Under the pressure of a year-end deadline, the Salt Lake City Council and Larry H. Miller (LHM) Real Estate have come to terms that will enable redevelopment of nearly 100 acres of reclaimed brownfields near the Utah State Fairpark that includes public financing for a Major League Baseball stadium.
A new zoning district, as well as special agreements advancing each party’s priorities not addressed in the zoning, are being teed up for approval by authorities early this week. Negotiations continued through this past weekend, hoping to bring the agreement to a vote at the city council tomorrow, Tuesday Dec. 10.
Plans being advanced for the Power District and the State Fairpark west of Downtown will forever transform the North Temple transit corridor. The stretch between the Jordan River and Redwood Road has long been dominated by the industrial uses of PacifiCorp/Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), suppressing development along a long stretch of the corridor rezoned for mixed-use development in 2010.
The Jordan River, for decades stained by industrial waste, its banks providing marginal space for urban campers, looks to get a glow-up for about a third of a mile, as plans provided by LHM show the adjacent stadium (which does not yet have a team) as well as food, beverage, and entertainment uses right up to the river.
Let’s look at the final details of the new zoning and agreements as they currently stand, on the eve of a planned vote at the city council.
First, some context: LHM acquiring property and HB 562
Throughout 2023 and 2024, the Larry H. Miller Companies’ real estate arm successfully bought up properties on the south side of North Temple between the Jordan River and Redwood Road not owned by Rocky Mountain Power – a total assemblage of at least 93 acres.
The District also includes the 65 acres of the State Fairpark as well as state-owned property on the south side of North Temple bordering the river known as the White Ballfield, marked for an early-stage residential development and parking garage, LHM representatives said Monday.
Rocky Mountain power has been floating development ideas for their property since it was decided that in the future they will only need a small footprint of their currently sprawled campus, where they are building a new administrative headquarters.
After testing out several potential development partners, RMP chose LHM Real Estate to lead the massive, mixed-use, masterplanned development.
In the spring of 2024, the Utah State Legislature passed HB 562, enabling a new Fairpark development authority to capture funding from property tax increment generated by new growth over the next 30 years in an area that includes the Miller, RMP, as well as the State Fairpark properties.
That authority, The Utah Fairpark Area Investment and Restoration District (UFAIR), gets to take “what would normally be SLC’s growth-related tax revenue, which would go into our general fund, and instead, invest it in this district,” City Attorney Katie Lewis told the city council last week.
UFAIR is entitled to keep 75% of that new-growth revenue, while the city’s cut is 25%. That is property tax revenue that will not be going to the school district, library, water conservation district, mosquito abatement district, and the general fund of Salt Lake City.
Up to $900 million of the increment is earmarked for a potential Major League Baseball stadium and other Power District improvements.
Since the city’s share is below what it estimates is needed to provide necessary new public infrastructure and services to the area, HB 562 includes provisions for UFAIR to share an additional percentage of its tax increment with the city.
The amount for public services – from streets and sewers to police and fire, is supposed to be covered by a formula that begins with UFAIR cutting a check to Salt Lake City for 10% of its 75% tax increment from 2025-2030, which then escalates over the next 30 years to 2055 when Salt Lake City will get to collect 100% of the enhanced property tax from the area.
While that may sound like a lot, city leaders have been distributing numbers internally that show that the funding formula is woefully deficient in meeting the new service costs.
Sources inside City Hall tell us that the disconnect is so large that the city is considering walking away from negotiations.
Friction points
Rachel Otto, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff told the UFAIR Board today during its public comment period, “Under the Legislature’s state authority model, a district diverts tax revenue, but the City is expected to continue to fund services for a growing district into the future with the same budget it has today.”
“This is like budgeting for a family of five and then being asked to use that same budget for a family of 10,000,” she said.
City Council Member Alejandro Puy, in whose District 2 most of the District is located, has been expressing worries that the tax burden on Salt Lake City residents, already on the uptick, is in for a heavier load.
At the council’s work session last week, Puy credited his constituents for pointing out that “The Inland Port doesn’t pay for mosquito abatement, like all citizens in the [Abatement] District do, but they benefit from it. My constituents have tax increases this year for that service.”
“And you could say, that one of the reasons the mosquito abatement district has to raise taxes to everybody in the city is because of that. So there’s certainly a hole in the system there that hopefully gets addressed at some point.”
Certainly our neighbors are already concerned with the increases [coming].”
It’s clear that city leaders and staff are uncomfortable with a growing storm of responsibilities in the Power District with insufficient funds to cover them.
A temporary resolution
At the UFAIR Board meeting this afternoon, Chair Sen.Scott Sandall acknowledged the problem of the disconnect between services and funding.
“In having conversations with some of the originators of the legislation, that they wanted to make sure that the city would be maintained whole for services that they provided, but didn’t want to speculate into the future which of those services might be required.”
He noted that he and UFAIR Executive Director Benn Buys met with the city this morning, and “discussed the possibility of having a one-year agreement that would maintain the status quo.”
