Zions Securities Corp. has yet to decide what to do with two aging houses on State Street at the foot of Capitol Hill, despite reports the company had abandoned plans to raze them.
Officials said Thursday the company, which is the real-estate arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, still is deliberating the future of the houses.Zions Securities officials said in March they would destroy the houses and replace them with one large apartment house with architecture that fits the turn-of-the-century styles in the rest of the neighborhood.
That upset some members of the city's Landmarks Committee who said the decision violated a 3-year-old compromise. That agreement allowed the company to destroy 17 houses on nearby Gordon Place to make room for a park.
The company already has restored two houses to the north. Committee members said it had committed to restoring the other two houses as well. Company officials said earlier this year they found it unfeasible to do so.
City attorneys then issued an opinion that said the company would need permission from the Landmarks Committee before razing the remaining two houses.
"We've been having sensitive discussions, but no decision has been made regarding the renovation of the homes," said William Cannon, Zions Securities residential property manager.