Salt Lakers can expect demolition crews along 500 South in the coming months.
The former Sheraton Hotel, located at 150 W. 500 South, will be razed beginning in October, according to a demolition permit filed with Salt Lake City on Thursday.
The demolition permit says work could begin at the former hotel site as early as Oct. 6, and the approximate end date is listed as late March. In total, over 402,000 square feet of building space will be demolished. The job value on the permit says the demo will cost around $3 million.
Demolition plans for the 9.6-acre site have been in the works for months, as the site will soon house the new campus for Western Governors University, which is one of the largest online colleges in the country.
When reached Monday, a spokesperson for WGU declined to release additional information on the building plans beyond what was included in the demolition permit.
We reported in January that WGU purchased the Sheraton site, which encompasses nearly an entire Downtown block and is zoned as D-1. The D-1 zone carries no maximum height limit and has a minimum building height of 100 feet.
In March, WGU confirmed it would move from its current headquarters in Millcreek to Downtown Salt Lake City. WGU said in a news release the campus would be a mixed-use project, though didn’t give specific details for the Sheraton site. The Sheraton and a handful of retail stores within the building closed in the spring earlier this year.
A preliminary exterior rendering of Western Governors University’s new office in Salt Lake City. Image via Western Governors University
The new WGU campus would house up to 5,000 employees and spaces for students, which would be a new feature for the all-online university. The new campus would include space for research and development, plus lab space.
Potential amenities at the new WGU campus include, “a collaboration space for shared R&D, an auditorium, simulation centers, showcase hubs for convening WGU and cross-sector innovation, a WGU welcome center, dining and refreshment options for employees and the surrounding community, an employee cafeteria, an on-site childcare center and ample open space for connection,” according to the March news release.
The buildout will likely take several years to complete, but the permit filed Thursday and impending demolition will get the ball rolling for WGU. When it does happen, the WGU move will be a boon for Downtown, bringing in hundreds, if not thousands, of new workers each work day.
The Salt Lake City-Provo office market has slowly been improving in recent months, according to a Q2 2026 report from CBRE. The area’s vacancy rates sat at 22.6% in Q2, as net absorption totaled 295,000 square feet for the quarter. The report said the market has seen seven consecutive quarters of occupancy growth.
The report also noted there’s zero new office projects under construction, noting, “Although several proposed developments remained in advanced planning, developers continued to await meaningful pre-leasing commitments before breaking ground.” When construction does begin, the new WGU campus will surely bring that number up.
A preliminary interior rendering of Western Governors University’s new office in Salt Lake City. Image via Western Governors University
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