The 408-acre Jordan Landing development is a big project, so Wednesday's official groundbreaking used a big shovel.
West Jordan Mayor Donna Evans hopped aboard a bulldozer and revved it forward to scoop out the first pile of dirt and kick off work on the development, a joint effort of California-based Russell W. Grosse Development Co. and Oaktree Capital Management."This is probably one of the biggest things ever to happen to this community," Evans said during a ceremony at the 7000 S. Bangerter Highway building site.
"This is going to offer the kinds of things we've always been hoping for."
"Big" is the key word at Jordan Landing, which will take up land on both the east and west sides of Salt Lake City Airport No. 2. When complete, it will include:
- 750,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space.
- 630,000 square feet for a professional office park.
- A 500,000-square-foot business/research park.
- More than 800,000 square feet for industry and light manufacturing.
- 750 multifamily residences.
- More than 100 single-family homes.
- Parking space for more than 14,300 cars.
- 250,000 square feet for neighborhood and community retail centers.
- A hotel complex.
Gary W. Harrison, president of Grosse Development, said dirt work will start on the site Monday and all of the preliminary grading on the 408 acres should be done within 90 days.
"We're going to get everything going as soon as we can," Harrison said. "It's full speed ahead."
He said work will begin immediately on the retail and housing portions of the project. And the developers hope to have a pad ready for the first big entertainment tenant, Cinemark USA Inc., by September.
Randall L. Hester, Cinemark's vice president of marketing and communications, said the company hopes to open its 24-screen, 106,500-square-foot theater complex at Jordan Landing in time for Memorial Day 1999.
"This is a young, growing, active market," he said. "This is a good movie area."
Each of the individual theaters in the 5,600-seat complex will use stadium-style seating. The building also will feature eight box offices, three concessions stands, four sets of restrooms, a video arcade and a Hollywood-themed restaurant in the lobby.
"This kind of theater is a hard thing to compete with," Hester said. "In terms of entertainment, this is the spot."
The theater alone should provide about 300 jobs, he said. Harrison said the entire project could provide between 10,000 and 14,000 jobs when it is complete.
Wayne Harper, West Jordan's economic development director, said the city has been planning for such a development since 1992. To see the groundbreaking, he said, was "pure excitement."
Harper said Jordan Landing will be the premier mixed-use development in the state, giving people the chance to live, work, shop and relax all in one area.
"It will really lessen the impact on roads and light rail if you can get people living close to where they work . . . ," he said. "This will be our open-air mall that people have been asking for for years."
Project architect J. Todd Stoutenborough of California-based Stoutenborough Inc. said the project will have a style that is unique to West Jordan.
"It will draw people from downtown Salt Lake to come out here to spend an evening," he said. "It will be just a fun place to visit. There will be nothing like it in the valley."
Harrison said he hopes to finish the project within three to five years, but the timing ultimately depends on the economy.
"It really is market-driven . . . ," he said. "(But) there are a lot of rooftops in the area, and they're really hard-pressed to find a facility like this."
Harper said he is confident everything he sees on the drawing board now will become a reality. The developers already have 40 interested parties for 12 available restaurant pads, he said, and real estate agents have been calling him to ask when the multifamily housing will be done.
"The interest is there, and I don't see it subsiding," Harper said.