Proposed sports and entertainment district to give ‘facelift’ to downtown Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — New details have been made public about a proposed sports and entertainment district in downtown Salt Lake City that would be home to both the Utah Jazz and the state’s new NHL team.

The Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), which owns the Jazz and the NHL team, is proposing to turn about 100 acres around the Delta Center to form the district.

“This is one of those things that permanently changes the face of the city,” said Victoria Petro, Salt Lake City Council chairperson. “We’re hoping that we are going to give the city a facelift and not a scar.”

The district aims to not only provide sports to the area, but restaurants and bars that will allegedly enhance the downtown experience.

In its application, SEG wants to significantly renovate the arena to allow for greater capacity for hockey and basketball, while also adding retail, hospitality, housing, and parking locations.

“I think about when we built City Creek Center, that led to the Eccles Theater and a number of residential towers and office towers and many other improvements to downtown,” explained Dee Brewer, Executive Director of the Downtown Alliance. “This investment in an entertainment district, likewise will spawn additional investments and new opportunities for residents, workers and visitors.”

The revitalization zone may be funded through a 0.5 percent sales tax increase in Salt Lake City, which has already drawn some criticism.

“There’s a lot of skepticism,” admits Petro. “This is a hard time in history. The average person is struggling to pay for groceries, we take nothing for granted. Not one penny can be used in a way that doesn’t leverage itself to increasing the general fund and increasing the experience for people who call Salt Lake home.”

In a statement, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said, “the city anticipates Salt Lake County and the state of Utah will have different needs and abilities to contribute to the project, not solely city taxpayers.”

The application also proposes zoning revisions such as removing some building height restrictions. However, there’s still plenty of details to be worked out.

“After seeing 29,000 deposits for season tickets and a full-capacity arena, we are optimistic that getting this right is something that will pay off in dividends,” Petro added. “But we don’t have anything close to specifics at this point that can say how we feel about the application.”

The application process will move forward Tuesday at a council meeting where SEG will face questions from council members who are looking for more details and answers.