Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[Atlas]

1. Rio Grande Plan
2. SEG and Power Districts
3. Fleet Block successfully redeveloped into something cool

Also worth mentioning that SLC proper's population is estimated at 221k as of 2025, which is the largest it's ever been.

[Makid]

My list:

RGP
Tech-Link
Downtown Streetcar to the U.
S-Line extensions - South to downtown Millcreek, North to Trax on 4th South
MLB
Power District fully build out with at least 1 400' tower and 2+ 350' towers.
Updated State Fair grounds

In many ways, all of these are very feasible before the Olympics.

[Snoogalator]

1: Rio Grande plan, with 4 electrified passenger tracks in the train box. also might as well make it fully covered until north temple and put the green loop on top instead of cars.
2: Techlink but connected to the Rio grande depot.
3: a MLB stadium with high quality urban development around it. (might want to move the trax stations a little bit)
4: high speed rail/passenger rail ROW preservation. Make the plans and buy the land but build it later.
5: Scrap the gondola and build a one of a kind downtown ski train. Fully automated cog rail. Its a bit of a stretch but Stadler makes a unit that can go 70MPH on conventional rail and then go about 20MPH on the cog rail sections (they would need to automate it though). Also past Alta you could make a tunnel to serve Brighton/Solitude then continue tunneling to park city to serve them and the Olympic venues.
6: Extend the blue line to lehi and the green line to magna
7:idk man keep building transit lol

[nushiof]

1. MLB
2. Full realization of SEG plan w 600 footer
3. RGP

[Comrade]

Anything.

[Comrade]

Interesting numbers posted in the CD forum:

Originally Posted by dimondpark

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if you take newly rented space and subtract the space whose tenants quit or let the lease expire without renewal, what you have left is the net absorption.

Office Markets Q1 Sq Ft Net Absorption 2026
1,995,238----Manhattan
1,396,953----San Francisco
521,754------Kansas City
509,271------Atlanta
501,391------Dallas
482,445------Charlotte
473,642------Phoenix
436,479------Silicon Valley
424,900------Boston
372,887------Northern Virginia
283,021------Pittsburgh
281,942------Columbus
281,465------Salt Lake County
276,048------San Diego
271,203------Orange County
241,076------Birmingham
189,411------Orlando
102,305------St Louis
99,846-------San Francisco Peninsula
98,107-------Central New Jersey
96,877-------Miami
89,567-------Hartford
83,560-------Milwaukee
73,778-------Cleveland
67,289-------Minneapolis-St Paul
61,015-------Nashville
54,451-------Raleigh-Durham
47,928-------Cincinnati
38,856-------Des Moines
37,390-------Northern New Jersey
36,165-------Tampa Bay
25,567-------Indianapolis
14,946-------Denver
13,933-------Suburban Maryland(DC)
-289---------Boise
-3,255-------Sacramento
-5,395-------Huntsville
-30,831------Philadelphia
-32,936------Jacksonville
-40,897------East Bay
-50,225------Las Vegas
-74,366------Ft Worth
-78,900------Omaha
-82,403------Long Island
-86,433------Northern NY Suburbs
-93,931------Palm Beach
-129,969-----Baltimore
-147,642-----Richmond
-166,129-----Austin
-226,815-----Memphis
-234,916-----Ft Lauderdale
-274,060-----Los Angeles
-309,786-----Houston
-429,605-----Washington DC
-489,405-----Seattle
-692,771-----Chicago
-697,293-----Detroit

