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Posted Apr 15, 2025, 10:08 PM
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They all float down here
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Hair City, Utah
Posts: 9,852
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Salt Lake City is currently accepting pitches for the future of the Fleet Block — and the city is looking for “bold” ideas for what the future could hold for the 10 acre block that has remained vacant for years and later became a memorial space to remember those killed by police.
The city issued a request for qualifications earlier this month for two of the block’s northern parcels — 1.6 and 2.3 acres each — in the hopes of attracting developers that can transform the block into a mixed-use property to the Granary District.
Logan Hunt, real estate services director for Salt Lake City’s Department of Community and Neighborhoods, told Building Salt Lake that the city is hoping to find developers that will work with the community to build a cohesive block with public benefits, but the city is also willing to hear more audacious pitches for the area.
“There’s a wide variety that we’re expecting, that we are anticipating coming out of those discussions and then working with the developers and the community to negotiate exactly what those public benefits are,” Hunt said. “From the city’s perspective, we’re looking for pretty bold ideas to create a mixed-use and mixed-income neighborhood that reflects the community that it’s in.”
One of the public benefits included in the Fleet Block is a 3-acre section in the southeast corner. Hunt said the city will have a heavy amount of public engagement to figure out what to do with the area. The southeast corner would abut 900 South and the 9-Line Trail.
The 3 acres of public space are expected to pay homage to the murals that started popping up along the Fleet Block in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Since then, paintings of people killed by police were depicted throughout the block until the area’s demolition, which started last month.
Before the murals, city officials debated for years what to do with the vacant block. More recently, city officials debated the merits of having the block be entirely developed by a single company. In 2022, Council Member Darin Mano warned against that notion, and he recently told Building Salt Lake he still believes it’s best to have multiple developers build on the block.
“I’m supportive of them splitting the block up and believe it will result in a better final outcome and provide opportunities for more ideas and organizations to be involved in the project,” he said in a text message.
Unlike the two northern parcels that are slated for development, the future of the Fleet Block’s southwest corner is a bit farther along in the process. The southwest corner of the Fleet Block is split into two parcels. The parcel just to the west is 1.3 acres and already owned by Sentry Financial, a prominent local developer that specializes in building affordable units.
Peter Corroon, real estate manager for Sentry Financial, told Building Salt Lake that Sentry is still in the process of negotiating the sale of the 1-acre east parcel with Salt Lake City. Corroon said it’s too early to say how tall any building would be or how many units it would have, but he said the building would have affordable units and ground floor retail space.
Whenever the deal is done for Sentry’s second parcel, Hunt said the money from the sale would go right back into the project, as the funds would be used for the planned mid-block streets. Plans released by Salt Lake City show street access on the north, west and east sides of the block, while a non-motorized mid-block connection would be on the south side.
Hunt added that he anticipates the southwest corner would not only have housing units, but the city has specified in its terms that, “we’d like an active use facing the public square … And then with upzoning, they’ll need to be active uses along 900 South and 400 West.” He said the purchase sale agreement should be finalized fairly soon, and the city anticipates construction could start sometime within the next two years.
The Fleet Block is currently zoned as Form-Based Mixed Use 11 (FB-MU11), and, as of now, the block would be zoned as MU-11 as part of Salt Lake City’s ongoing efforts to consolidate its mixed-use zoning code. In the new zone, buildings can be up to 125 feet tall, though any building over 85 feet would be subject to a design review.
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The owner of the Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club requested a permit this month to build a parking garage at the Delta Center, but the company doesn’t have the authority to build it. At least not yet.
According to a building permit requested by Smith Entertainment Group, the company wants to build a six-story parking garage with a sky bridge on the second floor heading into the arena’s fourth level.
According to a lease agreement that has been in place since 1990, SEG doesn’t have permission to alter the land that’s home to the Delta Center and is owned by the city’s Community Reinvestment Agency without first receiving approval.
“The lease does not allow the development of a parking garage without oversight and design requirements,” a CRA spokeswoman told Building Salt Lake.
The upcoming discussion about the request could give an indication over whether the city will try its hand at maintaining its remaining authority over development in the area surrounding the Delta Center amid recent moves by the state Legislature to strip the capital city of its land use authority.
The agency initially deferred all questions to SEG, and indicated the large parking structure — which would likely include frontage along a surrounding city street — was allowed and up to SEG to design.
“There’s a standing ground lease agreement between the CRA and SEG that grants them rights to develop the property in accordance with existing zoning regulations,” a spokeswoman initially said. “While we’re aware of what they’re proposing, we don’t have a formal role in the process beyond that.”
After additional questioning by Building Salt Lake, the CRA changed its response and said the city would have an oversight and approval role of the parking garage.
“Significant alteration of the property, including the addition of a parking structure, will ultimately require CRA approval,” the spokeswoman later said. “Improvements made during the lease term become property of the agency upon expiration or termination of the lease.”
The city’s lease for the Utah Jazz to use the Delta Center was signed June 8, 1990, around the time construction started on the stadium, and is a 50-year lease running through 2040.
According to a copy of the lease, SEG “will in no event, be permitted to construct a building or structure on the premises other than the sport and entertainment arena, without [the city’s] express written consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld.”
It’s not immediately clear who would be responsible for long-term maintenance and ownership of the parking structure, and how the revenue would be split, if at all, between SEG and the city.
The permit was requested by Walter P. Moore, an engineering firm whose portfolio includes other mega developments including arenas like T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and the retractable roof at loanDepot Park in Miami.
The permit was requested by Eric Pagan, a principal of structures with Walter P. Moore who specializes in parking structures.
SEG didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment last week.
Given the existing layout of the arena, any parking structure would very likely include frontage along a street surrounding the stadium, including 400 West, 300 West, 100 South or South Temple.
A source said the company planned to build the parking structure on the southwest side of the stadium, as well as underground parking on the northwest end.
The permit is significant as the city grapples with the rapid pace of state changes aimed at directing tax revenue toward SEG’s idea of creating a sports and entertainment district on the western edge of Downtown.
The effort involves billions in public subsidies and will include the reconstruction of the Salt Palace convention center with a goal of opening up space to reconnect the Downtown grid and remove the barrier created by the Salt Palace.
The ultimate goal is to create a more vibrant Downtown area that includes the Delta Center.
It’s not clear if the Utah Legislature usurped Salt Lake City’s authority to weigh in on the street frontage of any parking structure that could front one of its streets, or whether the existing lease would already prevent the city from extracting any public benefits around walkability and street engagement.
The ensuing discussion over the permit request should show whether the city feels it has any say in the future development in the area, or if it feels compelled to cede the surrounding area to SEG and other developers.
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