greenspace. The residential tower is contracted to provide approximately 10% affordable units. At this writing, this project appears to have stalled, and Hines has applied to build a temporary parking lot on the Main Street sites until economic conditions allow the project to move forward. Again, some projects were very successful — like the Delta Center and the Gallivan Center. But, after the opening of The Gateway, Crossroads and ZCMI Center languished. After City Creek was built The Gateway experienced an all-time high vacancy rate requiring it to become more office and entertainment focused. Additionally, some facilities are built with an eye to more sustainable design and with higher end materials than others, which in turn makes the lower end buildings require upgrades sooner as the buildings need more extensive maintenance. (As a side note, buildings designed and constructed with taxpayer dollars are often built to a higher standard than private industry construction.) More recently, developers have built more and more multi-unit housing downtown. This is particularly noticeable as the post-COVID office building vacancy rates have soared, with many workers choosing to work remotely at least some of the time. And how does that apply to the SEG development that is now on the table and, what do we know for sure about SEG’s proposed Sports-Entertainment-Culture District? 1. The Salt Lake City endorsed a Participation Agreement with SEG on July 9. 2. That agreement has been sent to the Revitalization Zone Committee for approval, which must meet a Sept. 1 deadline. Approval is anticipated, however if it is not, it will be returned to the SLC Council for further review and negotiation. 3. By Dec. 31, the Salt Lake City Council must vote on a half a percentage point sales tax hike that will feed $900 million into the district over a 30-year period. They are likely prepared to proceed prior to that date. 4. The project area includes the block the Delta Center sits on and the two blocks east of the Delta Center. Salt Lake City owns the land under the Delta Center, the County owns the Salt Palace, Abravanel Hall and UMOCA buildings and their sites. 5. Salt Lake planning commissioners voted unanimously to not recommend a zoning amendment to change building height restrictions from 125 feet to 600 feet, saying the changes don’t align with the City’s Downtown Plan. The city council reviewed changes to the D-4 Zoning District at its Aug. 13 meeting and voted on the changes at the end of the month. 6. Salt Lake County must negotiate a lease of its properties to the SEG Group by July 2025, or the Participation Agreement is void. Other terms of the participation agreement between SLC Corporation and Smith Entertainment Group include: 1. The Jazz and the new hockey team must play all their home games at the Delta Center for the life of the agreement. 2. A tiered ticket fee will be imposed on all tickets sold at the Delta Center. The proceeds will be put in a special city-managed Public Benefit Account. The funds maybe be used for any purpose benefiting the public, including affordable and family housing, the Japantown streetscape, improvements and recognition, and public art. One source estimates the amount generated in the Public Benefit Account, over time will be $10 to $20 million. 3. SEG will sponsor apprenticeship programs, college internship programs, high school shadowing and youth program. Free and subsidized tickets will be offered to Salt Lake City-based community organizations. What is still murky: 1. Of the approximate $1.2B of tax money raised over 30 years, $900M will go to SEG — approximately $525M for the arena remodel and approximately $375M for district improvements. District improvements have yet to be defined. Although not yet announced, the remaining $300M has been rumored to be conditionally earmarked for potential improvements for the Salt Palace. 2. Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) is still in the process of developing land use concepts and plans. SEG has issued renderings of Phase 1 that show a new Delta Center entrance, new plaza, pedestrian walkways, high rise residential and a hotel. The proposal calls 25
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