Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — The 65-year-old Northwest Pipeline Building has remained vacant for nearly a decade now, after Salt Lake City moved its public safety headquarters to its current location across the street from the public library in 2014.
But now the city is looking to change that, as it once again opened a request for statement of qualifications, seeking a redevelopment partner who can find a way to repurpose the nine-story building and 2.4-acre property without tearing down the historic structure, which is located just east of the heart of downtown.
"Our strategy is to transform the property back into a community asset by preserving the historic and architectural legacy of the building while integrating new development on the surrounding property," Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said in a statement Thursday. "After various planning and due diligence efforts, we are on the precipice of moving on multiple strategic properties."
The father-son duo of Slack and David Winburn designed the building for Pacific Northwestern Pipeline Corporation, which was completed in 1958. The Winburns' designed it in international style as it joined Slack Winburn's other notable work like the First Security Bank and the Clift buildings in downtown Salt Lake City, which also remain to this day.
In fact, Preservation Utah describes it as the "sister structure" of the First Security Bank Building. The building, which cost $2.5 million to build at the time, featured a penthouse conference room, as well as "heat-resistant glass and aluminum louvers to shade windows on the south and west for energy efficiency," according to the preservation organization.
Ownership eventually changed hands in the 1970s, as it housed Salt Lake City's public safety operations beginning in 1979. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011, three years before Salt Lake City moved its primary public safety headquarters to its current home.
There have been efforts to find a new use for the building since then, but nothing has stuck. The city issued a similar request for proposals in 2015, seeking to turn the building into a mixed-use development that could also boost the city's affordable housing stock.
Cowboy Partners and Form Development ultimately secured a deal with the city for a project they called Violin School Common, a nod to the Violin Making School of America located across 200 South from the historic building. The group's plans called for different properties on the block that would add 248 housing units, ranging from studio to two-bedrooms, some of which would be operated by the Road Home to help.
While some of that project has since been completed, nothing changed to the Northwest Pipeline Building. Building Salt Lake reported that the request awarded to the developers was rescinded sometime during Mayor Jackie Biskupski's term, which ran from 2016 to 2020.
Thursday's announcement effectively puts the city back to where it was in 2015 on the matter.
City officials said that all proposals should include steps to preserve the historic building, with "sustainable" building and operating practices and new housing units with "workforce housing, homeownership and family-sized housing" prioritized.
The city's outlined objectives add that the city would like to see "publicly accessible amenities," as well, such as art, seating and gathering spaces. Officials are also asking for space for bicycle parking along the newly reconfigured 200 South and space for goods and services "that support entrepreneurship and local businesses."
The deadline for the new process is Oct. 16 before an official request for proposal, outlining a more specific project, is released.
