Pier 1 Imports-turned post office to be replaced by new mixed-use building
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A former retail outlet turned U.S. post office would be turned into a seven-story mixed-use building with space for office and retail near the city’s Central 9th district under a proposal unveiled Wednesday.
The proposed building includes two sizable retail spaces, which the developers say they intend to include a taproom and a cafe.
It would include 175 residences in a mix of studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms at 30 W. 900 S., in a westward buildout of the growing walkable neighborhood that’s south of Downtown.
“The 30 West development offers new housing options and a place of respite for those seeking an early morning coffee, quiet afternoon at the residential pool or a relaxing evening beer,” the developers wrote in a new design review application.
The retail spaces would be double-height, at 21.5 feet. The ground floor would also include office space on the building’s west side, along Richards Street.
A new project within the Downtown-adjacent (D-2) zoning district, the building would include fewer than 0.5 parking stalls per residential unit.
The proposed building would be built along the 9-Line multi-use trail that will soon connect the far west side with the far east. It’s also just over a block from the 900 South Station Trax stop, and about a block from the high-frequency bus route on State Street.
The project would include just five internal parking stalls, though it’s not clear whether that would meet new bike parking minimums under the city’s updated off-street parking ordinance. The City Council delayed the effect of the ordinance, though that date is near.
Unit Details
- Studios: (456 SF – 485 SF): 69 units
- One Bedrooms: (571 SF – 682 SF): 94 units
- Two Bedrooms: (1164 SF – 1196 SF): 12 units
- Total units: 175 units
The building is technically within a part of the city that was known as West Temple Gateway, between Main and 300 West, where the city encouraged car-centric uses that remain today.
Even still, car businesses continue filling vacant spaces and retail in the immediate area.
The proposed building would be directly across from a Napa car parts store. On the corner of Main and 900 South, a former Midas was set to become a distillery, then COVID happened. It’s now becoming a car repair shop.
Yet to the west, the Central 9th district is teeming with new development in a mix of bars, restaurants and new housing. Proper Brewing Co. is around the corner on Main Street, as is the iconic dive called The Spot.
That puts 30 W. 900 S. in a kind of grey area — it will be within a rich pub-shed, blocks from Downtown and still inside a zone where the city wanted to park its car stores and dealerships.
The city is working on a reconstruction of 900 South that will include improvements that make the divide created by the 900 South off-ramp from Interstate 15 less of a stark divide between the east and west sides of West Temple.
Putting attractive retail on the ground floor of this new proposed building could act as a bridge to extend the Main Street of Central 9th west.
“Offices and restaurants along the ground floor leverage glazing to emphasize the connection to the streetscape and the neutral color palette of the residences above link the development between the public spaces at grade and the private residential areas above,” the developers wrote. “The restaurants along 900 South create a vibrant, energetic connection to the street and encourage passersby to linger and stay a while.”
Development Details
- AO Architects
- Civil Engineer/Landscape Design: Galloway
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