Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[Makid]

Salt Lake City braces for traffic problems as five skyscrapers rise amid a wave of downtown construction

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/01/...RpXYZ0pNhFVItM

If you drive in the heart of Salt Lake City, the downtown building boom is about to get very real.

Denizens of Utah’s capital face the combined traffic impacts of at least six huge construction projects expected to get underway simultaneously in 2020 — five skyscrapers along a six-block stretch of State Street and 200 South and the once-in-a-lifetime renovation of the Salt Lake Temple on Temple Square.

Work on those new and refreshed landmarks on the city’s skyline will rise at the same time that dozens of smaller apartment complexes and commercial buildings are going up across the wider downtown area.

City crews, meanwhile, will also embark on several major street repairs as part of a $87 million road reconstruction bond approved in November — including upgrades to 200 South from downtown eastward to the University of Utah.

“Fourteen cranes over the city on six different projects,” said Dee Brewer, executive director of the Downtown Alliance, an arm of the Salt Lake Chamber. “There are lots of moving parts here."

Fairly informative article minus the confusion of 95 S and 151 S for the main pour prior to Thanksgiving. ---Story has been fixed since I first made this post.

It will be great to see the cranes throughout the city.

The projects listed don't include the Moda Luxe, 650 Main, 651 Main, Regent Hotel (whatever the new project will be) and the APS Hotel.

[TheWire]

Lol. The handwringing of "bracing" for traffic problems is funny to me. We literally don't have any traffic in the CBD. Even with this. Don't know why it has to be framed negatively.

[Atlas]

Pretty cool that we have three 20+ story towers all under construction now; one hotel, one office building, and one residential tower. Let's hope the other two residential towers materialize! I think more people living downtown will end up really improving the cityscape.

[scottharding]

Some quick shots from around west downtown:

The Marmalade


PaperBox



Centro Civico Mexicano

[delts145]

Wow, so many projects going on I had momentarily forgot about Paperbox. It's really coming along, also Marmalade. Thanks Scott for the update

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by TheWire

Lol. The handwringing of "bracing" for traffic problems is funny to me. We literally don't have any traffic in the CBD. Even with this. Don't know why it has to be framed negatively.

This is kind of funny. To put it in perspective, Seattle is in the process of completing 40 highrises since 2010, and they have narrower streets.

[bob rulz]

Lol like all of these projects would even affect traffic that much. State Street is so wide downtown, the traffic will be just fine.

[ThePusherMan]

With all this residential being built downtown can our 15 foot sidewalks even handle all of the foot traffic there is going to be!?!?!??!?!?!@?!? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DOOOOOO??

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by Orlando

79 mph in Florida is definitely high speed. I've experienced the slowest drivers and lowest and strictest speed limit laws in the country in Florida. The speed limit on the freeways in Orlando is 50 mph, and you can't get away from going 10 miles over the limit or even 7. I never received a speeding ticket in my life until I moved to Florida. I racked up three in less than a year. I think it's partly due to that the cops are required to have a quota of tickets given to make for no state income tax or sales tax or something like that.

"Apr. 24, 2014
TALLAHASSEE — Drivers should be able to travel at 75 mph on most interstate highways in Florida, the Senate voted Thursday.

By a 27-11 vote, senators gave the Department of Transportation the leeway to decide where the speed limit can rise from 70 to 75 on about 1,500 miles of roadway on Interstate 75, I-95, I-10, I-4, Florida's Turnpike and the Suncoast Parkway."

Source: www.tampabay.com

[Marvland]

Originally Posted by Hatman

Also, while I'm interrupting the SLC thread, here is a link to my post on the SLC transit thread, where I proposed using the Rio Grande Depot as a new Central Station, abandoning the current Central Station site, and turning the old rail yards into 80 acres of newly develop-able downtown parcels:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=8267

A sneak-preview to the google map that is now linked in my signature line:

I really like this idea Hatman. Thanks for sharing. They missed a huge opportunity not using one of our amazing Depots as the hub in the first place. Current hub is a cracked out mess. Part of the problem is the stunted development of the RDA owned parcels down there.

