At the western edge of Downtown, UTA is getting closer to redeveloping the naked platform of a train station called Salt Lake Central.
The transit agency’s long-term plans have for years included activating the multiple properties it owns in west Downtown, variably known as the Depot District, Gateway District, Station Center, or the Rio Grande District.
At 300 S 600 W, the property formerly known as the Intermodal Hub will be replaced by a long six-story glass office building that includes ground-floor retail and a high-ceilinged, airport-like Transit Hall.
The project’s goals and new concept renderings were presented by the transit authority’s Director of Real Estate Paul Drake and project lead Sean Murphy last week to UTA’s Local Advisory Council.
Images courtesy UTA
Among goals for the project are to improve the transit-rider environment and gateway experience, be an economic catalyst in a distressed area, and support other community development efforts – the Rio Grande Plan a notable and predictable exception from the list.
Being so far out of the way and blocked on the west by I-15, the success of the 600 W location as a transit hub is hardly guaranteed.
Images courtesy UTA
UTA is reserving a space for Amtrak on the south end of the building, but whether federal officials will get on board as tenants, something Amtrak has refused to do at the Intermodal Hub, is unknown.
Will the train traffic provided the 600 West location by FrontRunner, likely only one TRAX line, and Amtrak lead to the success of the retail components of the project? That success looks to rely on attracting office tenants and their workers.
At this point, it is unclear how much square footage the building will provide office and retail uses. Inquiries to UTA were not returned.
Images courtesy UTA
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