New Master-Planned, Hotel Projects Benefit from Public-Private Partnerships

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

The latest step in the expansion of the Canyon Centre Community Development Area saw the Salt Lake County Council allocating $3 million in property-tax revenue over a period of 18 years for the construction of a $7 million public parking structure, according to the Deseret News. The county will also waive 100 percent of new property-tax revenue in the project area.

Canyon Centre is planned for development on the site of the former Canyon Racquet Club, at the southwest corner of Wasatch and Fort Union boulevards in Cottonwood Heights. The master plan includes a 700-seat amphitheater, the 200,000-square-foot parking structure, two high-end hotels, two Class A office buildings totaling 110,000 square feet, as well as two restaurants and two retail shops.

Other development plans include a mega-hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Touted as the largest hotel in Utah, it could include as many as 1,200 rooms to attract conventions that otherwise elude Utah.

Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City are working together to hire a consultant that would analyze how a partnership between a private hotelier and government might work. One possibility is that the private company could build the hotel, while the government could provide contribution for a parking garage or convention hall.

Last year, Denver-based STR Analytics completed a study showing that a mega-hotel with more than 1,000 rooms and 90,000 square feet of meeting space and a restaurant could thrive in the city.