Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[JMK]

Paging Jedikermit, if you're still out there.. (or aren't already involved)

‘Everything is awesome’ at the Leonardo’s new SLC-themed Lego exhibit

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...o-exhibit.html

Downtown Salt Lake City’s Leonardo Museum has brought this study to life in a new exhibit titled “City Blocks.” The Leonardo’s take is a little different, though: The exhibit has rendered downtown Salt Lake City in Lego bricks. From the Cathedral of the Madeleine to Temple Square, a handful of Salt Lake landmarks are there in Lego form.

These Lego re-creations are pretty intricate — meant for looking and not touching — but patrons can still get in on the action. During the exhibit’s first few weeks, attendees can help museum staff build a Lego re-creation of the Leonardo building itself.

“The topic is close to home — literally,” said Marissa Jones, the Leonardo’s director of content.

In the “Your Utah, Your Future” study, 11 different topics, ranging from air quality to housing to disaster resilience, were studied by 400 different experts. Utah is expected to double in population by 2050, so the study’s projections took that expected population into account.

Understandably, a Utah with twice as many people could look a lot different. The study outlined some possible scenarios for Utah’s future and surveyed more than 52,000 Utahns about which of these scenarios was most desirable. "City Blocks" tries to go beyond Lego re-creations, providing information from the study in a way that attracts museum patrons.

“City planning isn’t something that’s taught in schools necessarily,” Jones said. “But at the same time, it’s something that impacts us every single day. So what was really important for us was to bridge that connection for people.”

Still, those Lego landmarks are pretty great.

“The Cathedral of the Madeleine is going to blow people's minds,” said Drew Ehrgott, the Leonardo’s design director.

The cathedral recreation utilizes more than 35,000 Lego bricks. Its builder, Mariann Asanuma, said a piece like this takes her about five weeks to construct, with another two weeks just to gather the necessary pieces from physical stores and online vendors.

[JMK]

Huntsman Cancer Institute LEGO

• Video Link

http://www.archnexus.com/arch-nexus/

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Originally Posted by asies1981

Update on the PaperBox Lofts.

I like this design and the materials seem great too. Add to this the Ritchie development, reinvestment in Gateway and the improvement/closing of the homeless shelter and this area is going to be really great soon.

[RC14]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Just because Utah isn't as bad as Mississippi doesn't mean it's not failing. The state has a strong economy - and that's about it.

It also ranks...

5th in suicides
14th in drug use
20th in drug-overdose deaths
17th in opioid overdose deaths
27th in high school graduation rates

That's just touching part of the problems that are hitting Utah. But we don't talk about those problems enough and certainly the legislature isn't really focused on improving them (at least seriously, it seems). But hey, the governor launched a task force to look into youth suicides so, we're saved!

Utah has a lot to offer but it does no one any good to pretend the state isn't struggling from a lot of issues - especially issues that only hit a handful of western states. Want to address the opioid and heroin crisis in Utah? Push for legalization of marijuana. Want to do something about the high youth suicide rate in Utah? Push for more laws that protect gay and lesbian youths, who make up a disproportionate number of those suicides. Want to have graduation rates toward the top of the country? Invest in education smartly. There was a time, in the early 00s, where Utah was in the top5 nationally in graduation rates. Not anymore.

Want to fix the pollution? Push for smarter development. The state has shown no regard for city rights with their land grab of Salt Lake property so maybe they should step up and expand on that and start grabbing other city land throughout the state and developing it smartly (I'm only being facetious here).

But hey, we can post the goddamn same photo twice on this page to prove how great Utah and Salt Lake is doing.

Tell that to the homeless person that still is struggling to find a place to stay or the parents of the kid who hanged himself because we've got culture warriors dehumanizing trans-gendered youths. I bet they care about those cranes.

I agree that these issues need to be adressed but they do not show that utah is failing. Suicide rates go up with elevation. Other mountain states have higher suicide rates than Utah.

Top 8 States by suicide rate:
Wyoming
Alaska
Montana
New Mexico
Utah
Colorado
Idaho
Nevada

Arizona is number 12 and there you have all the mountain West states.

I have been as critical as anyone about the homeless issues in Salt Lake City but it is still not as bad as in the cities many on this forum seem to look up to like Protland and San Francisco. Maybe if California elected more Democrats to the state legislature San Francisco could solve their homeless crisis?

I would not put Utah in the category of failing states.

[bob rulz]

There is evidence that elevation may have SOME effect on suicide rates, but it would be quite naive to just say "well it's all just elevation, so let's not discuss the real societal issues that could cause it".

I do agree that doesn't show Utah is a "failing" state, especially since some of the statistics he cited don't even put Utah in the bottom percentile. But obviously we can't ignore the real issues that Utah has no matter how we compare to other states.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

There is evidence that elevation may have SOME effect on suicide rates, but it would be quite naive to just say "well it's all just elevation, so let's not discuss the real societal issues that could cause it".

I do agree that doesn't show Utah is a "failing" state, especially since some of the statistics he cited don't even put Utah in the bottom percentile. But obviously we can't ignore the real issues that Utah has no matter how we compare to other states.

Also, youth suicide has tripled in the recent past in Utah. The elevation didn't triple.

