Utah cinema giant Larry H. Miller Megaplex celebrated a new type of “cut”—a ceremonial “film cutting” of the new Megaplex Downtown Daybreak in South Jordan.

While the newest movie theater is the 18th for Megaplex and parent company Larry H. Miller Company (LHM), this is the first cinema entertainment center for the company, where the cinematic experience is buoyed by amenities like 18 lanes of interactive bowling plus four lanes of VIP experience, 65 arcade games and prize room, and Megaplex Dining for guests to enjoy some eats.

Said South Jordan Mayor Dawn Ramsey at the ceremony, “This is not just a development, but a destination.”

With the first film in the new Megaplex set to show at 11:45 that morning, less than an hour after the grand opening would wrap up, the word “Cinema” sat in brightly lit signage above the event’s speakers. The fun visual coincidence definitely fits in LHM Company’s hopes for the area, former mining land for Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon Mine redeveloped into a prime example of high quality land development. 

Their hope for the proverbial box-office draw is less blockbuster movie and more in line with the synergy created from the Megaplex and surrounding downtown commercial development with the community’s ongoing residential expansion. 

Commercially, The Ballpark at America First Square was the first fully constructed anchor in this area. The stadium was perhaps as impressive as it was controversial for LHM Company to move the minor league Salt Lake Bees baseball team out of Utah’s capital city. 

That news broke in January 2023, with LHM Company and their baseball team celebrating their new home and first pitch this past April.

Controversy aside, the ongoing development showcases the LHM Company’s priorities to maximize its 1,300 undeveloped acres of real estate holdings purchased in 2021, including the 200 acres comprising Downtown Daybreak.  

“Downtown Daybreak is designed to be an innovative model of healthy, connected, inclusive growth. A place that’s walkable, bikeable, and transit-connected,” said LHM representatives in an email. “[Downtown Daybreak is] expansive enough to bring together a full spectrum of business, entertainment, and culture, with unique amenities as well as housing for the entire workforce already in place.”

Downtown Daybreak will deliver over two phases. The first phase began this year with the stadium, while Phase 2 will begin delivery in 2028. At completion, LHM said that Downtown Daybreak may include up to:

• 4,000+ residential units
• 135 hotel keys
• 500,000 SF of retail
• 3.5M SF of office
• 329,700 SF of light industrial

Product of Impressive Planning

This commercial and residential growth will be a boon to the city of South Jordan, communications director Rachael Van Cleave said. She mentioned that this growth receives a massive boost from Downtown Daybreak’s position within South Jordan’s Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone (HRTZ). 

The HRTZ was awarded to South Jordan from the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO), which Van Cleave and LHM representatives said was the result of years of collaboration and alignment between these and other parties.

HRTZ requirements start with access to commuter rail, light rail, and bus-rapid transit, with a number of caveats and exceptions determining area size based on city population, meeting HUD requirements, and location within master-planned developments.

According to the GOEO one sheet, South Jordan allocates a portion of the designated area’s incremental property, sales, and use tax revenue growth for development. These revenues must directly benefit the HRTZ, supporting affordable housing, increased density, structured parking or construction costs.

Van Cleave noted many benefits of South Jordan’s HRTZ that includes Downtown Daybreak. 

“[HRTZ] aligns housing and transportation planning, helping address Utah’s housing shortage while giving residents access to jobs, amenities, and transit,” she said in an email. “[HRTZ] Drives economic development in a way that’s equitable and forward-thinking—bringing together state, regional, and local partners for shared success.”

Time will tell the full effects of this HRTZ designation, especially if it can meet South Jordan and LHM’s area proposal of 4,724 multifamily units, with 500 of them falling between 60-80 percent AMI—a 90 percent increase in units over the assumed market-driven plan.   

But there is no doubt that significant money and interest is pouring into this area.

Retail and Entertainment Set the Stage

During the film cutting, LHM Company CEO Steve Starks said that the company hopes to continue the intentional development that has made the master-planned community into a stellar example of placemaking.

Starks said baseball fans would be astutely aware of the film Field of Dream’s adage, “If you build it, they will come.” For Downtown Daybreak, Starks said, “We built it, and we hope they would come.”

Hopes have been answered again and again for this growing civic center, Starks said.

“They came.” 

On July 1, Starks watched hundreds of people descend from the new South Jordan Downtown light rail station, joining residents and others to make up a reported crowd of 1500+ attendees to watch the symphony perform on the new Rio Tinto Kennecott Stage—aptly named after the former landowners Rio Tinto and subsidiary Kennecott Land who began the Daybreak experiment over 20 years ago. 

Today, the former mine tailing land has new life. Beyond the ballpark and recently opened Megaplex, restaurants and retail space around the America First Plaza aim to bring people into this emerging downtown—as one sign said, “The Place to Bee.”

Downtown Daybreak Megaplex Cinema Entertainment Center Features 

Cinema

• Eight screens for feature films 
• Two MegaScreens, Megaplex’s premium large format screen, that include auditoriums with premium eating, premium laser projection, and premium Dolby Atmos sound. The largest MegaScreen boasts an 80-ft screen.
• All auditoriums feature laser projection, heated luxury recliners, and a server and our enhanced food and beverage offerings—and of course soda and popcorn for the traditionalists.

Bowling & Other Amenities

• 18 lanes of interactive bowling with four lanes of VIP experience
• All lanes feature Spark® by Brunswick, bowling’s first augmented-reality, interactive experience. 
• New Megaplex Dining, where guests can enjoy an elevated meal before a movie or bowling experience
• Laneside dining service
• Mother’s room and lounge
• Arcade area with 65 arcade games with redemption prizes