Capital City Revitalization Zone (Delta Center area)
A proposed Capital City Revitalization Zone that could facilitate redevelopment around the Delta Center, with public funding for a sports and entertainment district, arts venues and related uses. The Council opened its public hearing on May 21, 2024 and continued it after dozens of speakers.
- Where it stands
- Approved
- Type
- Area or general plan
- Location
- Downtown Salt Lake City around the Delta Center and Abravanel Hall
- Applicant
- Smith Entertainment Group
Every hearing and vote
June 14, 2022 · City Council
Joint resolution establishing a new Ballpark Legacy lease with the Salt Lake Bees
Approved · 7-0
The council adopted joint ceremonial Resolution 16 of 2022, establishing a new Ballpark Legacy lease with the Salt Lake Bees professional baseball franchise. Council Member Darin Mano read the resolution and it was presented to a Larry H. Miller Company representative, who thanked the council and mayor for their commitment to the ballpark community.
June 14, 2022 · City Council work session
Harvard Kennedy School presentation on public-private partnerships in the Ballpark area
Discussed
Finance staff and a Harvard Kennedy School student presented research on using public-private partnerships to finance redevelopment around Smith's Ballpark, covering guiding principles, success factors, and considerations such as site selection, land use and secondary effects. A Finance Department fellow said she would use the research to build a financial model for future city projects, and noted that outcomes in other cities have been mixed. Council Member Mano said he saw high potential in the Ballpark area; Council Members Daniel Dugan and Fowler asked about similar projects elsewhere.
July 12, 2022 · City Council work session
General Obligation Bond and Sales Tax Revenue Bond resolution
Discussed
Council members straw-polled unanimous support to set Allen Park at $4.5 million, fund at least one neighborhood park, trail or open space per council district at $10.5 million, and raise the Fleet Block from $5 million to $6 million, with the rest of the GO bond as proposed. Staff said about $27 million would allow a significant impact at Glendale Regional Park, which is at the vision-plan stage. Council Members Fowler and Mano spoke for public-private partnerships and preservation easements to protect city assets; Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the city should not invest so much in boarded buildings that their future use becomes fixed. For the sales tax bond, a unanimous straw poll approved all administration-recommended items except Warm Springs Plunge, Fisher Mansion and Pioneer Park, to be revisited with Glendale Regional Park improvements in September. Staff said $3 million for Smith's Ballpark upgrades meets the city's lease obligation to reach Major League player development standards by 2024.
May 21, 2024 · City Council
Capital City Revitalization Zone around the Delta Center (public hearing)
Continued · 7-0
The Council took public comment on creating a Capital City Revitalization Zone that could facilitate redevelopment around the Delta Center; the hearing ran late into the night with dozens of speakers. Supporters, including a Smith Entertainment Group executive, arts leaders backing a rebuilt Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Visit Salt Lake and downtown business owners, cited downtown growth and arts funding. Opponents and others asked the Council to preserve Abravanel Hall, require more affordable housing, slow the process, protect the Japantown area and the Buddhist Temple, protect convention and expo space at the Salt Palace, and keep revenue from going only to developers. Council Member Chris Wharton said the proposal was moving quickly because of the timeline the Legislature set for creating the district. The Council continued the hearing to a future date; tentative Council action was listed for July 2.
- Applicant: Smith Entertainment Group (developer cited in comment)
June 11, 2024 · City Council
Capital City Revitalization Zone (continued public hearing)
No action · 7-0
The Council took a second round of comment, with more than 40 speakers. Supporters, including small business owners and arts advocates backing a rebuilt Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, cited downtown investment, tourism and arts funding. Opponents objected to the sales tax increase and public subsidy, said the process was rushed, and asked the Council to preserve Abravanel Hall. Others asked for Japantown and the Japanese church to be included in planning, protection for Salt Palace convention users, and public transit over parking. Council Members Eva Lopez Chavez and Chris Wharton thanked speakers and invited continued input. The Council closed the public hearing without adopting the zone.
June 11, 2024 · City Council work session
Capital City Revitalization Zone follow-up
Discussed
Mike Maughan of Smith Entertainment Group described the Delta Center site, tax contributions, building heights, a mix of shops that is not another mall, timeline and community benefits. Natalie Gochnour of the Kem C. Gardner Institute reviewed economic benefits and effects of the 0.5 percent sales tax increase; the estimated annual cost per household was $150 to $200. Council Member Victoria Petro said the proposal was conceptual and that if it did not make the city and residents' lives better it was not worth it. Members asked for more green space, access to Japantown, year-round activation, workforce investment and free transit for workers; the company said a second arena and a helipad were not part of the proposal.
