Salt Lake City – Smith Entertainment Group has acquired a large part of the Salt Palace Convention Center, because his vision of the future of the city center continues to take shape.
The County Council of Salt Lake voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a resolution to sell a dozen plots of land belonging to the county, totaling 6.5 acres, at a base price of just over 55.4 million dollars. The final price of the field nearly 55 S. 300 West fell into “fair market value”, according to the mayor of the county of Salt Lake, Jenny Wilson, and will help launch funding for a massive project to renovate and “modernize” the Congress Center.
The agreement, described in a 76 -page purchase agreement, includes several other provisions, such as an additional $ 87 million in a 25 -year rental contract. He listed on February 16, 2027, on the closing date of transactions.
Meanwhile, with the agreement in place, Salt Lake County plans to start a process this week to find a project architect. A company should be chosen by the end of the summer to help plan the next steps of the project. If everything goes as planned, the partial demolition of the Palais de Sel could start in 2027, Wilson told journalists.
The vote, she added, should also help finalize the goal of Salt Lake City and the Utah state to keep Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club in the city center for the decades to come.
“This is only a step in a very complex process, but … I think he was a major major,” said Wilson.
A “significant” agreement
Smith Entertainment Group previously concluded a partnership agreement with Salt Lake City On his desire to create a “sports, entertainment, culture and convention district” in and around the Delta Center. However, their agreement demanded that Smith will succeed in certain additional agreements with the county of Salt Lake above the earth, it supervises east of the arena by July 1.
The two parties spent months negotiating the Salt Palace and other properties of the county, which led to Tuesday’s vote. The cards included in the purchase agreement show that Smith will acquire all the packages of the Salt Palace west 200 western, excluding a garden between the Congress Center and the Japanese Church of Christ on the block.
This does not say how the site would be transformed, but Governor Spencer Cox said earlier this month That he met Wilson, representatives of the Smith Entertainment Group and state legislators on a “mid block” component of the downtown revitalization plan.
The midfielder is described as a “development for mixed use” which “will be a pivotal article to facilitate greater east-city connectivity”, according to a document from the Governor’s economic opportunities office. It is listed as part of the “Entertainment” part of the district and should also have links with Winter Olympic places in 2034.
The cards have shown that it would be located by the plots that the county has put up for sale. Smith Entertainment Group Rendrings has also included a pedestrian place east of the arena at the place where the western end of Salt Palace currently exists.
While the basic sale is listed at $ 55.4 million, the agreement is expected to create “cash flows” of around 140 million dollars over the next three decades, said Darrin Casper, deputy mayor of the County Finance and Administration. The document describes an additional parking rental agreement with SEG Sports Holdings totaling $ 87.3 million over 25 years.
The Salt Palace already recovers $ 426 million in annual economic impact, but county officials estimate that upgrades could generate $ 105 million in additional value. Its resolution has also noted that it would provide funding for the renovation and reconstruction of the Salt Palace, while opening nearly $ 5 million in annual land tax revenue because the land passes to a non -exempt tax status.
In a statement after the vote, the director of the Smith Entertainment Group, Mike Maughan, said that the company was “grateful” for the vote of the Salt Lake County Council, while the company began its massive overhaul of the city center. The vote took place a week after the renovations of the Delta Center.
“Today’s vote was a step more important in the long and inspiring process to create a more activated, connected, economically prosperous and family future for the urban core of our capital,” he said. “We are impatient to continue the current work in partnership with all stakeholders while we are developing a district of sports, entertainment, culture and world class agreement which will create an incredible experience of the city center all year round for all.”
It is not yet known whether the vote meets the County conditions included in the salt Lake City agreement with Smith, but the city is currently examining the sale. Otherwise, this is at least a “significant” step towards her, a spokesperson for the mayor of Salt Lake City told KSL.com.
The update comes after Salt Lake City leaders and the Housing and transport reinvestment zone Everyone adopted measures created this year SB26Creation of a “financing mechanism” for the planned $ 1.8 billion project by creating tax collection and financing tools.
Respond to an economic need
Tuesday’s vote took place after a public hearing on the issue. Many comments addressed the questions raised during the initial agreement process last year, including the concerns about the speed of the process and the clarity of the project.
But late maintenance has already reached $ 120 million, and should grow, said Casper. Wilson added that the COVVI-19 pandemic had radically changed the need for the current configuration of the congress center, because more and more conventions require living room spaces on large event spaces such as the massive salt palace exhibition hall.
The need to go beyond other cities for companies would likely have required other major updates. The members of the county council said they wanted to ensure that the Salt Palace continues to be the economic engine it is, and the agreements between the city, the county, the state and Smith in the last year have opened the door to the realization of this – this is what led the scale in their decision to sell.
“It’s essential,” said Salt Lakee Winder Newton’s County County Advisor. “At one point, we will have to rebuild our salt palace, and it is a great mechanism to do it.”
The goal is now turning to the next step.
While the members of the county council are impatient from the next chapter of the block, Lynne Ward, a Japanese church of the older Christ, also called them to consider both the church and the Buddhist temple of Salt Lake once the demolition begins. The two buildings are located next to the Salt Palace section which is now intended for demolition.
“There are serious concerns about the demolition and construction phases,” she said.
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