Salt Lake's next skyscraper? Proposed hotel sites worry some high-rise residents

Salt Lake's next skyscraper? Proposed hotel sites worry some high-rise residents

(Laura Seitz/Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — When Bill Robbins stands on his 21st-floor, 99th West condo balcony downtown, he can see miles to the west.

His view: the Oquirrh Mountains. The sprawl of downtown Salt Lake City. An overlook of the Salt Palace and the newly renovated Abravanel Hall plaza.

Prices for a City Creek Living, 99 West two-bedroom condo range between $760,000 and more than $1.6 million. The higher the floor and grander the view, the higher the price.

It's the promise of spectacular views that attracts residents willing to pay for high-rise living, Robbins said. But Friday, as he looked out from his balcony, he worried about what would happen if another skyscraper were to be built directly across the street.

"All of that would just be lost," he said. "This building would be completely covered. To the west, we would see nothing."

And it's not just that, said Wayne Hilbig, president of the 99 West Home Owner's Association. Property values could fall, City Creek parking and traffic could thicken, quality of life could wane.

It's a concern Hilbig and Robbins share with about 110 other west-facing 99 West residents, and their worries grow as Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County leaders inch closer to choosing a site for the new Salt Palace Convention Center hotel.

That's because two sites within the Salt Palace property, across the street from the 99 West condos, are currently under consideration.

One is on the northwest corner of the intersection of 200 South and West Temple. The other is land currently occupied by the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art south of the Abravanel Hall plaza, directly across the street from the City Creek Living 99 West condominiums.

Hilbig and Robbins worry if the hotel is built there, it would dwarf Abravanel Hall and shadow all the west-facing 99 West residences, all while setting a nerve-wracking precedent for the rest of the Salt Palace property.

No height limits?

In order to accommodate for the potential new hotel, which is required by legislation to be positioned no more than 1,000 feet away from the Salt Palace, county leaders have requested Salt Lake City remove its height limits on the property between South Temple and 200 South from West Temple to 200 West.

And so far, since negotiations are still ongoing between Salt Lake County and the developer, DDRM Cos. of Sandy, there's no telling how large of a shadow the hotel could cast, wherever it's built.

Current zoning in that area caps regular building heights at 75 feet and 120 feet for specially approved projects.

The tallest building in Salt Lake City's skyline is currently the Wells Fargo Center, 299 S. Main, towering at 422 feet high.

Hilbig and Robbins — and some city leaders — speculate that the new convention hotel, expected to include at least 800 rooms while being built on a smaller parcel of land than the 775-room Grand America Hotel, could very well become Salt Lake's tallest skyscraper.

"I'm not averse to that," Hilbig noted. "But if it's 60 feet away from our building, it would severely affect our owners in a negative way."

The 99 West building stands at roughly 375 feet.

Some residents at The Regent (the building on the left in the photograph) have lost their views now that 111 Main Street is being constructed. Some residents of City Creek Living at 99 West are concerned that a large Salt Lake convention hotel at the Salt Palace would impact the views from their condominiums in a similar way. Photo taken in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 27, 2016. (Photo: Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
Some residents at The Regent (the building on the left in the photograph) have lost their views now that 111 Main Street is being constructed. Some residents of City Creek Living at 99 West are concerned that a large Salt Lake convention hotel at the Salt Palace would impact the views from their condominiums in a similar way. Photo taken in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 27, 2016. (Photo: Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

As downtown residents, Hilbig and Robbins said they're not opposed to the hotel, only the selection of a site that could have a negative effect on residents who never expected a building would surpass the city's current height limits in that entire area.

"We enjoy the vitality of downtown. We're not opposed to new developments," Hilbig added. "But we do know that if a 800-room hotel is built directly across the street, it could be a big problem. And I'm not just concerned about one hotel going there. If they eliminate the (height limits) in that whole area, who knows would could be done."