- Applicant: Smith Entertainment Group
- Enabling law: Senate Bill 272
July 2, 2024 · City Council
Capital City Revitalization Zone participation agreement resolution
No action
The resolution to endorse the participation agreement and project area with Smith Entertainment Group was struck through on the agenda and not considered. The Council had indicated at its work session it planned another briefing and possible vote July 9.
July 2, 2024 · City Council
Consent agenda: hearing dates, MU-8 clarification and board appointments
Approved · 6-0
The Council set August 13 hearings on the Public Utilities bonds and on the Sports, Entertainment, Culture and Convention district D-4 text amendment, corrected an oversight from May 21 to list single-family attached as a permitted use in the MU-8 zone, and appointed Steve Bloch and Michael Dodd to the Parks, Natural Lands, Urban Forestry and Trails Advisory Board and Emily Khan to the Human Rights Commission.
- Petition (MU-8): PLNPCM2023-00169
July 2, 2024 · City Council work session
Sports, Entertainment, Culture, and Convention district zoning text amendment (D-4)
Discussed
Staff briefed the Council on changes to the D-4 Secondary Central Business District: raising maximum height through design review from 125 feet to 600 feet, clarifying plaza setbacks, making stadiums and commercial parking permitted uses (heliports stay conditional), and extending the Delta Center sign overlay to the Salt Palace blocks. Smith Entertainment Group had asked for design review only above 400 feet and for off-premise advertising; staff recommended no off-premise advertising for now. The Planning Commission recommended not adopting the changes without funding renovation of Abravanel Hall in its current form, buffering the Japanese Church of Christ, its garden and the Buddhist Temple, and requiring a community benefit. Council Members Victoria Petro and Sarah Young said Abravanel Hall is a county-owned asset outside the city's purview. The Council had no appetite to go higher than the Planning Commission's 75-foot design review recommendation, according to the minutes.
- Applicant: Salt Lake County petition, with Smith Entertainment Group alternatives
- Recommendation: Planning staff recommended adoption with 600-foot height, permitted stadiums and parking, and sign overlay extension; Planning Commission recommended against adopting without conditions
July 2, 2024 · City Council work session
Capital City Revitalization Zone participation agreement follow-up
Discussed
Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the agreement secures the Utah Jazz and a new NHL team downtown, a renovated Delta Center and revitalization of two blocks. The City Attorney and Smith Entertainment Group's Mike Maughan outlined the agreement under SB 272: a 0.5 percent sales tax, a 100-acre project area, a maximum city commitment of $900 million (an estimated $525 million for the Delta Center remodel and $375 million for district costs), up to a 1 percent administrative fee, and a 10-year completion window. Public benefits include a home game covenant, ticket fees of $1 to $3 per ticket from July 2025 going to a public benefits account for family-sized affordable housing, workforce programs, a $2 million youth hockey and basketball investment, at least $5 million for Japantown and $5 million for public art, and a county lease for the two eastern blocks by July 1, 2025. After Council endorsement, a state Revitalization Zone Committee has 30 days to review before the Council's final approval. Council Member Young asked for updates to the ReImagine Downtown website.
- Applicant: Smith Entertainment Group
- Council planned another briefing and possible vote July 9, 2024
July 9, 2024 · City Council
Capital City Revitalization Zone participation agreement
Pending
Listed for action: a resolution endorsing the project area and the participation agreement between Salt Lake City and Smith Entertainment Group. After endorsement, the state Revitalization Zone Committee would review it before it returns to the Council for final approval.
- Applicant: Smith Entertainment Group, LLC
July 9, 2024 · City Council work session
Capital City Revitalization Zone participation agreement follow-up
Discussed
City Attorney Katie Lewis reviewed the July 2 briefing, the SB 272 process, the proposed sales tax, the difference between the project area and the participation agreement area, the voting process, and public benefits including workforce initiatives, infrastructure and public art. Council Members discussed potential motions, the benefits to the city, their role in explaining the project to the public, and that Japantown deserved the benefits that would result. Council Member Sarah Young arrived during this item.
- Applicant: Smith Entertainment Group
August 13, 2024 · City Council work session
Sports, Entertainment, Culture, and Convention district text amendment (D-4) follow-up
Discussed · 6-0
Planners and Council staff took straw polls on moving the D-4 amendment forward. All members present supported a maximum height of 600 feet with full Planning Commission design review at 200 feet, matching the D-1 zone; allowing front yard setbacks to be exceeded to add a plaza; addressing setbacks from adjacent properties in the development agreement; and staff's sign proposals, including overlay standards, no off-premise signs at this time, reciprocity within the overlay blocks and display hours addressed through a development agreement. Council Member Alejandro Puy was absent for these polls.
- Applicant: Salt Lake County petition; related to Smith Entertainment Group's Delta Center district