Legislative committee approves downtown Salt Lake City revitalization agreement

Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson told a Utah legislative committee Tuesday that the county has a plan to preserve Abravanel Hall as part of a proposed downtown Salt Lake City revitalization project.

“We want the symphony to thrive for the next 50 years and beyond, and I’m committed, as I have been from day one, to keeping the hall as is where it is. We have a plan to do so,” she told the Revitalization Zone Committee, a newly established panel tasked with overseeing the downtown project.

Wilson did not elaborate, but said architects hired by both the county and Smith Entertainment Group are working together on the plan. She estimated it would cost more than $200 million. Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said the county and SEG have committed to make the plan public when it’s ready.

Meeting for the first time, the five-member committee unanimously approved a participation agreement between Salt Lake City and SEG to develop a sports, entertainment, culture and convention district in the city center. The Salt Lake City Council endorsed the agreement in July.

“We feel good about this partnership agreement,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall told the committee, adding it was the result of “true negotiation” in which not everyone got what they wanted.

As part of the approval, McCay said the committee would include a recommendation that Abravanel Hall, home to the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera, would be preserved. The hall is not included in the agreement because it’s owned and operated by the county, not the city. Salt Lake City’s agreement with SEG makes only one reference to symphony hall. It states that one of the goals of the project is modify 300 West in front of the Delta Center to create a public plaza that can extend over the street through planned public spaces to the east that connect to the Salt Palace Convention Center, Abravanel Hall and the rest of downtown.

SEG, which owns the Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club, intends to put $3 billion into redeveloping a three-block area east of the Delta Center, which includes reconfiguring the arena entrance to face east, pedestrian plazas, building a residential tower and a hotel and providing retail and restaurant space. The project, which aims to better connect the east and west sides of downtown, would impact the Salt Palace, Abravanel Hall, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and Japantown .

The county is also trying to figure out how to replace about 40% of the nearly 1 million square-foot Salt Lake Palace that would be bulldozed in the SEG plan.

“This isn’t an easy road. This is a complex process. This isn’t an inexpensive proposition,” Wilson said.

Earlier this year, the Legislature, with Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County support, passed SB272 allowing the creation of a downtown district. Under the law, the city could raise its current 7.75% sales tax rate one-half of a percent — pushing it to 8.25% over no more than 30 years. The tax doesn’t apply to groceries and major purchases like vehicles. The city has until Dec. 31 to approve the tax increase under a timeline outlined in the legislation.

The tax hike is anticipated to generate $1.2 billion over the 30-year life of the agreement, $900 million of which would go to SEG. The company estimates it will spend $525 million to remodel the 33-year-old Delta Center and $375 million on the other district improvements.

A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll in August found 54% of Utahns oppose the proposed tax increase, while 38% favor it and 8% don’t know.

Whether Abravanel Hall will remain in place or torn down and rebuilt as part of the project, has been an ongoing controversy. In May, Utah Symphony musicians started an online petition to save the hall that now has nearly 50,000 signatures. Residents packed a Salt Lake City Council meeting earlier this year not only to plead for the buildings but to scold government leaders for even thinking about razing them. Earlier this month, musicians launched effort to get the building listed on National Register of Historic Places.

SEG has said it’s committed to keeping the hall part of the district.

Mike Maughan, SEG executive and project principal, reiterated that to the committee, saying it’s important to take care of the city’s “singular” assets like the symphony.

“At SEG, we’ve been emphatic and clear and consistent from the very beginning that if this development, this idea, this sports, entertainment, culture and convention district doesn’t work for all of those parties, it doesn’t work for any of us. What we mean by that is that there has to be a mechanism by which we ensure the long-term future and viability of the symphony orchestra in downtown for decades to come,” he said adding the same goes for the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, convention center and Delta Center.

The agreement between SEG and the city includes the creation of a community benefit fund from fees SEG would attach to ticket sales for basketball, hockey and other events, ranging from $1 to $3 per ticket depending on the ticket price, starting in July 2025. The city would use the money for affordable and family-sized housing, a Japantown streetscape project and public art, the latter two getting $5 million each. The housing would not have to be in the district. Other public benefits that SEG would provide include workforce training and development, a college internship program, a high school mentor program, youth athletics programming in Salt Lake City and free or subsidized tickets to both NHL and NBA games for residents and organizations in the city. The agreement stipulates that the basketball and hockey teams play all their homes games in the Delta Center.

In addition, the district will include a public safety/police substation. The agreement says Salt Lake police will provide “consistent” coverage, including the downtown bike squad for large scheduled events and patrol officers to respond to calls and provide “hotspot” checks.