‘It feels really good’: Construction begins again for restaurants 2 years after Sugar House fire

Brooks Kirchheimer remembers Oct. 25, 2022, almost as if it were yesterday.

The Utah restaurateur spent his morning petitioning for a building permit and a state liquor license for a new Sugar House restaurant, which would fill in the retail spaces of the Sugar Alley apartment complex. And by the evening, he was lying in bed finishing some late-night work on his laptop when he got the text.

A representative from Lowe Property Management — the developers behind Sugar Alley — informed him tha t a fire had broken out at the construction site . They were still monitoring the situation at that point, but it didn't look good.

"I was probably a couple of minutes away from putting my phone away to go to bed. And then I was just (listening to) the fire and police radio for probably the next three or four hours — probably until 3 in the morning — (and) going all the social media trying to find the latest updates," he said, recalling that day. "It was tough."

The fire ultimately became one of the largest fires in Salt Lake City history, lasting several days before firefighters were able to extinguish it. It resulted in $59 million in damage and caused some nearby businesses to close for weeks.

An exact cause was never determined , although investigators said it likely started from heaters or an electrical issue.

Instead of dwelling on what was lost, Kirchheimer, co-founder of Leave Room For Dessert Eateries, said he and his colleagues quickly got to work to figure out how to bounce back. That work then got him where he found himself Thursday, celebrating the official "regroundbreaking" of two restaurants: Hearth and Hill and Hill's Kitchen, mirroring locations in Park City.

The company, developers and even some of the firefighters who responded to the 2022 fire gathered by the future Hill's Kitchen patio where they celebrated with a unique twist: throwing horseshoes to commemorate the second attempt to complete the project.

"It feels really good," said Ben Lowe, chief development officer of Lowe Property Group. "We think it's going to be a great gathering spot for the community, and it's exciting to see it take shape."

A devastating fire

Sugar Alley was about 85% complete when the fire broke out in 2022, Lowe said. While Kirchheimer got a text, Lowe remembers showing up to the scene in flip-flops after getting a call, where he was quickly ushered into the Salt Lake City Fire Department's command center.

The fire was large, but it was also somewhat complex because of the project's size and its proximity to apartments and businesses.

"It would definitely rank as one of the largest, especially when you start calculating the dollar loss in value," said Salt Lake Fire Marshall Tony Allred. "It impacted surrounding businesses, surrounding citizens, and that's something — from the fire department's view and the city's view — we include from what the losses were from that night."

The department never really determined a cause because the origin area was destroyed, but investigators were able to rule out any suspicious activity.

A quick rebuild

Lowe estimates that about a year's worth of construction was saved because firefighters salvaged the building's parking garage. Construction around that resumed last year to rebuild what was lost.

"It's been a lot of work. Rebuilding is probably more difficult than starting a new project," he said, explaining that the insurance and building around areas that were damaged can be complicated.

He expects that crews will return to the 85% completion mark on the eight-story building this fall before it's completed in the spring of 2025. Once complete, it'll bring 193 new housing units to the fast-growing neighborhood.

It'll also add two new restaurants. Leave Room For Dessert Eateries was under contract to build a second Hearth and Hill location at the time of the fire. Kirchheimer says he remembers Lowe offering to end the deal with no hard feelings after the fire, but the company declined.

The company, Kirchheimer said, was committed to the Sugar House location. They picked it for its growth with new apartments, the walkability of the Sugar House Business District and the neighborhood's general "family-centric" vibe, among other things. It doubled down by adding a Hill's Kitchen, too.

"We always knew that we wanted to expand to Salt Lake, and Sugar House was always a location that we were really excited about," he said.

The extra time allowed the company to review customer trends at its other locations to make some minor tweaks. It also helped the restaurants avoid most of the road construction that has taken place along 2100 South and Highland Drive over the past few years.

Once complete, Hearth and Hill will be about a 6,000-square-foot, "upscale casual" restaurant open for lunch and dinner. It'll include a U-shaped bar. Hill's Kitchen, which will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, will be a 3,000-square-foot cafe and bakery that will also sell smoothies and juices.

Both could open by the end of this year if fire requirements are met.

With no real ground to break and no space to plant a tree, the company opted for a horseshoe toss to celebrate the future U-shaped bar as they now resumed construction. However, Kirchheimer said he'll take all the luck horseshoes may provide, especially after the past two years.

“I think this building will take all the luck we can bring to it,” he said, with a chuckle. “Restaurants can always use luck.”