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SALT LAKE CITY — There may soon be an additional 1,246 public parking spots for visitors to Vivint Smart Home Arena, the Salt Palace and downtown Salt Lake City.
The Salt Lake City Council, serving as the city’s Redevelopment Agency board, approved on Tuesday a tax increment reimbursement agreement for Block 67, part of the planned mixed-use West Quarter development between 100 and 200 South, 200 and 300 West. Acting at the behest of Salt Lake County, the city agreed to funnel $15 million of county transportation funds to the lot developers for building an underground parking structure.
In Phase I of the project, which is slated for completion in April 2020, 46 public parking stalls are scheduled to become available. Ultimately, an additional 1,200 stalls are planned for construction in Phase II.
The public stalls must be made available to the general public after 5 p.m. on weekdays and all weekend at a competitive rate.
The $15 million will be repaid to the county by the Redevelopment Agency “via tax increment generated by Phase I”; the county would then use the returned money as part of a “revolving loan fund for the purpose of funding future parking structures,” according to a Redevelopment Agency memo.
Provisions were also made for the protection and revitalization of Japantown, the historic Japanese American community that borders the West Quarter development. The council previously allocated a 10% property tax increment from the project for Japantown improvements along 100 South.
The Japanese Church of Christ and the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple are both located on this block.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Redevelopment Agency COO Danny Walz said there is a 20-year term on the reimbursement agreement. “The impetus for this project originally came in the 2018 legislative session, where the Legislature allocated $15 million for regionally significant (parking) programs,” Walz said. “They targeted the county to be the ones to disperse these funds.”
“As you can see,” Redevelopment Agency Project Coordinator Corinne Piazza said during the meeting, “the overall project has residential, retail, hotel, office, public parking and a midblock walkway.”
The walkway was another board condition for the agreement, creating greater convenience for pedestrians in accordance with the city’s downtown master plan.
The development is just across the street from both the Salt Palace Convention Center and Vivint Smart Home Arena.