Q1 2026 Vacancy Rate(Price Per Sq Ft)
28.7%--San Francisco($68.35)
27.7%--Houston($31.12)
26.6%--Portland($29.78)
26.4%--Seattle($44.68)
25.5%--Chicago($37.91)
25.3%--Los Angeles($48.60)
24.7%--St Louis($24.7%)
23.8%--Atlanta($33.05)
23.7%--Boston($45.16)
22.4%--Austin($46.16)
21.3%--Sacramento($25.75)
21.3%--Salt Lake County($27.46)
21.2%--East Bay($40.03)
21.2%--Indianapolis($22.50)
21.1%--Dallas-Ft Worth($33.13)
20.9%--Washington, DC($55.84)
20.6%--Northern Virginia($36.24)
20.2%--Minneapolis-St Paul($32.22)
19.8%--Central New Jersey($28.91)
19.8%--Denver($33.34)
19.6%--Northern New Jersey($31.75)
19.4%--Jacksonville($23.08)
19.3%--Northern NY Suburbs($31.23)
19.2%--Philadelphia($30.31)
19.2%--Suburban Maryland(DC)($44.76)
18.9%--San Francisco Peninsula($73.65)
18.2%--Nashville($36.22)
17.8%--Tampa($32.81)
17.7%--Cleveland($18.40)
17.6%--Orange County($35.65)
17.6%--Phoenix($30.51)
17.0%--Raleigh-Durham($31.87)
16.6%--Charlotte($35.35)
16.4%--Columbus($22.28)
16.1%--Des Moines($21.95)
16.0%--Cincinnati($20.47)
15.6%--Orlando($28.62)
15.6%--Richmond($22.35)
14.8%--Silicon Valley($64.93)
14.5%--Memphis($20.37)
14.4%--Kansas City($21.78)
13.9%--San Diego($36.76)
13.7%--Baltimore($22.92)
13.3%--Hartford($21.66)
13.2%--Ft Lauderdale($41.37)
12.5%--Pittsburgh($24.37)
12.0%--Detroit($21.35)
11.9%--Las Vegas($31.28)
10.6%--Huntsville($22.22)
10.6%--Miami($62.84)
10.3%--Manhattan($77.53)
10.2%--Birmingham($24.02)
9.5%---Palm Beach($52.61)
8.8%---Omaha($26.49)
8.2%---Long Island($29.85)
6.7%---Boise($21.87)

https://www.colliers.com/en/research/nre...ay%20and%20innovation%2Ddriven%20markets.

[Makid]

The numbers will get better for Salt Lake City and County over the next year as well. A few companies are returning to the office full time. Fidelity is one of the largest. While they have a building north of the Gateway, they have grown and will need additional space. The same is true with Zions Bank.

I would expect companies to continue to push for a return to office. With growth that many companies have had, it is likely that we will see another commercial office tower proposed in the next few years to account not only for the return to office but also because of the overall growth.

I have heard that growth in and around the Point of the Mountain is slowing for office space even more so due to the lack of transit alternatives. Traffic around the Point is often backed up for 30 minutes or more daily through the area and it is getting worse with the RTO push. This will be good for Salt Lake City because of the transit options available. It also means that we will begin to hear about a push for Trax expansion at the Point again in the next year or 2.

[Comrade]

I turned down a job that worked out of Lehi with a hybrid model because I ain't about to travel 30 miles south three times a week (and it wasn't until later in the interview process that they finally mentioned where their offices were after telling me multiple times it was in the Salt Lake area ... technically true I guess but c'mon).

[TheGeographer]

Never understood the obsession with returning to the office and working in a small cubicle every day. Big companies love it because it gives all their project managers purpose. I hope we have less office development downtown and a surge in residential. Most salt lake office workers drive to work and contribute to our smog problems, and refuse to take trax. Office workers come and leave. Residents stay and continue spending money after working hours. More residential makes the most sense for SLC. I suppose we can have office space for the people that live and want to work near or in downtown. But we should only support office space for those folks, not for commuters.

My list:
- RGP
- MLB with residential focused development
- More trax everywhere
- More quality residential development downtown, not just tacky 4-5s that won’t stand the test of time

The Colorado Rockies and the Union Station developments in Denver were the two catalysts of Denver becoming a destination vs a flyover city and also helped Denver feel more like a city. I know SLC is not a flyover city with the sky industry, but if we see how transformative similar projects were in Denver, I know the RGP and MLB in SLC would have a similar effect.

