City Creek Center
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The City Creek Center is a $1.5 billion shopping center development under construction near Temple Square in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It is an undertaking by Property Reserve, Inc. (the commercial real estate division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and Taubman Centers, Inc. Plans for the center call for shopping and residential elements, complimented by foliage-lined walkways and a stream. The City Creek Center is scheduled to be complete in 2011. This premier shopping/office/residential center will encompass nearly 20 acres of down town Salt Lake City, defining the city as one with a vibrant, world-class commercial/residential center at its core.[1]
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[edit] History
The City Creek Center began to develop in 2003, when a for-profit company owned by the LDS Church purchased the Crossroads Plaza Mall, a shopping center on the other side of Main Street from the ZCMI Center Mall, which it already owned. Both malls (known unofficially as the “Main Street Malls”) had been constructed in the 1970s and had begun to drop in sales figures by the late 1990s as a result of competition from rival centers in Salt Lake City’s suburbs. In 2001, the Boyer Company completed its new open-air Gateway Mall several blocks to the west of Crossroads and ZCMI, drawing even more business away from Main Street. Soon after, the Nordstrom store at Crossroads announced its intentions to leave the mall and open a new store at Gateway. When the owners of the mall proved unable and unwilling to persuade the store to stay on Main Street, the Mormon Church decided in 2003 to purchase the mall and redevelop the area in an effort to revitalize downtown Salt Lake City and keep the properties surrounding the church’s world headquarters at Temple Square economically vibrant. The church enlisted the help of nationally renowned mall developer Taubman Centers to help it redesign the malls into a single project and recruit retailers to fill it. In October of 2006, the concept design of City Creek Center was announced.
[edit] Overall Design and Transportation
The City Creek Center will feature an open-air design, similar to the competing Gateway Mall. The mall is intended to cater predominantly to pedestrian traffic. Multi-level sidewalks will feature six total acres of green space, fountains, and a stream. A pedestrian skyway is planned to link the two city blocks across Main Street. The site will continue to be serviced by the City Center station of the TRAX light rail system, and large underground parking structures will enable access by car.
[edit] Retail
The City Creek Center will be anchored by two national department stores: Nordstrom and Macy's. Nordstrom will have a two-story, 124,000 sq ft (11,500 m²). store and Macy’s will occupy a three-story store of 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m²). In the original plan, a third anchor, Dillard's, was planned for the mall as well. After public outcry about the alignment of the restored historic Regent Street in the project, the anchor was axed due to lack of space for the required footprint for the store they had planned. In its place will be a yet-to-be-announced "mid-sized anchor," more room for specialty retailers, and an additional condominium tower. This recent news has renewed speculation of the entry of a Sak's Fifth Avenue or Neiman Marcus since both generally operate at a smaller square footage. It is likely however that the new space will be occupied by the likes of a Crate & Barrel, Borders Books & Music, or another smaller anchor. There will also be approximately 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m²). of additional retail space for specialty stores, and a new Harmon's grocery store will be constructed nearby as well.
[edit] Office
Several existing office buildings in the area will maintain their positions in the City Creek Center development. The Key Bank Tower, however, has been demolished, and its tenants have been relocated to the Beneficial Financial Group Tower nearby, which will then be renamed the Key Bank Tower. That building’s chief tenant will be relocated to the Gateway Tower West, which will then be renamed as the new Beneficial Financial Group Tower. Residents and media are challenging the decision to demolish the old First Security Bank Building. It is unclear if it will be retrofitted, or replaced by a new office tower on that site.
The City Creek Center project may also eventually include the Global Exchange Place. This building will offer exciting opportunities for Salt Lake City, as a region that is globally aware and engaged. Salt Lake City will benefit by creating a central location to showcase Utah's international abilities and strength into a "Global Exchange Place." A World Trade Center Utah will consolidate the now-scattered government and nonprofit economic development agencies and private sector international service providers as a single premier downtown Salt Lake City location. A conflict resolution and peace studies center will build upon Salt Lake City's Olympic legacy of friendship and goodwill to create a university-associated conflict resolution, mediation and` peace studies center. An International Institute will house an international university campus downtown. This "park-like" campus could include a foreign language institute, international student housing, conference center and central commons area. This project is only a proposal.
[edit] Residential
Approximately 300 housing units, consisting of condos and apartments, will be built into the new City Creek Center. They will be located in at least five residential towers, one of which is planned to be 30-35 stories tall. They will principally be built along 100 South Street, with some constructed along South Temple Street as well – including a fairly large tower to replace the demolished Inn at Temple Square.
[edit] Demolition and Construction
Demolition of the site’s old structures commenced in November of 2006. By February of 2007, the Inn at Temple Square had been completely demolished and work was underway to demolish the old parking structure for the Crossroads Plaza Mall. The destruction is scheduled to proceed across the site from west to east, with several businesses remaining open until a short time before their scheduled demolition. Macy’s and Nordstrom had both closed by early February 2007. On August 18, 2007 the 20 story Key Bank Tower was imploded and was one of the final steps to demolition completion. Demolition is expected to be finished by the end of 2007, and will be followed by another year of excavation and site preparation. Most of the City Creek Center is scheduled to be complete in the year 2011.
[edit] Criticism
There are a growing number critics of the proposed skybridge, which will funnel shoppers through the development. The critics include many South-end merchants who fear that the new Center and skybridge will keep shoppers off the street and prevent them from traveling further down Main Street to existing stores. Thirty-years ago when the two malls were built (that are being razed to build City Creek today) they monopolized Main Street & the buying public and caused the collapse of the South-end merchants on the street. Long-time merchants such as Auerbachs, Paris Company, Wolfs, Broadway Music all closed shop and either relocated or went out of business.
The $1 to $1.5 billion price tag cited for the City Creek Center is on par the cost to build many of the upscale resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. As a comparison, the Bellagio was reported to have cost $1.6 billion. The church states that no tithing money is being used for construction of the complex. They say the entire project is being financed through the church's commercial real-estate arm, Property Reserve.[2][3] Critics point to the definition of a non-profit religious organization and note that regardless of whether the church claims the project is funded directly by member contributions or indirectly by the proceeds of investing these contributions into other businesses, that the ultimate source of the funding is still member contributions.[4] In addition, many Salt Lake residents criticize City Creek Center for not introducing new anchors that currently do not operate in Utah. Many hoped for upscale retailers such as Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue but they favored for the same anchors that anchored the previous malls, that also anchor most of Utah's malls.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Downtown Redevelopment Plans Announced, LDS Church press release, 3 October 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ^ Salt Lake City Rising: City Creek Center Announced, KUTV, 3 Oct 2006, accessed 5 May 2007
- ^ Doug Smeath, Downtown renovation project, Deseret Morning News, 27 March 2007, accessed 5 May 2007
- ^ Pete Dunn, A New Mall Patterned After The Old One Where We Used To Shop, accessed 22 June 2007
[edit] References
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