The Salt Lake City council finally got around last night to authorizing the $900 million in city bonds that were first approved back in July for renovations to the Utah Jazz arena, plus building out a wider entertainment district around it. The bonds will be paid off via a 0.5% citywide sales tax hike, though what happens if sales tax revenues fall short still isn’t clear.
In fact, a whole lot still isn’t clear about the details of the arena plan, even three months after it was first announced. In particular, Ryan Smith, the owner of the Jazz (and whatever the Utah Hockey Club ends up being called once it gets around to picking a name), still hasn’t worked out a lease deal for the arena and surrounding land, which you really would have wanted to work out before cutting a $900 million check. That’s not going to be resolved until sometime in 2025, so really yesterday’s approval wasn’t any more final than July’s was, though it’s certainly another step toward finalizing the deal.
I’m writing all this from a weird time zone, so going mostly off a very poorly written KSL-TV article, but there are at least some signs of opposition to the deal, including former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson saying he plans to subject the arena plan to a public referendum, sometime in the future, maybe. Earlier reporting indicated that the project is popular because it brings together both the business community that wants downtown “revitalization” spending and arts groups that want the Utah Symphony’s Abravanel Hall preserved, but also that Utahns as a whole oppose the tax hike by a 54-38% margin, so maybe not actually popular? Utah journalists have until sometime next year to get their act together and actually report on what’s being negotiated and what people think about it, I’m not holding my breath but we can always hope!
Hopefully Rocky Anderson is right and there is a way to get a referendum on the ballot and stop this blank check nonsense. The plans are so incomplete, they keep showing the same lame drawing of a plaza with a 300 foot wide jumbotron hanging over with a 4 letter word on it. Where’s the 60 story condo tower with fireworks shooting off and “Jazz win”? If I hear one more word about Japantown, I will scream. When I first heard Japantown mentioned, I expected a couple blocks of Japanese businesses and restaurants and a few Japanese living in the area. All Japantown is is a small church. Talk about throwing a bone at a dog and pony show. Then there’s all that yap yap about an entertainment, arts and convention district. Step one is to demolish half of the Salt Palace, isn’t that a great start to a convention district? Where is $20 for 2 tickets to Abravanel Hall, so much for an Arts district. Call this pile of Rottweiler poop what it really is, a billion dollar subsidy for a hockey team that lost a billion dollars in the next state and was chased across the Utah border. Where’s the diagrams and structural engineering reports to show how the approximately $525 million “renovation ” of the Delta Center will work? What happens when they fuck up and “this won’t work, we need another billion, ah please extend the sales tax countywide”? The diagrams showing, I give up, EVERYTHING is wrong with this, especially the 5 numbskulls that were praising themselves fo coming up with this brilliant way to keep Salt Lake City from becoming Flint, Michigan. The rules for speaking at the meeting don’t allow commenters to single out a council member, that doesn’t apply here. Alejandro Puy, can you please stop playing with your hair? Is it that far from 1300 South and 900 West to 600 South and State that you can’t get to City Hall instead of on Zoom? Maybe it’s you’re afraid to come home after dark with the homeless and drug dealers on your street. At the last meeting, held in your district, your residents made it perfectly clear what the problem is and what needs to be done about it. You led that meeting in person, not your usual Zoom appearance. When did you last have your hearing checked? What are you going to do about the very serious problems in YOUR district? No matter how many billions are thrown at a hockey renovation and entertainment district, the increasing homeless, drug and crime problem will keep visitors away from Downtown Salt Lake City, just look at the Gateway.
Beyond the 3 block development rights, SEG also allegedly got rights to develop the Gateway Mall but that’s not really specified. Neither was the rezoning portion that would allow SEG to build massive skyscrapers in their little district. Nor was the “$1 to $3 ticket fee” that’s supposed to go towards affordable housing – is there a minimum SEG is expected to kick in? Why the variance in ticket fees?
Anyways, I’m not sure a referendum could happen here. The state constitution states that referendum on spending bills can only happen if approved with less than 2/3 majority by whatever governing body (city council, county commission, or state legislature), but this was passed unanimously and IIRC the sales tax bill got over 2/3 in the state house. One can hope. Otherwise, this is a massive subsidy and development handout for essentially a grab-bag of goodies to mollify different opposition groups. I’m glad to not be living in the city anymore.
I’d recommend getting tickets to see a show at Abravenal now, though. It is a terrific venue but will at best be surrounded by a construction zone soon. That’s assuming the county keeps its word and doesn’t tear it down anyway before it gets its National Registry of Historic Places designation.
Who owns the Gateway, and how would Ryan
Smith gain control?
Vestar is the owner (who also, ironically, bought the Westgate out of bankruptcy back in 2011). That part was fuzzy; like a lot of things about this deal, KSL just listed the bullet point without the details. My guess is SEG would get first crack at buying up Gateway, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Vestar had been trying to offload Gateway for a while now. That development was doomed the day City Creek opened. I don’t think it’s been without a significant number of vacancies in the last decade.
“Otherwise, this is a massive subsidy and development handout for essentially a grab-bag of goodies to mollify different opposition groups.”
I have heard that sort of bill referred to as a Christmas Tree. Yes, that is how these things work in America.
Am I right to assume that SLC does not allow casinos? A lot of these sorts of developments have casinos.
It sounds like they are trying to emulate the ICE District in Edmonton, although I think that was more expensive. I was under the impression that involved Provincial money, but then I read recently it was just city money (in addition to some private money).
That has been a success by the measure of the people who get to write the history of these sorts of things, and I imagine the same will probably happen in Utah. So, not a good deal for taxpayers, but it will spruce up the area it was supposed to spruce up and secure the teams in the city for 25-30 years.
Either way, if this all fails, it won’t fail for another five to ten years, by which point arrangements will be ready to put the team in Houston or San Diego or the moon or whatever.
Utah doesn’t allow for any form of gambling, even a state lottery. Wendover, Nevada is about 120 miles west of SLC for anyone’s gambling desires. It’s screwed with the state’s ability to raise revenue in other ways.
I like the Christmas tree metaphor. There’s basically a present under the tree so no one feels left out, although in this case the biggest present is left for Scrooge.
This development will spruce up the area I guess, but between this, Gateway, City Creek, and Gallivan Plaza, most of downtown SLC will essentially be a series of segmented malls. All different developments at different times due to different “urgent” exigencies – the 2002 Olympics, early 90s urban renewal, the LDS Church wanting to monetize tourism to Temple Square, etc etc.
Insanely ironic that creating an entertainment district could involve razing a concert hall.