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Originally Posted by Marvland

I really like this idea Hatman. Thanks for sharing. They missed a huge opportunity not using one of our amazing Depots as the hub in the first place. Current hub is a cracked out mess. Part of the problem is the stunted development of the RDA owned parcels down there.

The pace the RDA is moving on those parcels is painful and frustrating.

[stayinginformed]

Originally Posted by Always Sunny in SLC

The pace the RDA is moving on those parcels is painful and frustrating.

Anything the RDA touches takes 20 times longer to complete than it should.

[stayinginformed]

Updated images from the planning commission meeting last night for the 255 State Street Project.

[ThePusherMan]

Are Edison Street buildings being demoed for this project? If so, which ones. Would hate to lose some of those one story brick buildings. Edison Street has a lot of charm.

[Wasatch Wasteland]

Originally Posted by ThePusherMan

Are Edison Street buildings being demoed for this project? If so, which ones. Would hate to lose some of those one story brick buildings. Edison Street has a lot of charm.

No, but keep an eye out in the coming months for a cool project rehabilitating Edison and developing the northwest corner of 300 S and 200 E, as well as the parking lot on the southeast end of Edison. It involves extending the mid block network as well.

[ThePusherMan]

I’m listening.... Spill the beans!

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Originally Posted by ThePusherMan

I’m listening.... Spill the beans!

http://https://www.sltrib.com/news/2...ders-may-have/

Bummer about Ken Sanders.

“Great cities aren’t created by chain restaurants and retailers and cookie-cutter shops and services,” Sanders said. “The unique, indigenous businesses that come out of nowhere are what make great cities interesting in terms of art and culture, and I think bookstores are part of that fabric.”
He took aim at city and state economic-development policies for doling out millions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives to online retail giants such as Amazon and eBay to entice them to locate offices and jobs in Utah.
“Why isn’t there a collateral fund to be split among local homegrown businesses?” the bookseller asked.
“I’m not trying to say I get $5 million, OK?" Sanders continued. "But what about $500,000 or $50,000 or $5,000? And I don’t mean this just for me. I mean this for all local, homegrown businesses.”

[scottharding]

Yes, I saw this article yesterday and I'm with Ken Sanders. I love all this development, but not when it kills a gem like Ken Sanders Bookstore, a real staple of downtown.

[Makid]

I would really love the City to offer an incentive of some sort to Developers to get local or small businesses into their commercial spaces.

This can include small restaurants, book stores, neighborhood markets (bodegas), laundromats, and so forth.

I think it could possibly be done via property tax rebates or something similar.

The City has been working on Affordable Housing but it also needs to work on Affordable commercial space for the small businesses/mom and pops.

I think it would be great to see developers work to include local businesses in their projects to take advantage of the incentive.

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Originally Posted by Makid

I would really love the City to offer an incentive of some sort to Developers to get local or small businesses into their commercial spaces.

This can include small restaurants, book stores, neighborhood markets (bodegas), laundromats, and so forth.

I think it could possibly be done via property tax rebates or something similar.

The City has been working on Affordable Housing but it also needs to work on Affordable commercial space for the small businesses/mom and pops.

I think it would be great to see developers work to include local businesses in their projects to take advantage of the incentive.

Totally agree. While the modern corporation/franchise model has brought many positives to the world such as lower prices and more consistent quality it has made the United States more or less Anywhere America. Why travel to a new city if you see the same stores and essentially the same culture. You can drop into most strip malls anywhere and predict what stores will occupy it. This is terrible for tourism. Also, why would someone travel from the suburbs to SLC if they don’t offer unique experiences and establishments? They won’t.

One of the last bastions that hasn’t been completely destroyed by the franchise model is food. It is in the best interest of most citizens to avoid eating at franchises when local options are available. Food is a great way for cities to still offer unique and compelling reasons for people to live and visit.

I love this article. If you have never read it, it is worth your time.

http://http://nymag.com/urbanist/art...of-cities.html