaza and redeveloping those into more commercially-viable things; hotels, restaurants, bars, other things to bring event-goers to before and after the event itself. That makes the DC location a bit difficult as there's not a ton of unused space around it. But hopefully the ownership and city officials can get creative and turn what area there is to be developed into something cool.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

I agree that keeping the Delta Center would be great, but if Ryan Smith really is successful at bringing an NHL team to Utah, I doubt he would want to operate 2 separate arenas. That's just the reality of the business.

I don't know how you come to the conclusion that tearing down Gateway is the most likely option. Not only would they have to actually acquire Gateway, but a lot of people live there. I still believe there's potential for Gateway; I think Covid derailed a lot of the positive momentum it had.

The new ownership of Gateway has made a lot of changes to it, and a new hotel is being built there, plus Recursion's HQ in the old sporting goods location. Not sure how any scenario leads to it's demolition completely, it's a well-designed space for the most part; they've done pretty well converting it from a mostly-shopping experience to more of an entertainment/dining experience; just needs to continue that path. The one downside is it's fairly walled off from 400W, I wonder how they could possibly open it up more so it's more inviting to the Delta Center. It reminds me a lot of Horton Plaza in San Diego; in the 80s it was built and totally revitalized downtown SD, but it was walled off from the surrounding areas and finally met its demise within the last decade; new ownership has taken over and currently converting it into a new advanced tech hub; and I believe they're also trying to open it up to access from surrounding blocks.

[Atlas]

Originally Posted by ucsbgaucho

The new ownership of Gateway has made a lot of changes to it, and a new hotel is being built there, plus Recursion's HQ in the old sporting goods location. Not sure how any scenario leads to it's demolition completely, it's a well-designed space for the most part; they've done pretty well converting it from a mostly-shopping experience to more of an entertainment/dining experience; just needs to continue that path. The one downside is it's fairly walled off from 400W, I wonder how they could possibly open it up more so it's more inviting to the Delta Center. It reminds me a lot of Horton Plaza in San Diego; in the 80s it was built and totally revitalized downtown SD, but it was walled off from the surrounding areas and finally met its demise within the last decade; new ownership has taken over and currently converting it into a new advanced tech hub; and I believe they're also trying to open it up to access from surrounding blocks.

This is a great observation. Except for a couple places, the 400W frontage of the Gateway is not very pedestrian-friendly. The parking garage exits are actually pretty hazardous, at the moment.

I actually think TechLink has the potential to be a huge boon for the Gateway with more people passing through on TRAX from the south.

And as much as I hate the design of the new hotel at the Gateway, I think that will also help a lot of the businesses there like Seabird and Flanker.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by Atlas

This is a great observation. Except for a couple places, the 400W frontage of the Gateway is not very pedestrian-friendly. The parking garage exits are actually pretty hazardous, at the moment.

I actually think TechLink has the potential to be a huge boon for the Gateway with more people passing through on TRAX from the south.

And as much as I hate the design of the new hotel at the Gateway, I think that will also help a lot of the businesses there like Seabird and Flanker.

I'm actually really surprised at how they designed the Gateway, considering DC was already there. I'm glad they put all the residential on the west side of it but it's amazing that there's no street engagement on 400W other than those parking garage entrances and exits; there should have been way more pedestrian access areas all along 400W with restaurants having those corner locations so they can face 400W and into the center of the Gateway at the same time. Now, the 400W side of Gateway is just a wall with windows, some entrances to office spaces, parking garage entrances, Recursion, and then The Depot and the eventual hotel. No retail, no dining, nothing.

Plus, that side of the DC is also sort of walled off from the street; that's almost considered the back side of the DC so there's no engagement on 400W either. The diagonal placement of the arena leaves these empty plazas; maybe they'll decide to re-orient the arena North-South or East-West and then have room to build some retail/dining/entertainment within it's own block. Wouldn't be opposed necessarily to closing off that block of 400W to traffic on event days either to allow more street engagement; food truck parking, pedestrian mall like Main Street in the summer. But there needs to be more street-facing dining and entertainment around there to make it work.

[ucsbgaucho]

Here's Ball Arena in Denver overlaid on the Delta Center site... not really a bigger footprint, so they could do a lot with that extra space on that block without needing to expand out; if they can grab some of the land surrounding the arena, it opens things up even more.

[Comrade]

The Delta Center, even after its renovations, is still lightyears behind the newer arenas.

It's not 2004 anymore. Back then, Delta Center routinely ranked as one of the better arenas in the league.

Today?

Not so much.

https://hoopshype.com/lists/media-po...best-to-worst/

Media members ranked Delta Center 23rd this season.

[bob rulz]

I agree that the 400W side of Gateway needs some work. That stretch of 400W could be a great street if we wanted it to be.

[Atlas]

Ryan Smith on X:

Downtown Salt Lake City is the heart of Utah. Our efforts are not about an arena, it’s about revitalizing a downtown that desperately needs investment. Imagine a downtown experience like this with the NBA / NHL at its core.

[Makid]

I would love something like that. For the area around it though, I don't see that happening at the current Delta Center site as it would require either demolishing portions of the Gateway, or the Triad Center (I am okay with this), the Paperbox project and the buildings directly north, or the western section of the Salt Palace.

I can't wait for more renderings and a proposed site plan. If everything goes well in the Legislature, we may find out more about this in the next few months.