The Granary District once felt like a brush fire ready to become one of the most bustling neighborhoods in Salt Lake City, with projects lining up to obtain entitlements and plans for a rush of new housing that promised to bring liveliness to the area.
Some projects have yet to break ground.
Others, like the street activation project proposed by the troubled development firm Q Factor, have stalled out. The project that was set to loom over Kilby Court also, apparently, fell through.
The high-rate environment kept some developers who had received approvals to move forward from breaking ground.
Needless to say, what seemed like an incoming brush fire now feels a bit more like a smoker grill. It will take a bit more patience for the district roughly between 700 South and 900 South, 300 West to I-15 to feel fully cooked.
Yet activity continues on various projects that broke ground before the market froze over and stalled much of the commercial real estate industry.
Time will tell whether the handful of projects that are underway will add the spark of life needed to make the Granary District the magnet it seemed poised to become not long ago.
The implosion of Makers Line and troubles for parent company Q Factor stalled progress on at least two housing projects, while liens that have since been settled delayed construction of a key parking garage.
Pacific Yard, the project that is set to anchor the southwest corner of 700 S. 400 W., has yet to break ground.
Still, there are signs of progress.
PICKLE AND HIDE
Construction is underway on the pair of buildings slated to make way for a mixed-use project containing housing, commercial and retail space.
Pickle and Hide was designed to include 139 residences, over 50,000 square feet of office, and over 17,00 square feet of retail space, pedestrian walkways and a third-acre space intended for use by the public.
The buildings at 741 S. 400 W. are still shaping up to take a central role in the neighborhood.
“The project is envisioned as a live/work/play hub, promoting an active lifestyle and celebrating the creative history of the Granary District,” the developers wrote when originally pitching the project. “A diverse mix of apartments, commercial space, and ground floor neighborhood-focused retail is provided throughout the site.”
The two historic buildings would be retrofitted into office and retail space, with additional buildings set back from 400 West for housing and a parking garage in the interior of the more than 2-acre site.
SIGNS OF CULTURE
Locals have worked to add signs of organic culture into the neighborhood, tactfully working to introduce a mascot into the mix.
The so-called Hoodahs have taken up root on the abandoned surface rail lines running through the Granary, lounging on the tracks while waiting for more neighbors to arrive.
The giant Hoodah is also overlooking the activity that streams in and out of the Granary Campus, the adaptive reuse project that helped lead the way in the area.
PARKING GARAGE
The hulking, nearly 1,000-stall parking garage at the center of it all is getting wrapped up.
The project is imposing and unsightly, given that the streets around the Granary are overly wide due to historical designs and have been turned over to street parking and underuse.
Still, it will likely allow multiple developers in the neighborhood to underpark their projects, potentially centralizing parking into one area. Ideally, the gargantuan garage will someday be screened by less offensive uses.
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