I'm not surprised either to hear that "The Prestige" has stalled. Can Sandy support a 25 story residential high rise? No not right now, but that's not to say that they can't in 10-15 years. You can't simply build a new downtown with highrises, from scratch. If they are so determined to build a true downtown then start with little steps, they already missed the boat on how all those office towers directly north of City Hall were developed, so they now need to focus on all the undeveloped land between City Hall and Southtowne Center.
Many of these ideas I've mentioned in the past, but it's been a while and maybe some of them are new.
A: Start with two trolley/shuttles that run continuously between Sandy City Center Trax, City Center, Front Runner, and South Towne Center.
1) Trax, down Sego Lilly to State, continuing west to S Jordan Parkway, south to Front Runner, and the same route on the return. Provide a couple of stops in the city center area, and a couple of stops along S. Jordan Parkway to serve huge employers like Ultradent.
2) Trax, access to State around the Cemetery to 10200 S, south on State to the Mall Entrance by Ethan Allen, past the Food Court entrance, then up toward City Hall, then head west to SJ Pkwy and south to Front Runner. Same route in return. Again with several stops along the way.
The Trolley could be partially funded by the city, and partially funded by businesses along the route. South Towne could sponsor the trolley that comes to Southe Towne and Utlradent or other office tenants could sponsor the one that just runs from Trax to FR.
B: If Hale Center is 100% moving from WVC, make sure to secure the move to Sandy. I'd prefer a move to SoSaLa, (but looking from a Sandy pov right now), make sure to secure the new HCT.
C: Reduce parking requirements for office, retail and residential in the City Center, and require all new parking to be structured, and allow for shared parking with existing surface lots.
D: I am not sure what the current allowed uses are, but if need be change them to allow restaurants with liquor licenses, bars, and clubs in the City Center area.
E: Provide incentives for a residential developer to develop something on the west side of target. An urban design apartment/condo maybe 6-10 stories, (probably 7 with wood on pedestal construction) with at least one retail space at street level.
F: Provide incentives for the redevelopment of the south end of the Target shopping Center, where Gart Brothers/Sport Authority was, including the parking lot to the south. Redevelop that with urban style housing above some small retail spaces, and transform the current parking lot access into an actual street. An office tower on Sporty Authority or on the parking lot south could be an option as well, one residential one office.
This is just a starting point. Sandy needs to grow into the demand for more density. Zone specific corners with minimum heights and allow the demand to drive it, rather than desire and wishes. "You can wish in one hand and crap in the other, and see which one gets filled first"
I'll attempt a really crappy paint map to illustrate all of the above, except the wishing a crapping part.
I honestly feel that the Trolleys will bring additional people into existing and future retail and provide more opportunities for residential in an urban setting, but for those that want urban with out the "scary" of an actual downtown (SLC)
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