Two projects to activate dead corners on 200 East + 200 South in East Downtown SLC
Two projects propose to activate two dead corners of a key intersection in East Downtown Salt Lake City while adding hundreds of residents — and hundreds of parking units — to the city’s urban core in the process.
The proposed developments center on the corners of 200 East and 200 South, where there’s a parking lot on the southwest corner next to a gun shop and a data center on the northeast corner across from a Methodist Church.
In total, the projects would add hundreds more residents Downtown — 344 residential units in all — and some commercial to the far eastern portion of the city’s Central Business District. They’ll also bring with them more than 500 parking spaces to the Downtown area.
The Birdie, the latest project from Centerville-based CW Urban, which is a sponsor for this site, will add 61 residential units above 2,300 square feet of ground floor commercial space.
The six-story project will utilize just 0.34 acres of land and incorporate a three-story mechanical parking garage system. In total, the development will include 69 parking units, six on the surface and 63 stacked.
“The street design of the building concentrates on enhancing the pedestrian experience with interesting landscape planters, seating areas, fire pits and bike racks along the sidewalk,” CW Urban said in a statement. “Transportation-centered amenities include a bus stop right outside the front doors, long-term conditioned bicycle storage, and indoor bike wash station, along with 2,300 square feet of ground-floor space for commercial use.”
CW Urban has become one of the leading developers of mid-density housing across several neighborhoods in Salt Lake City over the past few years, and it has more projects at various stages of the development pipeline.
The Birdie will be built kitty-corner to another proposed project within the city’s Central Business District (D-1), which intends for economic activity, high-density housing and 24-hour entertainment.
Block 200 seeks to add 283 residential units but requires more city approval to come to fruition.
It plans a mix of one-bedroom units for more than half of the building, a quarter studios, and 60 two-bedrooms units. The development would technically be mixed-use but primarily oriented toward residents within the 122 units per acre it seeks to add.
The corners of the eight-story Block 200 would be the minimum 100 feet high before dropping mid-block below what the zoning envisions. Buildings are allowed to be 375 feet in the zone.
The developer, Unico Properties, is also asking the city for permission to create a car and pedestrian plaza, which would require more than the allowed 5-foot setback.
Unico is asking the city to allow it to create a commercial parking lot of 129 spaces, which requires a conditional use permit. It’s also asking for approval to build up to 85 feet, short of the 100 feet envisioned by the city’s zoning for downtown.
It appears from planning documents that the developer received neighborhood buy-in of the project in part because of the commercial parking that it will make available. In all, the site would add 472 parking spaces, 343 of them for residents.
All residential and commercial parking would be hidden from public view, the planning documents state.
