Zions Securities Corp. Friday released an artist's rendering depicting the new high-rise office tower currently under construction on the southwest corner of Main Street and South Temple.
The 18-story structure will be called Gateway Tower West, said W. Kent Money, president of Zions Securities, the real estate arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.The existing building on the southeast corner of the intersection, formerly known as the Kennecott Building, has been renamed Gateway Tower East.
Two buildings formerly occupying the West site, the old Union Pacific building and another known as the Annex, were found to be structurally unsound and have been razed.
The corner on which Gateway Tower West is going up has twice been the home of the Deseret News. The first time was from 1856 to 1862 when the newspaper was published at the old Council Hall building then located on the site. Forty-one years later, in 1903, the Deseret News moved into a new building on the corner where it operated until 1926. The structure was later renamed the Union Pacific building after the Deseret News moved onto Richards Street in the center of the block.
Kent Gibson, division manager for office buildings at Zions Securities, said footings have been poured for the new building and foundation work is currently under way. The steel framework is now being fabricated.
Although Gateway Tower West will have the same number of floors as its East counterpart across the street, it will be slightly taller because of the increased height of the ceilings on each floor, said Gibson.
The new structure will have a granite exterior with tinted glass and stainless steel accents, along with a structural glass entrance similar to that found on Abravanel Hall. Gibson said the new building will be cantilevered over Crossroads Plaza above the fifth floor to allow a sufficiently large "footprint" for the upper 13 floors.
The new building will include a major new executive parking facility, totaling some 360 spaces, that will be constructed under Main Street. Gibson said additional parking for building occupants will be made available at other facilities. Construction of the underground parking is set to begin in January with completion by November 1997.
Money confirmed that Ogden-based defense contractor Thiokol Corp. will relocate its headquarters into Gateway Tower West upon the building's completion, scheduled for spring 1998.
"Thiokol will occupy the top four floors of the building, for a total of 59,000 square feet," said Money. "We are pleased to have this major corporation as a prime tenant, especially this far in advance."
Gibson said discussions also are under way with other potential tenants for the new building.
Babcock Design and MHTN Architects have been selected to design the new building. Other participating companies include Okland Construction, Reaveley Engineers & Associates, Colvin Engineering, JSH & Associates Electric, and the Sear Brown Group.