In a quick vote Tuesday, Salt Lake City officials voted to send over $1 million toward two land purchases in the 9 Line Community Reinvestment Area — located in the west side neighborhoods of Poplar Grove and Glendale.
The Community Reinvestment Agency of Salt Lake City signaled its intent to set aside $1,160,722 of additional funds toward buying two parcels of land within the 9 Line CRA, which extends well beyond the areas adjacent to the popular trail system.
Before the Tuesday afternoon vote, the CRA board, which is comprised of Salt Lake City Council members, met in a closed session that lasted over an hour. The CRA board then voted unanimously to devote the funds toward the purchases with little discussion.
A staff memo outlined that the CRA needed $355,722 to complete an offer on the first parcel and another $805,000 towards the purchase price of the second parcel, still being negotiated. The addresses of two parcels were not revealed during the meeting, as city leaders approved a straw poll to allow the purchases to go forward. It’s common practice for a city to not disclose the addresses of sites that could be sold or purchased by the city.
Danny Walz, the CRA director, told Building Salt Lake after the vote that negotiations are still ongoing to purchase the two plots, and the $1.16 million in funds set aside Tuesday wouldn’t cover all the costs needed to buy the two pieces of land.
“So the specific numbers in the memo were obviously provided as a guideline for the (CRA) board,” Walz said. “Their motion, essentially, did not limit the amount of those acquisitions as much as just identify making funds available for the acquisitions as we’re continuing to have those negotiations.”
He added, “This is essentially discussing with the board where we feel we can land with our negotiations and making an offer, and it’s not necessarily tied to a specific property listing or acquisition price. It can also sometimes include other fees … associated with the acquisition if we need to.”
The CRA board has already devoted $1,979,278 toward purchasing the first parcel, which is at a “specific intersection” in the 9 Line Project Area, according to the staff memo. The document also says, “following negotiations, an additional $355,722 (totaling $2,335,000) is needed to purchase a specific property in the same intersection.”
The $805,000 would go toward purchasing the second parcel outright, and devoting the $1.16 million would leave $2,316,302 in the CRA’s budget for 9 Line Project Area Fund’s Strategic Intervention Program, according to the memo.
Though the addresses of the two parcels were not disclosed in the CRA meeting, a staff memo sheds some light on where the properties could be.
The first parcel is designated as a “community node” in the city’s Westside Master Plan. The plan’s community nodes are described as having a mix of residential areas that are, “larger in scale than neighborhood nodes and attract people from outside of the neighborhood. Grocery stores, clothing stores, restaurants and offices are usually found within a community node.” Community nodes in the Westside plan include the following areas:
- 900 West at 400 South
- Indiana Avenue at 800 South
- Redwood Road at Indiana Avenue
- Redwood Road at California Avenue
- California Avenue at Concord Street and Glendale Drive
Since the 9 LIne reinvestment area does not include California Avenue (1300 S.) except at 900 W., the location of the first parcel must be located at one of the first three locations listed above.
The second parcel is listed as a “neighborhood node” in the Westside plan. Those nodes are described as, “Small scale areas typically located at the intersection of two important streets where shops and stores are located. Neighborhood nodes are surrounded by residential uses, usually homes and 2 or 3 story apartment buildings.” Neighborhood nodes include the following areas:
- 900 West at 700 South
- 900 West at 900 South
- Indiana Avenue at Navajo Street
- 1400 South at Pueblo Street
- 400 South at Concord Street
- Glendale Drive at Navajo Street
Walz said there’s no specific timeline as to when these deals could close, and the different deals have different timelines.
“I mean, when we get to this point, we generally are hopeful that we’re going to be able to secure the negotiations, but there’s no set time,” Walz said.
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