The mountain states have many other things in common besides elevation, which could be the real culprit. That study is just a hypothesis at this point. It is not proved science. Correlation doesn't equal causation.

[Always Sunny in SLC]

I hear when I attend a disaster prep training meeting the frequently repeated phrase that SLC has some really old water pipes that have not been replaced. That some are even still wood. With all the development and redevelopment going on downtown, does anyone know if this is still accurate and if so where these really old pipes are? Does a map exist?

[jedikermit]

Originally Posted by JMK

Paging Jedikermit, if you're still out there.. (or aren't already involved)

Thanks for the heads-up! I know all the people involved, but didn't have time to work on it myself. Can't wait to go see it in person.

(And I'm still very much here, just don't often have much to contribute. I appreciate the development news when it happens, but I'm not as good at the infighting.)

[scottharding]

Article from Curbed about downtown Salt Lake's building boom, with great comments from Isaac.
It's exciting, but I'm tempering my expectations for most of the bigger projects right now. Knowing how fragile proposals are in SLC, I think Trump's steel tariffs will kill most of anything over 8 stories.
Still, good stuff here:

https://www.curbed.com/2018/3/20/171...ent-hot-market

[EPdesign]

A restaurant next to the Black Box behind the Eccles Performance Arts Theater on regent was open today and had a continuous long line.

[RC14]

^
I tried Pretty Bird a few weeks back, there was a line out the door and place was packed.

[asies1981]

Photo update on several downtown/east downtown projects.

[Orlando]

https://ajcarchitects.com/portfolio/...regent-street/

[jubguy3]

Originally Posted by Orlando

https://ajcarchitects.com/portfolio/...regent-street/

I had a pasta dish there. It was good but not great. The pasta is freshmade and very good, but it was in a weird thin-ish broth (not thin enough to be a soup, too thin to be a sauce) and it had a ton of peas and ham. Some of the pizza was way too greasy but some of it was really good. It's in a nice, if a little quiet setting. But the interior is really pretty.

[EPdesign]

Fellas,

This one isn’t it. It’s on the south east corner of the building. It’s like a chicken serving place.

[asies1981]

Originally Posted by scottharding

Article from Curbed about downtown Salt Lake's building boom, with great comments from Isaac.
It's exciting, but I'm tempering my expectations for most of the bigger projects right now. Knowing how fragile proposals are in SLC, I think Trump's steel tariffs will kill most of anything over 8 stories.
Still, good stuff here:

https://www.curbed.com/2018/3/20/171...ent-hot-market

There is definitely concern about the impact of Trump's steel tariffs but I think that they will most likely impact the planned projects between 10-15 floors. For larger projects, it could encourage them to go a bit taller to offset costs. I know several proposed projects are being re-evaluated thanks to the tariffs and could come out shorter than previously planned. Elections matter people.

[Marvland]

Originally Posted by asies1981

There is definitely concern about the impact of Trump's steel tariffs but I think that they will most likely impact the planned projects between 10-15 floors. For larger projects, it could encourage them to go a bit taller to offset costs. I know several proposed projects are being re-evaluated thanks to the tariffs and could come out shorter than previously planned. Elections matter people.

Great interview Isaac! A great article on our downtown's development.

IMHO the tariffs probably won't happen and Trump knows that. A bunch of barriers to them being implemented. He's invoking an obscure section of code and he has an uncooperative congress on this point. He's saber-rattling to shore up his support in the rust belt for 2020. Also, if you read his book or watch his actions, this is an opening salvo in a negotiation. I predict this will have little effect on the cost of steel. More impactful is the overall cost of construction and labor that is skyrocketing. That has a deeper effect on projects.

[Utah_Dave]

^^^^^

I agree with your analysis. This appears to be another negotiating tactic weather it be for trade or to apply pressure on China for the North Korea negotiations, I’m not sure but it’s definitely his style. My guess is steel prices will be unstable for a bit before dropping back to a normal range later this year. DACA is another similar negotiating tactic to get his wall and other changes to immigration. It’s an interesting negotiating style I don’t think we have seen at the presidential level. We have been very predictable polically on the world stage and countries have taken advantage of us for it. It’s risky but I kinda like the approach, I just don’t think Trump is the right person to pull it off. We definitely need our allies to have our back and I’m not sure we have that with Trump either. I guess this is a discussion for another thread though.

I just hope the timelines for upcoming projects can adjust or wait for the steel prices to level off before they change their plans.

[delts145]

Airhero, I wanted to bump your post from a few weeks back. What an incredible difference this type of landscaping could make on streets like State. Just that median put in a while ago on 700 East, around Libery Park has made such a big difference, not only on the streetscape itself, but the surrounding properties appearance, maintenance and resale value have been significantly improved.

Originally Posted by airhero

According to the last presentation on the Life on State project (which I believe was last April), State Street could soon look like this:


https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...+-+reduced.pdf

Imagine another Hardware Village type project rising on a street like this. Would be a huge deal and a complete transformation--though it is the most expensive of all the options presented.

Compare to what it currently looks like:

[Comrade]

I hope they do something with State ... but to be honest, there has been so much talk over the years about revitalizing State with the stuff you see above and little action that I am not terribly optimistic. I wish SLC would push for a downtown trolley and have it go down State Street. It's the perfect street for that.