Wow, tell us how you really feel Scott...LOL...J/K. For sure, WV has been a tremendous partner to Hale.
Scott, something that was first on my mind when you mentioned it the other day, and now I see the question given some good press in the Trib...
S. Salt Lake has yet to close on movie studio plans for Granite High
South Salt Lake hopes to close on the deal in 30 days.
By Cimaron Neugebauer | The Salt Lake Tribune
South Salt Lake announced in October it had entered into plans to buy and rehab the historic Granite High School into a motion picture and television production facility — but no one has bought the property yet.
During the fall press conference, South Salt Lake Mayor Cherie Wood said developer Woodbury Corp. and partner Redman Movies and Stories had formed a joint venture. The plan was to preserve and renovate the roughly 45-year-old building and 27-acre site at about 3300 South and 500 East and use it as a setting and studio for films.
But the deal still hasn’t been finalized, according to city officials and the Granite School District, which has leased the property to the city since April 2011. In fact, there is no current lease agreement as of the end of January.
Resident Bob LeMone, who lives near the school, says the idea sounds great, but until papers are signed it is just a dream that is costing taxpayers.
"I think after that press conference everyone assumed Woodbury was taking over the payments of the building, and that is not what is going on," LeMone said, adding that he hasn’t been able to get any information from the city.
LeMone wasn’t the only one who thought the deal was final. KSL Newsradio’s commentator Doug Wright did a special TV editorial applauding the partnership between the three parties to open a studio very soon.
In the editorial video, Wright — an alumnus of the school — says "it looks like they are already moving in," as he walks past an archaic film projector assumed to be property of Redman Movies and Stories just inside the entrance of the school.
A lease agreement, obtained by an open records request, between the city and the school district shows in late October the city told the school district of its intent to purchase Granite with the involvement of Woodbury. The developer paid the school district $500,000 to extend the city’s lease — which would have ended in November — to Jan. 31. The city had already extended the lease once before.
Mayor Wood declined comment to an email from The Tribune asking what the October media event was for and if at that point a deal had been solidified.
"We are optimistic the property will be purchased in the next few weeks," said Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley, adding it is moving forward "in good faith" that the city will finalize negotiations with the developer...
Read More...http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55...anite.html.csp
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