Men will be wearing suits and ties. Women will be in dresses and dress shoes.
Few, if any, will be wearing hard hats or orange vests as they converge on Salt Lake City this weekend for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 177th Semiannual General Conference, though given the state of downtown, construction-wear would be appropriate attire.
Out-of-state visitors and Utahns who don't spend much time downtown likely will be surprised by what they see — or don't see. The Inn at Temple Square is gone, as is the former Key Bank tower. The Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center malls are in various states of demolition.
"It seems like we have an implosion or a groundbreaking every other day," Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said at one such event, an August groundbreaking for a 22-story office tower to be built at 222 S. Main.
At the heart of the Downtown Rising revitalization project are plans for City Creek Center, a 20-acre development that will bring a mix of residences, retailers and office space downtown.
The project, estimated at $1 billion, will cover three downtown blocks, complete with 6 acres of landscaped open space, including man-made streams representing the historic south fork of City Creek that ran through downtown when pioneers first arrived in 1847.
During a recent forum at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton called the City Creek project "unprecedented in the nation — probably in the world."
"It's 20 acres of redevelopment by a private entity, with no taxpayer money," Saxton said.
Tithing dollars also will not be used for the project, which is being developed with funding from other real-estate ventures by Property Reserve Inc., the real estate arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The project is on schedule for completion in mid-2011, said Dale Bills, spokesman for City Creek Center.
"Demolition work is nearly finished on the Crossroads block," Bills said, "and excavation is well under way. ZCMI block demolition has begun and will continue well into next year."
When the center opens, it will include four residential towers on South Temple, office space both in existing and new buildings, three anchor department stores — Nordstrom, Macy's and Dillard's — and two levels of smaller retail stores fronting an indoor-outdoor pedestrian walkway.
There also will be a spot on 100 South for a fifth residential tower, which at 415 feet would be among the state's tallest buildings. The tower won't be part of the first phase of the development, but will be built later, depending on how quickly the other condominiums are purchased.
The fifth tower will be built between the Marriott Hotel and the Crandall and McIntyre retail buildings, all of which will remain as part of the new development. Other buildings in the project area that will remain are the Gateway West, Eagle Gate, Beneficial Financial Group and Zions Bank towers, Utah Woolen Mills, the Qwest building and the historic Deseret/First Security Bank building.
Residences
The first phase of residential construction will make about 400 units available for sale or rent, with more housing built as demand requires, according to PRI.
As many as 100 other condominium units will be built by Cowboy Partners on the south side of Social Hall Avenue, east of State Street.
Bills said no residences at City Creek are being offered for sale or rent at this time, and no formal reservations are being taken. Pricing also has not been determined.
However, PRI is compiling a list of anyone interested in residential opportunities at the center. Potential tenants can be added to the list by e-mailing their name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address to PRIResidential@PRIpd.com.
Two more future condominium buildings may be built someday on the block just east of the Crossroads block, and there also will be two levels of apartments for rent above some of the retail space. In all, there could be as many as 700 residential units available in the development.
Retail
In addition to anchor stores Nordstrom, Macy's and Dillard's, a Harmons grocery store will be built on the south side of Social Hall Avenue.
Nordstrom will be a two-story, 124,000-square-foot store in the middle of the block on West Temple. Fellow anchors Macy's and Dillard's will be located on the east side of Main Street. Macy's will be a three-story, 150,000-square-foot store on the north end of the block near South Temple. Dillard's will be located near the southwest corner of the block and be roughly the same size as Macy's.
Macy's again will feature the historic ZCMI facade, a staple of downtown since the 1870s. Scaffolding is being installed in front of the three-story, cast-iron facade on the east side of Main Street. Crews soon will begin careful disassembly of the structure, Bills said.
Approximately 400,000 additional square feet of retail space — enough for more than 100 stores — will line the pedestrian walkways and link the anchor stores. Bills said no other retail tenants for the project have been announced. Most of the retail leasing will be handled by project partner Taubman Centers Inc.
City Creek's retail plans also call for a skybridge connecting the second-level shops on one side of Main Street to the other. PRI and Taubman officials have called the skybridge essential to the success of the development's retail component.
Mayor Anderson and urban-planning advocates have warned that the skybridge could hurt downtown. Anderson contends the skybridge would create a self-enclosed mall covering two blocks in the heart of downtown, benefiting the mall's retailers but keeping people off the street and away from neighboring businesses.
The Salt Lake City Council has approved an amendment to the city's master plan to accommodate the skybridge. The master plan previously prevented skybridges over city streets but now allows for bridges to be considered if they meet certain conditions.
The council has yet to consider specific plans for the bridge, which Taubman officials are still working on.
Office space
Another controversy surrounded the planned demolition of the Deseret/First Security Bank building on the northeast corner of 100 South and Main. The church changed its plans following a push by the Utah Heritage Foundation to save the nearly 90-year-old building.
Built in 1919, the building was originally home to the Deseret National Bank, which early church President Brigham Young opened on the same corner in 1871. It later became the headquarters of the Eccles family's First Security Bank, which merged with Wells Fargo in 2000.
The building houses the First Security branch of Wells Fargo Bank and the Eccles Foundation offices. PRI officials have not determined the future use of the building, only that it will remain as part of the project.
The former Key Bank building at 50 S. Main was imploded Aug. 18 to make way for a new retail development. Key Bank's offices moved to the former Beneficial Financial Group tower, which has been renamed as the Key Bank tower.
All existing office space in the project is fully leased, Bills said. If the Deseret/First Security Building is utilized for office space, leasing will begin when renovations are complete, he said.
Contributing: Doug Smeath
E-mail: jpage@desnews.com