SALT LAKE CITY — The entire landscape of downtown Salt Lake City could change Tuesday as the city council gets set to discuss multiple development projects on it agenda.
"These growing pains, the next decade means there's going to be a lot of growth, but there will be a lot of prosperity to follow,” said Salt Lake City council member Eva Lopez Chavez.
About a block away from the corner of 800 South and State Street is where the old Sears building used to sit, making it a busy part of the city that lifted all businesses.
"So when Sears was there, we had a lot of people coming in, shopping, school shopping, so we had a lot of people coming in to have lunches and dinners,” explained Curry Friend Chicken restaurant owner Sunny Nisar. “Ever since they’ve closed down and tore down the spot, were just kind of waiting to see something that would pop up there."
In December 2021, Intermountain Health bought the building left behind when Sears closed. They demolished the building about 10 months later and it has been an empty lot ever since, except for some birds that visit the dubbed "Sears Lake."
"The hospital isn’t a bad idea, definitely it’ll kind of change the genre of this area,” said Nisar. “Retail would help. I’ve heard that they are proposing so we can have more people down here, shopping, eating, dining, having a good time so our downtown is something that people are looking forward to."
On Tuesday's city council's agenda is a request to rezone the land to build an urban hospital.
"I certainly hope that they don’t increase parking lots, and that we see more of a focus on trying to help patients access our natural urban environment,” said Chavez.
Another downtown projects to be discussed is the funding of the capital improvement program, which includes the green loop installation, which will be a big park with active spaces connected by trees.
Rezoning part of downtown for the sports, entertainment, culture and convention district around the Delta Center is also on the agenda. One of the changes could be allowing the maximum height of structures to be 600 feet, instead of 125 feet.
"We're cultivating a new future, and were ushering in not just a world class city, but a future where every resident can create a home here in Salt Lake,” added Chavez.
As for the hospital, people hope it can make patients and the city healthier.
"So I think that the downtown holds a big responsibility on showing what Utah is all about,” said Nisar.
