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More office, retail, apartments planned for downtown SSLC

Aug 22, 2019 03:55PM ● By Bill Hardesty

A conceptional drawing of phase 1 of the Mill project at 2200 S. Main St. facing Utopia Avenue. The mixed-use building will be the tallest in SSLC. (Courtesy of South Salt Lake City)

By Bill Hardesty | [email protected]

At their Aug. 1 meeting, the planning commission passed on with their recommendation to the City Council phase 1 plans for the highest building in South Salt Lake City. The development, currently called the Mill project, is planned for 2200 S. Main St. and will reach to West Temple. 

Two six-story office buildings will anchor the corners with a 10-story (measured as 11-story building) mixed-use apartment building between. A large parking structure for the office buildings, retail patrons and residents is planned at the back of the building. The apartments and retail will face Utopia Avenue.

The developer is Dakota Pacific who owns the Granite Mill property along with property at 2220 S. Main St. and 40 to 50 Bowers Way. All the buildings on the properties will be demolished.

The Mill project joins completed projects such as WinCo, Ritz Classic Apartments, and Liberty Crossing apartments along the S-line. All this development is part of the city's efforts to create a downtown area. The Mill project is planned for completion in 2020.

Mixed-use apartments

While the design review phase is still ongoing, in an earlier RDA meeting it was mentioned 260 units are planned for the development ranging from small micro apartments to two-bedroom apartments. There might be a few three bedroom apartments.

The apartments are joined by 7,200 square feet of retail. The height of the retail place will be the height of two stories. The parking structure will have 790 to 800+ stalls.

Parking

With parking a hot topic in SSLC, the planning commission spent some time understanding how the development will impact parking with focus on street parking,

"Street parking is primarily a function of street level apartments, which is not an issue with this development," Hooper Knowlton, managing director of Dakota Pacific Real Estate Partners, a sponsor of the project, pointed out.

Under questioning, he did admit that street parking would increase because of the retail. However, he added that patrons will soon realize how convenient using the parking structure will be for the apartments and the retail.

As part of the project, Utopia Avenue will be improved allowing parking on the north side only.

Street improvements

Because of the size of the development, some adjustments of the downtown South Salt Lake zoning ordinances and design standards were approved.

With a future I-80 on-ramp planned for Main Street, it is important to keep two lanes of traffic in each direction. This required an altering of standards. According to design standards, a main street should have a sidewalk (15.6 feet), parking lane (8.6 feet), bike lane (5 feet), and a traveling lane (11 feet). However, for the Mill project it will be a sidewalk (10.5 feet), bike lane (7.5 feet), and two traveling lanes (11 feet each).

On West Temple, it will be a sidewalk (15 feet), bike lane (7.5 feet), parking lane (8.5 feet), and a traveling lane (11 feet). The bike lane will be separated from the parking lane which is much safer for cyclists.

Utopia Avenue will look different. Currently, there is only a 33-foot right of way in two directions. According to city standards, it should be 66 feet and the downtown standard is 74 feet. The proposed improvements will be a north sidewalk (11 feet), a parking lane (8.5 feet), two traveling lanes (11 feet each), and a south sidewalk (11 feet). Parking will only be on the north side. 

According to the downtown master plan, Bowers Way will be eliminated with redevelopment. The city is not requiring any improvements on the road.

Other action

In other planning commission action, they approved numerous changes in the city code. SSLC staff has worked on these changes for months.

The goal was to make the city code more organized and simpler to understand. They also wanted to resolve code conflicts and conform to current state law.

Community development and the city attorney took the appropriate codes and rebuilt it from the ground up. 

Alex White, department manager of community development, presented an overview of the 12 sections and subsections affected. 

One significant addition was an ordinance (section 9.24) allowing consumption of alcohol in public places during city-sponsored events such as Muralfest and Craftober.