Next stop for SLC: year-round market
- Development » City takes first step to polish Depot District near transit hub.
by lazytom
By Derek P. Jensen
The Salt Lake Tribune
Train traffic can be a terrible thing -- to waste.
Hoping to lure TRAX and FrontRunner riders for decades to come, Salt Lake City has signed off on its development vision for the dilapidated Depot District just east of the transit hub. Those blocks would include a "festival" street along 300 South and a year-round public market.
The City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency Board, has voted unanimously to pursue a walkable meld of shops, eateries and living spaces on the two blocks stretching from 200 South to 400 South between 500 West and 600 West. The land-use strategy and marketing plan are key steps toward creating a transit-oriented district that would reinvent this west-end gateway -- a one-time hub of commerce and cultural diversity.
"We're trying to reduce the risk to developers," says Marilee Utter, president of Denver-based Citiventure Associates, the consultant hired to study the newly trafficked area. "It's not a subsidy; it's an investment."
Council members want to push Utah Transit Authority to agree to a permanent public market in its vacant railroad building just north of the transit hub on 600 West. In the interim, the city may pursue plucking some vendors from the popular Downtown Farmers Market (which had its 2010 debut Saturday) to set up in the city-owned SDI warehouse on the corner of 300 South and 500 West. The hope is for those farmers to transition to the old rail house, creating an attraction for commuters and families alike, which could revitalize the historic neighborhood.
"This is exciting work," says Councilman Soren Simonsen, an architect and urban planner. "It's a big area that we're tackling -- equal in size to the Pearl District in Portland."
The goal is a blend of new and renovated two- to four-story buildings, plus two new parking garages, all financed by special assessments and increased property taxes from those blocks. The city hopes to break ground in 2013, then open the new district in 2014.
Hooking developers, particularly if the economy continues to sputter, may prove as challenging as the hub's location -- hemmed in by a freeway, a bus lot, the Rio Grande Depot and the homeless shelter.
Still, Simonsen argues a market is a "huge social catalyst" that would activate the moribund train hub faster than actual transit activity ever could. He notes a public market in Milwaukee -- a block from its transit station -- "has absolutely turned that neighborhood around."
But the city must persuade UTA to think green produce over greenbacks. As it stands, transit officials want a moneymaking mix of retail, office and possibly residential in the century-old train building.
"Ultimately, the goal is that it become economically viable for the developer, UTA and the city," says UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter. "If [a public market] could be included as part of the right combination to make that development a success, UTA would consider it."
So far, there has been zero interest in the historic freight house. A development bid issued by UTA in 2007 closed in early 2008 with no responses. Since then, UTA has been focused, along with the city, on penning the area master plan.
A long-rumored bicycle-rental center, Carpenter says, could find a home in a remodeled portion of the transit hub, one building south.
The city's community and economic development boss and its RDA executive director both like the idea of leasing space in the city-owned SDI building before moving the farmers to the freight house a block away. That strategy won an early endorsement from west-side Councilman Van Turner.
"This thing's looking good," he says. "The market will be great."
But fellow west-side Councilman Carlton Christensen has financial reservations. He worries a year-round market would require a public subsidy, "which I don't think is our role."
Either way, the city hopes to capitalize on the FrontRunner traffic from Provo, expected to commence when that commuter line fires up service as early as 2011.
The RDA plan offers other specifics for the two-block patch. They include:
» Preserving the Intermountain Furniture warehouse.
» Building a 498-slot parking structure on the north block, plus a 570-space garage on the south block.
» Opening the Woodbine and Eccles mini-streets between 200 South and 300 South.
» Widening sidewalks on 300 South for retail and active uses.
» Identifying potential spots for a future streetcar connection.
Utter, the consultant, concedes the area is challenging. But she insists prepping the land for developers now will pay off when the economy rebounds, perhaps in 2013.
"We're trying to make it easier for them to do the right thing here," she says.
Borrowing a broadly used national tool, the RDA financing model includes targeted property tax assessments, a parking revenue bond, special improvement district and voluntary payments by the public landowners: UTA and the RDA.
There also is an effort to preserve as many historical structures as possible -- although the owner of the so-called "Ice House" on the south side of 300 South wants to raze that building.
In its heyday, the west-side Depot District, bordering The Gateway mall, was loaded with immigrant communities. Greektown, remembered at a nearby TRAX station, shared the space with Lebanese Town, Scandinavian staples such as Jensen Creamery, and even a Catholic convent. Many of the enclaves produced their own goods and published their own newspapers.
"I'm really pleased at our attitude, our stance toward preservation," Councilman Luke Garrott says. "It's history."
Too much demolition there, Garrott adds, would force the city to "risk sterility."
"That's why, in Sugar House, I gasped when that block went down."
djensen@sltrib.com
Trains, shops and eateries
The Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency has stamped its land-use strategy and marketing plan to make over a two-block stretch of west downtown just east of the transit hub between 200 South and 400 South. City leaders envision a 300 South "festival" street with shops and restaurants, housing and a nearby year-round public market.
By year's end, the city hopes to:
» Demolish certain buildings.
» Finalize land acquisitions.
» Rezone for transit-oriented development.
» Clean up properties and subdivide parcels.
» Step up code enforcement.
» Finalize environmental assessments.
» Create a brochure and website.
The Depot District overhaul calls for selecting a contractor in 2012, breaking ground in 2013 and opening for business in 2014.
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