Massive new Evo Campus in Salt Lake City could help revamp Granary District

SALT LAKE CITY — A building with bones nearly 100 years old is now home to a 100,000-square-foot community space and campus focused on recreation in Salt Lake City’s Granary District.

Seattle-based company Evo collaborated with numerous partners to create the Granary Campus, located at 400 West and 700 South. The campus features the AllTogether Skatepark, the Bouldering Project, Level9 Sports, an Evo retail store and the Evo Hotel.

“Campus is comprised of different offerings that are meant to be the intersection of outdoor recreation, fashion, art, culture, music,” said Tommy Trause, Evo’s head of store development and hospitality.

Trause says the retail spaces and skatepark opened recently within the past few weeks. The hotel opens Tuesday, and the Bouldering Project climbing area is projected to open in the spring.

The campus features murals and artwork from local artists throughout the building, including in each hotel room. Evo’s focus during the adaptive reuse project was to preserve the character already present in the existing warehouse.

“We wanted to do everything within our power to preserve, celebrate and amplify, and then clean it up and kind of bring it back to life,” said Trause.

The Granary District is home to some of Salt Lake City’s oldest infrastructure, including a number of historic buildings. The Evo Campus building itself is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“As a neighborhood, the Granary is really a fascinating place. It's one of Salt Lake City’s oldest neighborhoods, but it's been neglected and overlooked for a lot of years,” said Kristen Lavelett, the board president of the Granary District Alliance. “What Evo has done with Granary Campus is really created a community gathering place.”

Lavelett believes the Granary District will see more businesses come into the area while older businesses are able to continue thriving. She would like to see more businesses work to achieve similar projects like the Evo campus’ adaptive reuse project.

“There’s an excitement, there’s a buzz," echoed Will Wright, a project manager with Salt Lake City’s Department of Economic Development. "[Granary District has] got this gritty, cool vibe that people want to be a part of."

“In five to 10 years, I see it as the single greatest neighborhood in Salt Lake City,” said Lavelett. “I see it as the place when people get off the airplane, where they want to come and where they want to be is the Granary District.”