Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by Makid

It is this one:

https://www.buildingsaltlake.com/apa...e-parking-lot/


Pic hosted on buildingsaltlake. If needed Isaac, I can remove, just let me know.

I think the city should relax that 100' height limit here. They have that other podium building up the street, and the other buildings to the north are 1 to 3 stories. I do understand their position about proportion to the width of the street, but I think as long as the birdie has some active ground floor usage and is at the height that it is showing (70' plus), it's better than a parking lot.

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by asies1981

La Barba is opening a bar at The Gateway.

I am glad that Gateway is seeing some real investment, but I hope the Urban Arts Gallery has a new location to go to (or have they moved already)?

Also any news on if the Barnes & Noble is actually moving? Or just closing down? I do think B&N would do well in the rebranding...book stores may not be quite what they used to be, but they're still good places to attract pedestrians and people who just come in to hang out and browse, and therefore people who might patronize surrounding businesses as well. Then again, maybe bookstores just aren't viable enough to provide that anchor anymore - although the one in Sugarhouse seems to be doing just fine, and does seem to drive pedestrian traffic in that area.

[Utah_Dave]

Originally Posted by Orlando

Maybe if they just lopped some floor area off to add a few more floors to give a new tallest at 450'. I would love to have something tall.

The image on the left is the current design. The one on the right is a taller alternative.

This one appears to be about 385'...........................3 more floor and we get about 425' ...............One more floor and we get about 438'.................and another and we get about 451'.

Any idea how much each progression in height would actually cost?

[Makid]

News or Update or Info...

Take this any way you want or take it with a grain of salt.

While walking from parking to the office today there was a coring machine taking core samples on a new location downtown. A lot that I didn't think would ever see a tower.

Because of the location, I think that it has a direct relevance to the CCH.

Location of drilling rig, and yes, it was running, drilling and taking samples, the Plaza on the NW corner of West Temple and 2nd South.

County owned land that would provide direct connection to the Salt Palace. The only reason for the samples would be to know the soil underneath to better engineer the tower.

So, progress of some sort but as I said at the beginning. It is news but not news but also an update. It could mean something but it could also mean nothing. I want to think that it does mean that something is at least moving closer and that there is a location for the CCH now.

It also means that the shops along 1st South may be spared demolition because they wouldn't be needed for the extra meeting space with a smaller hotel with Priskos' smaller hotel (if they are still going to build it).

[airhero]

This does sound like news about the convention center hotel. I'm not sure how I feel about that location. I want highrises on 200 South, but I've grown fond of that plaza. I'd love to see parking lots developed over plazas. But it is great to hear some news. Anything. And I'd rather see the plaza developed than the buildings on 100 South torn down, though I'm afraid they will be regardless.

[airhero]

Also, in case anyone is still interested:

City Creek Condo update
Last updated 02/08/2018

99 West:
159 of 185, up 5; 86%, up 3%

The Regent:
144 of 150, up 5; 96%, up 3%

Richards Court:
63 of 91, up 3; 69%, up 3%

Total:
366 of 426, up 13; 86%, up 3%

Some interesting statistics:

Despite having around 1/5 of the 426 units, Richards Court has almost half of the unsold units.

Regent has over 1/3 of the units, but only 1/10 of the vacancies.

Hopefully Cascade isn't dead. I can't imagine it would be with an already built foundation and base. Regent could hit 100% this year or early next. I think that would make this a good time to start Cascade. I believe it would be wise to build Cascade in conjunction with Tower 8 (as feasibility permits) and brand it as City Creek Center phase 2. Maybe also build apartments on the lot east of Harmons as well, though that lot might be needed as a staging area for construction. Could be done immediately after its purpose as a staging area is fulfilled, while still being part of the announcement for phase 2. It would generate a lot of excitement about downtown.

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Deleted. Answered my question.

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Originally Posted by airhero

Also, in case anyone is still interested:

City Creek Condo update
Last updated 02/08/2018

99 West:
159 of 185, up 5; 86%, up 3%

The Regent:
144 of 150, up 5; 96%, up 3%

Richards Court:
63 of 91, up 3; 69%, up 3%

Total:
366 of 426, up 13; 86%, up 3%

Some interesting statistics:

Despite having around 1/5 of the 426 units, Richards Court has almost half of the unsold units.

