Work on razing several old low-rise buildings and renovating two other historic structures on the west side of Main Street between the Monaco Hotel and the David Keith Building was scheduled to be announced Tuesday afternoon by Mayor Rocky Anderson, along with a Chicago-based developer and a representative of the Utah Heritage Foundation.
A press conference was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in the plaza on the east side of the block directly across Main from the properties in question, between 200 and 300 South.
The mayor's office said Anderson would announce new tenants on Main Street and detail plans for preservation of the two historic buildings, razing of three boarded-up buildings and construction of new temporary facilities to be used in connection with next year's Winter Olympic Games.
Demolition permits already have been issued for the three low-rise structures between the Monaco — the Continental Bank Building before its renovation in 1999 — and the Karrick Building to the south. The razing of those structures will begin this week.
Both the Karrick, 236 S. Main, and its neighbor to the south, the Lollin Building, 238 S. Main (best known to locals as the former home of Leyson-Pearsall Jewelers) are small commercial buildings built in the late 1800s. They will be renovated by Hamilton Partners L.L.P., a Chicago-based real estate development company.
Kirk Huffaker, community services director for the Heritage Foundation, one of the scheduled speakers at the afternoon press conference, said the restoration of the Karrick, built in 1887, and Lollin, built in 1894, is significant for the character of downtown Salt Lake City.
"We believe this is a very important project and commend Hamilton Partners for taking it on," Huffaker said. "It's significant because it shows that preservation is a valuable tool for downtown revitalization. We see restoring the Karrick and Lollin as similar to the restoration of the Continental Bank into the Monaco. They're all great buildings that can be re-used and revitalize downtown."
Hamilton Partners first surfaced locally in September 1999, when it announced it had purchased the buildings and land between the Monaco and David Keith from Kimpton Hotel Group, the California firm that converted the Continental building into the luxury hotel. (The David Keith currently houses Dahle's Big & Tall clothing store and Sam Weller's Zion Book Store.)
Bruce B. Bingham, one of the partners in the privately held real estate development firm, said Hamilton would construct a 20-story, 375,000-square-foot office tower on the site. Construction was expected to get under way in the spring of 2000 with completion scheduled for 2002.
But then the 25-story American Stores tower on the southeast corner of Main and Broadway was added to the downtown office inventory when Albertson's bought American Stores, putting a hold on Hamilton's plans for its own high-rise.
As one leasing agent put it last year: "The American Stores building is driving a lot of things right now."
And it still is. One informed source who asked not to be named said it was unlikely that Bingham would announce that construction of the high rise would be getting under way.
"What they're trying to do is renovate the Karrick and Lollin buildings, get them preserved, and then get the buildings between them and the Monaco demolished. I doubt he (Bingham) would announce the high-rise office going ahead until there is some resolution to the American Stores deal."
Instead, it is expected that the renovation of the Lollin and Karrick will be announced along with the demolition of the three non-historic structures immediately to their north that most recently housed Walkover shoes, Lord's Big & Tall, English Tailors and the Catholic Center.
The best temporary use of that cleared space would be for a parking lot, but the city apparently doesn't favor that plan. It wants some type of temporary store fronts or perhaps a tentlike facility that could be used in connection with the Olympics and then later be removed to make way for the Hamilton Partners high-rise.
The upper floors of the Lollin and Karrick buildings will be developed into residential condominiums and the street level to retail space. Architect for the renovation project is Salt Lake firm MHTN Architects.
E-mail: max@desnews.com