Salt Lake's Redevelopment Agency has agreed to help Block 53 developers, Price Prowswood Partnership, to fund underground parking on the partially developed block in the southern downtown area.
If Price Prowswood presents the RDA with a feasible development project, which developers believe won't be possible for five years, the RDA will build an underground parking structure to be leased to the developers.Price Prowswood is also discussing with the State Judicial Council the possibility of locating a courts complex on Block 53, bound by State, 200 East, 300 South and 400 South streets.
Court officials are also considering a site on Block 39 for the complex. Block 39 is bound by State, Main, 400 South and 500 South streets.
The agreement, which won unanimous approval from the RDA Thursday, comes on the heels of objections from Price Prowswood that the RDA dealt it an unfair hand by providing parking assistance to two other downtown developers.
The H. Roger Boyer Co. and Commerce Properties Inc. are enjoying millions of dollars in assistance from the RDA to build parking facilities for their downtown developments.
Price Prowswood came to the RDA last fall to argue that they were not receiving similar support and, consequently, could not compete for tenants in Salt Lake's static office space market.
Thursday, however, Price-Prowswood officials praised the agreement as giving the developers a fighting chance to develop the block, five acres of which are now paved and used as a parking area.
"This will allow us to compete effectively with other projects in the downtown area," said Paul K. Mendenhall, vice president of Price Development Co.
The developers envision building two other office complexes on the block, one towering more than 20 stories, Mendenhall said.
However, such a project would not be undertaken for perhaps five years when office vacancy rates in the downtown area decline, Mendenhall said.
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Redevelopment Agency leaders are elected
New leaders of the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency were elected Thursday.
City Councilwoman Roselynn Kirk was elected on a 5-2 vote as chairwoman of the RDA. The City Council is the RDA's board of directors.
Kirk was formerly chairwoman of the agency but was replaced last year by then-Councilwoman Florence Bittner after one year of what was traditionally a two-year term.
Councilman Wayne Horrocks received two votes for the position.
Newly elected Councilman Ron Whitehead was elected on a 4-3 vote to the vice chairmanship, defeating Horrocks, who was the agency's former vice chairman.