Regent has over 1/3 of the units, but only 1/10 of the vacancies.

Hopefully Cascade isn't dead. I can't imagine it would be with an already built foundation and base. Regent could hit 100% this year or early next. I think that would make this a good time to start Cascade. I believe it would be wise to build Cascade in conjunction with Tower 8 (as feasibility permits) and brand it as City Creek Center phase 2. Maybe also build apartments on the lot east of Harmons as well, though that lot might be needed as a staging area for construction. Could be done immediately after its purpose as a staging area is fulfilled, while still being part of the announcement for phase 2. It would generate a lot of excitement about downtown.

Someone on this forum said some months ago that the Richard's Court were not very popular because of their prominence to the LDS Temple Square. I would have thought there would have been plenty of LDS wealth to snatch those up, but I definitely was wrong. I don't think Richard's Court would dissuade future towers since it is more the orientation and/or location of those that made them less desirable.

[Makid]

From my understanding, the Cascade isn't dead. As long as it is built and owned by CCR, there aren't any issues regarding emergency exits and Right of Ways. The only issues holding it back have been the desire for other developers to build bigger and taller.

Liberty Sky, should be the first. I don't think we will see the Cascade for a few more years though. I think that after Tower 8, they will build the Apartment tower east of Harmons. The Cascade will come after that I think.

[EPdesign]

[ajiuO]

Barnes and noble, Hot topic, and a few more other stores have closed down at Gateway.

[delts145]

Luxury apartments, built in the midst of Salt Lake City’s homeless crisis, prove to be a smart gamble

Tony Semerad - Salt Lake Tribune - https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/06/...-smart-gamble/

Developers of new luxury apartments who bet big on a tarnished western edge of downtown Salt Lake City appear to be winning.

Alta Gateway Station Apartments

The transit-oriented Alta Gateway Station project at 505 W. 100 South went up one block away from what was then the epicenter of Utah’s homelessness crisis, spilling out of The Road Home shelter.

As construction crews for the Denver company Wood Partners first dug into the former warehouse land west of The Gateway Mall in summer 2015, the shopping center was bleeding retailers and looked like it was nearing bankruptcy...

...But Alta Gateway Station was that one crucial block further west, said Tim McEntee, director with Wood Partners — and several notches up in nerves for investors.

“We were definitely pushing the margin out here,” he said. “It was a challenge, but we thought the market was ready for our kind of product.”

Today, the swanky westside apartments are leasing up, with over 80 percent of 277 units filled. Studios start at $1,100 a month; three-bedrooms go for $2,700 and above. Sixty percent of residents already settled in are from out of state, manager Steve Steck said. About a third work at the thriving downtown Salt Lake offices for investment banker Goldman Sachs, which also helped finance Alta Gateway...

...Now, with the prospect of The Road Home moving out of the area in just over a year, Wood Partners is pursuing an equally upscale second phase of 288 apartments on land just to the west.

And it is seeking tax breaks from the city to pull it off.

McEntee said capital investors are calling, “wanting to do more deals” in Utah’s capital city.

The upscale residential project, coming amid an apartment-building boom in Utah, is evidence of several trends.

One, experts say, is the Salt Lake City market’s ability to absorb top-end downtown apartments at higher and higher dollar-per-square-foot rates — even as many Utah renters are being squeezed by rents climbing further out of reach for most blue-collar and middle-class wages.

As Alta Gateway Station welcomed visitors last week, the Salt Lake Chamber warned that all supplies of apartments, existing homes and new construction statewide were dangerously strained, let alone just affordable units. The business group said the looming crisis threatens to push regional home prices high enough to dampen Utah’s economic growth.

Looked at another way, healthy occupancy for the luxury apartments also highlights the effects of Operation Rio Grande.

That three-phase plan, begun in August 2017, saw stepped-up police action to restore public safety in the wider neighborhoods around The Road Home, with some homeless jailed and others sent for medical and addiction treatment, then helped with job training, employment and housing...
Steck, who works for Wood Residential Services, Wood Partners’ property management arm, said the police and social-services campaign reduced street crime and vagrancy in the Rio Grande neighborhood to roughly a tenth of what it was just a few years ago...
...

[StevenF]

Sure hope phase 2 is better than a block wide wall of only 4 floors.

