Music fans across Salt Lake City might breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing that while new development is coming to the block that surrounds beloved all-ages venue Kilby Court, the plan is to keep Kilby at the center.
In 2022, a developer initially moved forward with plans to develop around the venue in a way that wasn’t popular with the neighborhood, which was anxious about the possibility of the venue being displaced.
Those plans fell through, and the property that’s home to Kilby Court spent over a year on the market before it was picked up by a group led by Brandon Blaser, who is very interested in preserving the venue. The sale closed in late October, county records show.
Nestled within the block between 300 West and 400 West, 700 South and 800 South, Kilby Court is a little street at the end of which is an eponymous beloved all-ages venue. Established in 1999, the venue is a modest garage of a space with a large reputation—as a place where many Salt Lakers have their first concert memories and where many acts have gotten their careers started, some to great success. It’s this legacy that was the springboard for the annual Kilby Block Party, a wildly successful festival put on by local entertainment production company and owners of the venue, S&S Presents, which has earned Salt Lake City some national attention.
The festival’s namesake also caught the attention of real estate developer Blaser, owner of Blaser Ventures, which is a Building Salt Lake advertiser. Blaser has led the development in and around the Granary—his projects include the Post District, the Silos to the west, and Granary Square, which is currently home to Granary Live. These projects have been a key part of the slow but steady work to make the Granary’s wide open expanse more connected and walkable.
The Kilby block has already been primed to be part of this transition—one of Blaser’s other ventures, the historic Pickle & Hide buildings next door are slated to bring mixed-income and mixed-use residential and ground floor, neighborhood-focused commercial spaces to the Kilby Block in 2026. After a Chicago-based private equity firm’s plans for a building fronting 800 South fell through last year, Blaser Ventures acquired the rest of the block that includes Kilby Court, spanning the portion from 364 West to 330 West, between 800 South and 700 South. At present, it’s infilled with several old industrial, warehouse-type buildings.
This doesn’t mean it’s curtains for Kilby Court the venue, though.
“Kilby is just such an essential part of the fabric of Salt Lake City and the Granary District. It’s one of those cultural icons and moments that is very unique to Salt Lake,” Blaser tells Building Salt Lake upon discussing his plans to keep the venue at the center of the block’s development. “The loss of it would be absolutely detrimental to the history of the Granary area and what makes the Granary so special. We view it as an essential piece of our history and culture that we are proud to be partners in helping to preserve.”
All of Blaser’s major projects in the area have involved adaptive re-use, which is in rhythm with a neighborhood that is otherwise filling with businesses, micro-breweries, and an engineering firm all operating out of rehabbed industrial buildings.
Plans for Kilby
The 2.34-acre Kilby Block development will also be adaptive re-use, building on the mix of industrial and residential spaces that are already there, and not dense, Blaser said. And no residential is planned for the 13 parcels that would be affected.
Focus will be on local businesses, maker spaces, and practice spaces for local musicians—an apt inclusion considering that bands have indeed practiced in some of the buildings over the years.
Blaser said he aims to keep these spaces affordable for new businesses coming in as well as for Kilby Court, and is working with local musicians to make spaces that are useful for them. Vertical construction will top out at two or three levels, with façade preservation a priority.
“There will be no big box,” Blaser said. “There will be no scrape and burn. It’s going to be focused on small local businesses.”
Some of these façades are currently out of view—Blaser mentions structures on the property with gorgeous interiors hidden between the areas that block Kilby Court from connecting to 800 South and the adjacent Fisher Brewing property.
Unblocking that potential throughway is another major aim of his plans, which will connect to the retrofitted Pickle & Hide development.
Instead of a straight cut-through, there will be a winding, pedestrian-only path through the block, connecting to a plaza and a public pocket park along the way. Pathways for cars will be present leading into the Pickle & Hide residences, but that seems to be the only major concession for cars.
To realize this transition, Blaser Ventures has tapped architect Michael Hsu, whose work on projects like Houston Mercantile in Houston, TX looks like it will be right at home in the Granary—all steel beams, wooden planks, glass, and preserved brick.
The end goal, according to Blaser, is to craft an “18-hour area of the city driven by arts and music,” which, considering how sleepy the Granary used to be even with a Kilby show every other night, is something to look forward to.
Blaser said the plans are still being drawn up and didn’t have renderings to share. We’ll follow up when we get more details.
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