[billbillbillbill]

First look at the upper bowl renovations for the Delta Center. I like it!

https://x.com/RyanQualtrics/status/2052797110580576547?s=20

[mattreedah]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Give me a 600 footer and MLB. Add in an expanded airport and additional TRAX lines

1. Tech Link as planned (but with an extension of the new orange line to the zoo on the east side and to the airport hotels on the west and a downtown circular)

2. A proper indoor airport trax station with platform screen doors

3. The "black-line" cog rail from sandy to the ski resorts

4. Blue line extension through Lehi to the Lehi frontrunner station

5. Mountain View corridor rail (ultimately connecting to the power district and downtown)

6. Extension of the green line to magna and a redwood road trax line.

[Orlando]

. oops

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by Atlas

1. Rio Grande Plan
2. SEG and Power Districts
3. Fleet Block successfully redeveloped into something cool

Also worth mentioning that SLC proper's population is estimated at 221k as of 2025, which is the largest it's ever been.

I second all of that, especially the Rio Grande plan.

I was just in Denver and experienced the Union Depot. It was quite lively, and that whole area of LoDo is probably the best walkable area in Denver. The Union Depot itself had a variety of shops, bars, and restaurants, too. I'll try to post some photos.

[skylineslc]

It's fun to see the comments and clearly there are some pretty consistent themes of the Rio Grande Plan, MLB and more transit.

I'm not sure how accurate the data is, as I pulled it from various Wikipedia sites, but I was curious to see how SLC's mass transit systerms compared to others throughout the US. Overall, SLC was top 10 in the country in term of aggreate miles for subway, light rail, commuter rail. The list was as follows:

1. NYC / New Jersey - 1,175 total mass transit miles
2. Los Angeles - 712
3. Chicago - 681
4. Boston - 641
5. San Francisco / San Jose (Bay Area) - 583
6. Philadelphia - 504
7. New Haven - 475
8. DC / Baltimore - 326
9. Dallas - 180
10. SLC - 135
11. San Diego - 128
12. Denver - 113
13. Miami - 105
14. Albuquerque - 97
15. Seattle - 82
16. Portland - 69
17. Orlando - 49
18. Atlanta - 48
19. St. Louis - 46
20. Sacramento - 43

SLC is 12th overall in terms of # of stations (9 behind Denver, who is in 10th place).

So, we certainly punch above our weight when it comes to mass transit, but like everyone else, would love to see some further expansion!

[Comrade]

Really love what they're gonna do to Delta Center. Makes it one of the more unique arenas in the NBA:

[wrendog]

Looks rad! Now, hopefully they release sports district renderings soon!

[Snoogalator]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Looks rad! Now, hopefully they release sports district renderings soon!

Agreed, I think we are all quite literally on the edge of our seats waiting for renderings. Hopefully SEG delivers.

Also good news in the terms of US transit, the first phase of LA's D line extension opened today. Sure is making me jealous of the heavy rail.

[delts145]

Downtown Update, Silo Park Building 2 - Now Under Construction




January 2026

The Silos Building 2 is a single use project consisting of 5 levels of Type IIIA construction over 3 levels of Type IA construction with a total unit count of 275 units.
This project features over 198,947 SF of residential, 1,161 SF of retail, 11,846 SF of Amenities and 150,195 SF of above grade parking.

April/May 2026

Photos By Kier Construction @ https://www.kier.org/our-work/multi-unit/ground-up/the-silos-building-2/

.

[delts145]

Downtown Update, Silo Park Building 3 - Now Under Construction

Kier Construction @ https://www.kier.org/our-work/multi-unit/ground-up/silos-building-3-2/The Silo Apartments Building 3 is a 219-unit development. This architecturally attractive and interesting
podium-build multifamily project is a welcome infill addition, which will be located along the 600 South entrance to Salt Lake City, and west adj. to the highly attractive and newly emerging Post District. The project will consist of seven stories
with five stories of Type III construction over two stories of Type I podium construction (including one story of subterranean parking). The project is named for the grain silos on the area’s north end, near 500 South, which will be preserved
as part of the project.

https://www.kier.org/our-work/multi-unit/ground-up/silos-building-3-2/



April/May 2026

https://www.kier.org/our-work/multi-unit/ground-up/silos-building-3-2/

TODAY - Live Webcam

Upper right, construction progressing quickly

https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/webcams/salt-lake-city_united-states_5780993

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[Comrade]

The Census dropped their 2025 estimates and they're pretty different from the Gardner Policy Institute numbers released a bit ago.

They have SLC's population at 218,428, or +594 over the year.

The U study had SLC's population at 221,118 or +3,303 over 2024.