[asies1981]

Originally Posted by Makid

It is this one:

https://www.buildingsaltlake.com/apa...e-parking-lot/


Pic hosted on buildingsaltlake. If needed Isaac, I can remove, just let me know.

I just got an updated rendering from the developers are they are still planning for a six-story building.

[asies1981]

Another great photo update of Marmalade by Mike Fife

[Makid]

Originally Posted by asies1981

Another great photo update of Marmalade by Mike Fife

Very nice update. I wasn't aware of the 2nd North 2nd West units. The last time I was there, the shop was still there. They have come up quickly.

The area between 5th and 6th North, just north of the library has been changing as the town homes have been added and I can't wait for the next phases to happen along 3rd West. It has been fun watching the changes occur.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by Makid

News or Update or Info...

Take this any way you want or take it with a grain of salt.

While walking from parking to the office today there was a coring machine taking core samples on a new location downtown. A lot that I didn't think would ever see a tower.

Because of the location, I think that it has a direct relevance to the CCH.

Location of drilling rig, and yes, it was running, drilling and taking samples, the Plaza on the NW corner of West Temple and 2nd South.

County owned land that would provide direct connection to the Salt Palace. The only reason for the samples would be to know the soil underneath to better engineer the tower.

So, progress of some sort but as I said at the beginning. It is news but not news but also an update. It could mean something but it could also mean nothing. I want to think that it does mean that something is at least moving closer and that there is a location for the CCH now.

It also means that the shops along 1st South may be spared demolition because they wouldn't be needed for the extra meeting space with a smaller hotel with Priskos' smaller hotel (if they are still going to build it).

Like you Makid, I would prefer the plaza location to the APSquare location across the street. Mainly because I think that this gives certain historic structures a lot better chance for survival. Also, while I like the plaza, I prefer any direct connection to the convention center itself. Also, major density added to that corner, especially something as large as this cc hotel will be an impressive visual improvement. The more density on W. Temple the better. Both State and W. Temple are screaming for better use of sq. footage.

[Makid]

Originally Posted by delts145

Like you Makid, I would prefer the plaza location to the APSquare location across the street. Mainly because I think that this gives certain historic structures a lot better chance for survival. Also, while I like the plaza, I prefer any direct connection to the convention center itself. Also, major density added to that corner, especially something as large as this cc hotel will be an impressive visual improvement. The more density on W. Temple the better. Both State and W. Temple are screaming for better use of sq. footage.

A few of us in the office were talking yesterday that we wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being a multi-phased project.

What started it was the thought that DDRM originally wanted to build the CCH where the Visit Salt Lake offices are and the UMOCA (Utah Museum of Contemporary Art). The main issue with this location is that it would require moving these offices, the museum, the gift shop, welcome center and closing some meeting space for a few years during construction.

But, if the CCH is built on the NW corner of West Temple and 2nd South, construction is fairly straight forward. It is basically clearing the plaza, blocking some exits, setting up some sidewalk shelters, placing some edge barriers and digging for the foundation work. There is extra space for machinery as that area of West Temple doesn't get that much traffic heading South, so a lane 2 can be blocked if needed for a while. It also makes a great location for a center lane entry (similar to City Creek) for parking to limit curb cuts.

When Phase 2 is needed, Visit Salt Lake, the welcome center and the gift shop could all move to the CCH, UMOCA may be able to find space near by or partner with the Leonardo. This would free up the space and allow for the 2nd phase to be built with more meeting space and additional hotel rooms.

As with the original thought, it is possible that phase 2 may be able to work with City Creek to get access to the mid-street parking, again to limit curb cuts.

Both Phase 1 and Phase 2 could include residential opportunities (apartments/condos) to increase the ROI for other possible investors. They could also include different hotel brands, possibly new to market.

Both locations are also near/along high frequency transit corridors which will help any planned residential components.

[Orlando]

/\/\/\ I think the idea of somehow utilizing the City Creek Center parking garage is a brilliant cost saving solution. That garage is huge, and I bet that many of the hotel/convention attendees take Uber/Lyft or the Light Rail train, and those that do drive will not interfere with peak usage of City Creek Center, which I doubt ever is at full capacity.

[Ironweed]

Originally Posted by asies1981

I just got an updated rendering from the developers are they are still planning for a six-story building.

The city is stupid to allow something like this on a high-rise corner. But it is par for the course. Stupid is as a stupid does.