Owners of .49 acres parcel on a prominent corner in Central City have applied for a demolition permit for two buildings, the Palace Meat Co. at 705 E 500 S and the former Phillips Congregational Church at 479 S 700 E, built in 1907 and long ago converted to an office use.
The two lots were consolidated in 2022 to the address of 495 S 700 E by their owner, Robot Butcher Shop LLC, registered in Las Vegas, NV. The assemblage was listed in November at $3,628,548.
The property is zoned TSA-UN-T, Transit Station Area Urban Neighborhood Transition, and sits two blocks from the TRAX Trolley Station that currently serves the Red Line.
Sitting directly north of the property is one of Salt Lake City’s most enduring dive bars, X-Wives Place, whose building was once the parsonage for the church campus.
The sales flyer advertises “demo permitting in progress,” which prompted rachels_slc_history, an Instagram account with nearly 13,000 followers, to post a “Demolition Pending” alarm that amassed over 500 likes over the weekend.
City records for the demolition application describe “complete removal of existing buildings on this property.” They further state that “Both buildings are in poor condition.”
The structures sit across 700 E to the east and outside of the Central City Local Historic District, which would protect “contributing structures” from demolition.
Owner Robot Butcher Shop is also associated with Beer Zombies at HallPass food hall in the Gateway.
A local manager is listed on Robot Butcher Shop’s registration materials with the state of Nevada – Erik Petersen of Overland West, whose corporate headquarters is in Ogden. Overland West claims to be the largest Hertz licensee in the country, with 22 locations across seven Western states.
Petersen did not return our inquiries for comment.
The listing agent, Chad Ariss of AIM Real Estate Group did, and told us that “RBS [Robot Butcher Shop] is exploring all options and entertaining the possibility of a sale prior to demolition for redevelopment or a lease opportunity.”
While that might encourage preservationists, Ariss added, “RBS believes the potential gross income from a ground lease is better than the lease rate with the structures in “as-is” condition and/or also in an updated condition with the necessary improvements done so the buildings are safe and desirable to prospective tenants.”
What about adaptive reuse? Ariss noted that “RBS was engaging in preliminary plans with a brewing company to turn the church building into a brewery, but parking restrictions made that unfeasible for the tenant.”
The off-street parking requirements for a restaurant, brewpub, or tavern in TSA-UN-T is two spaces per 1000 square feet of indoor space, and one per 1000 sf for patio/outdoor space.
The former church building has 4362 sf ground floor area, according to Salt Lake County records, which would translate into city zoning requiring 8-9 parking spaces.
RBS’s application for a demolition permit for the two structures is well advanced at City Hall and will likely be issued within weeks.
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