“In a year we may have better facts and knowledge about what the services may require,” mentioning “fire, police, street sweeping, maintenance and those sorts of items.”
The terms of that one-year agreement are likely being negotiated presently. City Hall staff will be hurriedly preparing documents for discussion, review, and approval tomorrow.
All this effort is needed to meet the legislation’s deadline of Dec. 31. What’s the reward for the city?
“The reason that the city is willing to include vesting in these land use ordinances and an expedited process for this development is because of the commitment to bring a Major League Baseball team to this area,” Lewis, one of the city’s chief negotiators, told the council.
On the eve of likely approval, here’s a review of the multiple proposals.
The new zoning
The city has complied with the state’s deadline to establish new land-use regulations by the end of the year, under threat of losing all land-use jurisdiction over the area, according to the legislation.
As we’ve previously reported, the new Jordan River Fairpark zone will allow buildings up to 400 feet, with a city design review process triggered for any structure over 200 feet.
Such an upzone reflects a massive increase in value for the LHM- and RMP-owned properties currently covered by Transit Station Area and Manufacturing zoning, and will license building heights previously unseen outside the city’s Downtown core. Currently rules allowing only 8-story structures are in place.
In the new zone, all street-facing buildings must conform to the following design standards:
- Ground-floor active use minimum – 60%
- Ground-floor active use + visual interest % – None (i.e. no substitution of art for active use)
- Ground-floor glass minimum – 60%
- Blank wall maximum length – 25’
- Street-facing facade maximum length – None
The development agreement
While rules are rules, they can be suspended by or enhanced by special contract between the city and developers.
Usually, the city seeks a development agreement to apply stricter rules on a developer than what exists in the underlying zoning. In this case, LHM has managed to also loosen requirements of the new zone, even as it gets written.
The city and LHM are ready to sign a 40-year agreement that gives some significant concessions to each side.
What the developers get
To enable development on the banks of the Jordan River, LHM has requested suspension of the city’s Riparian Corridor Overlay ordinance, passed in 2008, which prohibits structures closer than 50 feet to the high-water mark of a river or wetland.
LHM’s desire to have that ordinance suspended triggered the city’s Public Utilities department to create a new table of allowed uses in the Jordan River corridor adjacent to LHM’s property.
At the briefing, City Council Member Dan Dugan (D6) worried that “we developed a table with some fairly broad allowances that we don’t have for the rest of the city.”
In response, City Attorney Katie Lewis reminded the council of “The mutual goals that the city and LHM have for this property. Many of you have seen the renderings, and the goal is to have a stadium right there on the river and an activated walkable retail residential restaurant space right up to the river in an area where the river is underutilized and some dangerous conditions need to be mitigated.”
Back and forth between Lewis and the Council revealed that LHM wants the regulations to stop at 50 feet from the river. But it seems clear that the city is comfortable with most uses contemplated by the developers being approved close to the river’s edge.
“I have not had the opportunity to speak with LHM about that additional 50 feet [up to 100],” Lewis said. She added that, at LHM’s request, the city is establishing a variance process where Public Utilities can wave restrictions on certain riverside uses “within reason.”
LHM has declined to comment on the negotiations while they are ongoing.
In addition, developers want exemption from the city’s Airport Flightpath Overlay Ordinance, which gives City Hall the prerogative to limit building heights near the airport to protect its current and potential future runways.
There seemed to be no pushback from city officials on that request.
Finally, Lewis reported that LHM will receive a special city ombudsperson to facilitate the development process.
What the city gets
City council members seemed pleased with the results of negotiations, repeating thanking the LHM representatives and the city’s negotiating team for their extra-hours work and pending outcomes.
Lewis reported “significant public benefits” to the city council, highlighting two.
- Open space: The new JRF zone says 10% of land must be committed to open space. The development agreement specifies that if it’s not public, it must have public access easement that specifies hours and a commitment to inclusive and non-discriminatory access
- Workforce/affordable housing that includes family-size homes: Council members, trying to mitigate displacement from the west-side neighborhoods near the project area, seemingly have won a commitment for 10% of the units built to be rented to people at or below 80% AMI.
While officials were careful to qualify their praise for the deal by mentioning that “we’re still working on it,” more than one council member referred to details of the deal in public comments.
Dan Dugan (D6) commented, “From the beginning, we’ve all talked about workforce housing and family-size housing, and I’m glad we’ve come to, we’re getting closer to, a reasonable goal. I, of course, would want a little bit more, but hey. I think 10% is a good number for that family- and workforce housing.”
Council Chair Victoria Petro (D1) emphasized that the housing, at 80% AMI, is aimed at retaining public service professions like teachers and first responders in the city. “80% is something that honors this historic west side ethos and makes sure that people who have historically called the west side home to continue to be able to choose it as their home.”
If last-minute differences can be bridged, the council is scheduled to vote on the various measures at their Tuesday meeting, their last of the year.
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