In pictures: Salt Lake City’s Downtown is quickly moving south
It’s not all high-rises and apartments: Salt Lake City’s Downtown is moving south.
If you haven’t been Downtown in a minute, it might surprise you to see the pace of construction and the impact three new buildings are already making on the area’s fabric.
Three buildings and a handful more proposals promise to dramatically shift the city’s urban footprint south, across several car-centric state roads and out of the Central Business District.
- Seven O2 Main: A five-story, 239 rental housing units by PEG Development.
- 650 S Main: A 10-story, 320,000-square-foot office project by the Patrinely Group.
- 6th and Main: A seven-story, 170-unit luxury rental project by Lowe Property Group.
- Plus updates on the Sears Block and other developments nearby.
Seven O2 Main
Rising at 702 S. Main St., this residential building is in the Downtown-adjacent D2 zoning, meaning the parcel is intended for slightly less intensive use than the buildings on the 600 South block.
It sits immediately across from the gargantuan Sears Block, where plans for only a portion of the property on the southwest corner of the lot have been submitted. Eventually, though, the developers plan to build on the corner of 700 S. Main, facing Seven O2.
According to PEG, Seven O2 “will feature luxurious amenities including a grand lobby and communal work space, two ‘hotel’ rooms that tenants’ guests can rent on a nightly basis, a central courtyard with a bocce ball court, a spa, a cinema cardio room, an outdoor kitchen and entertaining area complete with multiple fire pits, a pickle ball/basketball court, parking for every tenant, and more.”
It will not be a mixed-use building and instead will have a “grand lobby.” The long facade will stretch the block, and the building is estimated to open sometime in 2022.
Seven O2 by the numbers
- 60 studio units
- 121 one-bedroom units
- 58 two-bedroom units
- 238 parking stalls
650 Main
A significant expansion of high-end office space is replacing what was long a parking lot with 650 Main, the future home of Salt Lake City’s next TRAX station.
Unlike the Seven O2 apartment building, 650 Main benefits from the higher intensity of D1 Downtown zoning and will rise 10 stories above 600 S. Main St.
Amid angst over the future of office space post-pandemic, 650 Main is one of several ongoing office projects in Downtown Salt Lake City, and a quarter of the building is already leased by EnerBank USA, according to a deal announced last March.
The Patrinely Group has talked about another project immediately adjacent to 650 Main fronting West Temple, though nothing has been formally submitted.
650 Main by the numbers
- 320,000 square feet of office space
- Ground floor: 15-foot ceiling; 22,225 square feet of office
- Floor area (levels 2-4): 39,985 square feet
- Floor area (levels 5-10): 29,540 square feet
6th and Main
At 85 feet tall, the 6th and Main mixed-use apartment building won approval to build below the 100-foot minimum height required in on corner properties in D-1 zoning.
The new structure will be five levels of framing on three levels of podium (appearing seven stories), offering 175 luxury residential units from 770 to 1,236 square feet with a mix of 82% one-bedroom and 18% two-bedroom flats.
The applicants were limited to a parking maximum of .5 parking stalls per unit (113) but successfully petitioned to raise that number to 220, all to be structured within the building’s footprint.
The incoming building replaced an AT&T retail store on the underutilized corner. It will continue the mid-rise corridor of 600 South, which is one of two, one-way state roads that divide south Downtown (the other being 500 North) as they send high-speed cars off the interstate and into the city’s core.
6th and Main by the numbers
- 175 total high-end units
- 82% one-bedroom units
- 18% two-bedroom units
- 220 parking stalls
Other developments
The development of the parcels home to the now-closed Sears department store promises to fill in a massive hole in the face of south Downtown.
The Colmena Group is proposing an 11-story building on the parcel fronting 800 South. The building would carry an oversized 373-foot facade (nearly double the 200 feet allowed in the D2 zone).
The initial building, which still needs final approval from the City Council, would be one of three phases of development by Colmena on the Sears Block, plus a fourth open space in the middle of the block.
Specific plans for the other parcels haven’t yet been submitted.
CW Urban, meanwhile, is finishing a rehabilitation condo development called The Charli on 800 South near West Temple. The project will bring 90 for-sale units at 55 W. 800 S. (CW Urban is a Building Salt Lake sponsor.)
Interested in seeing where developers are proposing and building new apartments in Salt Lake, or just want to support a local source of news on what’s happening in your neighborhood? Learn more about becoming a member.