Approval process

Salt Lake County began seeking a hotel developer in 2012 to build the hotel in order to put Utah's capital on the map as a destination to accommodate large conventions, like the Outdoor Retailer trade show that takes over the Salt Palace twice a year.

Partnering with the state and Salt Lake City, the county developed a $75 million tax incentive to attract a developer.

After initial negotiations with a first developer, Omni Hotels, fell through last year, the county entered new negotiations with DDRM, the same firm that helped develop the St. Regis Hotel in Deer Valley.

"We're working really closely with the developer and we're hoping within the next couple of months to try to finalize negotiations," said Erin Litvack, Salt Lake County Community Services director. Those negotiations would include a selected site, a general concept of design and size, and roughly when construction would start, she said.

Litvack noted that "there are potentially even more" than the two Salt Palace sites being considered, but she said she couldn't identify them without breaching the confidentiality of negotiations with the developer.

Litvack explained that the county's request to re-zone the Salt Palace property to have unlimited building heights was part of keeping all possibilities on the table for the hotel, since it's not yet certain how tall the building could turn out to be.

Litvack said there is still a lot that needs to be sorted out before finalizing any site or design plans for the hotel, but as it plays out, county leaders will "respect our community members' concerns."

"Our community is evolving and growing all the time," she said. "Part of living in an urban area are developments, but how it plays out is part of this public process, so it's important to listen to those concerns and take them into consideration as we move forward."

City deliberations

The City Council on Tuesday decided to wait before voting on the county's unlimited height rezoning request, wanting to first know more about the hotel's proposed site or design.

Wayne Hilbig looks down at the courtyard in front of Abravanel Hall from an apartment at City Creek Living in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 27, 2016. The location of Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, next to the plaza, is one site that has been proposed for a Salt Lake convention hotel. Hilbig is concerned about how the potential hotel and its height restrictions, or lack thereof, could impact the residents of City Creek Living. (Photo: Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
Wayne Hilbig looks down at the courtyard in front of Abravanel Hall from an apartment at City Creek Living in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 27, 2016. The location of Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, next to the plaza, is one site that has been proposed for a Salt Lake convention hotel. Hilbig is concerned about how the potential hotel and its height restrictions, or lack thereof, could impact the residents of City Creek Living. (Photo: Laura Seitz, Deseret News)

"I think the term 'unlimited height' makes people a little nervous because what does that mean, exactly? I mean, are we building a hotel to the moon?" said Councilman Derek Kitchen, whose district includes downtown. "It's hard to just arbitrarily open up unlimited height when we're not entirely sure what that will provide us down the road."

However, Kitchen said he's "not opposed" to adjusting the height on the Salt Palace property to allow the hotel to be constructed on one of those two sites, once he gets more information about the hotel design proposals. He added the possibility that the hotel's height could surpass the city's current tallest building "isn't off the table."

To him, height isn't the issue, he said. Appearance, quality and continuity with the rest of downtown is.

"Downtown is the place for height, for high density and tall buildings," he said. "But there's just so much that needs to be figured out before we have a real understanding of what it could look like it. Once we have more details, I'd be interested in approving that zoning change."

The Utah Contemporary Museum of Art site — the same site that worries west-facing 99 West residents the most — seems appealing to Kitchen because of its proximity to the Salt Palace.

"It would connect directly into the convention center," he said. "So there's reason to imagine why building a hotel on the convention center site would be a good idea. Yet at the same time, I'm not opposed to it being off-site, as long as it's within a close proximity."

Kitchen said once the county and developer can reveal more details, he will then work with the City Council to schedule more opportunities for public feedback on the issue.

Litvack said the county is "open" to discussions about changing the rezoning language to have a specific height rather than allowing an "unlimited" height, and all site possibilities are still on the table.

It's unclear exactly when negotiations between the county and developer will finalize more details on the hotel, Litvack said, but she's expecting it should happen within the next couple of months.

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