Downtown Salt Lake City Tuesday officially welcomed a new $100 million office building and a new street to go with it.
The office building is the 25-story American Stores Co. tower, located on 3.4 acres at 299 South Main. The new street is Weechquootee Place, which runs between the office building and its new 1,457-stall parking structure that connects to the tower via an elevated glass walkway.Victor L. Lund, chairman and chief executive officer, said the street name was the winner of a contest among Ute Indian children. Tamar Edith Serawop, a fifth-grader at Todd Elementary School in Ft. Duchesne submitted the winning entry. Weechquootee (pronounced WEECH-kwoo-tee) means "tomorrow" in Ute, so the new street name means "Tomorrow's Place."
Northern Ute tribe members, headed by chairman Ronald Wopsock and tribe councilman Larry Blackhair, also were present at the dedication Tuesday. Tribal members conducted a dance, and a traditional blessing was offered by spiritual leader Clifford Duncan. American Stores will contribute $150,000 over five years to the tribe for higher education scholarships.
"We are pleased to finally have our Salt Lake Associates under one roof," said Lund, who spoke at an afternoon press conference and later at a public ceremony on the plaza south of the Gallivan Center.
American Stores is the only office tenant of the 610,000-square-foot tower that is accessed by 17 elevators. American's employees are still moving in and will total some 1,850 when the building is fully occupied. In 1993, when the decision was made to consolidate ASC's operations in Salt Lake City, only some 200 were employed here.
Lund quashed rumors that the company wanted to sell the building and lease it back. "The building is not for sale. We have made a commitment to be here, and we want to keep control of it," said Lund, a Utah native.
Some 48,000 square feet of space on the lower two levels is taken by several retailers, including the company's own specialty food and drug theme store called The American Store, which prompted the weekly magazine for the Salt Lake Rotary Club to quip that the office tower "is probably the finest support structure for a market and deli as you'll find anywhere."
The company is also operating a private club and restaurant on the second level, called Il Sansovino. Other retail tenants include First Security Financial Center, Shear Impressions hair salon, Henrie's dry cleaners, Murdock Travel and America First Credit Union.
"The centralization of our support and administrative functions to Salt Lake City has progressed well for the last three years," said Lund. "The completion of the building represents an important final step in our transformation from a holding company to an operating company."
The new building boasts helipads on its roof and an array of communications gear used by various public safety agencies. An innovative vertical mail distribution system was integrated into the facility during construction that links the mailroom to each floor, speeding deliveries. An automated system shades various areas of the building depending on the time of day, creating energy efficiency.
Architect for the building was HKS Inc. of Dallas. General contractor was Howa Construction Co., Salt Lake City.
American Stores operates 1,550 supermarkets and drug stores in 25 states.