Salt Lake City — Downtown Salt Lake City continues to grow in size and population, with several new skyscrapers sprouting from the ground and construction teams now reshaping the city’s skyline as it nears completion. increase.
But that’s not the only thing that’s growing. With a growing population, Salt Lake City is rapidly becoming a destination for shopping, dining, bars and entertainment, city government and business leaders said. In fact, visitors accounted for about 61% of the 16.6 million people who visited downtown last year, according to the 2023 Downtown Economic Benchmark Report released Thursday by the Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance.
Other key highlights from the report include:
- Hotels in the Salt Lake “Convention District” are on pace to purchase 1.85 million hotel nights, up 15% from last year.
- Visitors are poised to spend $4.5 billion countywide.
- Downtown retail sales will soar to about $2.33 billion in 2022, up about 12% year-over-year and 44% over 2020. He’s also up 8% since 2019, showing how the city is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Downtown is not only the home of Utah’s government, but also a center of commerce, culture, sports and entertainment,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Alliance. ‘ said.
“As we have seen in the report, it is a destination for millions of people who come here for business, arts, history, faith and sport,” he added. “It is also the gateway for millions of people from all over the world to enjoy the red rock deserts, mountains and of course the heaviest snowfall on earth.”
How Downtown Salt Lake City Is Changing
Thursday’s report continues to show how Salt Lake City is coming out of the pandemic. Reaffirming Socio-Economy Driving Visits to Downtown Than the old leader, the downtown office.
“We are the capital” fastest growing state Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said: “Our downtown is literally evolving in many ways.”
The report points out that Data from the University of Toronto Confirmed activity in the downtown Salt Lake City area this winter ended up reaching 139% of pre-pandemic levels. He remained at 139% activity during the spring, according to newly released data. It maintains the top position among 63 North American cities surveyed by the university.
Downtown Alliance Executive Director Dee Brewer explains that the data is based on unique cell phones that have been in the area for at least 90 minutes. The Downtown Alliance determined that six of her 10 people in the downtown area last year were visitors, after subtracting out the trends that indicate whether someone lives or works in the downtown area.
Sports, arts, and entertainment are driving tourism, making downtown an attractive place to live and work.– Dee Brewer, Executive Director, Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance
The organization further analyzed the information and picked the top 25 busiest days in 2022. Events and conferences were found to be the biggest reason for these visits. At the Delta Center, 19 of those days had events of some kind, and 18 of those days had competitions. In downtown he held over 8 arts and entertainment events in 12 days.
It has the potential to become a more sports-focused city in the future.Mendenhall mention Big League Utah pushes to attract Major League Baseball team and owner of the Utah Jazz Ryan Smith’s efforts to attract an NHL team Head to Salt Lake City on Thursday for the Downtown Alliance’s annual State of Downtown event. In addition to the city’s tender, Bring back the Winter Olympics.
But the downtown dining and shopping scene is also growing. It now houses over 160 restaurants, bars and shops. About 100 arts and entertainment productions are also held each month, according to the report.
“Sports, arts and entertainment are driving more visitors, making downtown an attractive place to live and work,” Brewer said while presenting the report during the event.
![Crowds gather on Regent Street in downtown Salt Lake City to see the buskers during the Salt Lake City Busker Festival on May 26th.](https://img.ksl.com/slc/2938/293880/29388092.jpeg?filter=kslv2/inline_lg)
The report acknowledges that the population of the downtown area is on track to double from about 5,000 to 10,000 by 2025 as downtown housing continues to grow.Thursday’s event celebrated the team that put it together Aster, New Affordable Multifamily Homes Downtown. It is one of the few newly built housing complexes that have opened in recent years.
There are several other facilities along the way, such as the Astra Tower. it will be the tallest building in the state when it’s done next year. A new report outlines six other skyscrapers “under development.” Five of them will have some form of residential use, but only one of his will be a hotel and the other will also have office space.
Brewer believes that having so many new living spaces online or under construction is beneficial given the city’s socioeconomic growth.
“[Housing growth]will change the experience for a lot of people downtown,” he said.
![A luxury apartment building, Astra Tower, is under construction in Salt Lake City on May 30. This is one of several residential projects slated for completion in Salt Lake City over the next few years.](https://img.ksl.com/slc/2932/293246/29324622.jpeg?filter=kslv2/inline_lg)
It’s not that the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated office buildings. Class A office space (newer office buildings in the city such as 111 Main and 95 State) is doing well, according to the report. The vacancy rate for office buildings as a whole remained at about 18% as of June.
However, Class B office spaces (unsophisticated old offices) are a bit behind. Their share fell from 90% at the end of 2019 to around 76% at the end of 2022.
Some developers are now trying to convert these spaces into residential areas.For example, the development company Hines announced plans last year The 24-story South Temple Tower will be transformed into a 221-unit apartment complex, scheduled to open in 2024.
Balance constraints and opportunities
There are some other constraints, which were raised on Thursday.
Both residential and office rents are trending upward, according to the report. The Community Economic Research Council rated Salt Lake City’s Cost of Living Index score at 108.3. This was significantly better than the scores of Los Angeles (150.9) and Seattle (143.9) among western cities, but he was 8.3 points higher than the national score. average.
The average price for a two-bedroom apartment is up to $2,065, the report adds. This beats Austin, Texas, Los Angeles, Seattle and Denver, which list between $2,600 and $4,100, but beats Phoenix and Las Vegas, which list at $1,720 and $951, respectively.
in a while Massive Citywide Efforts to Address Affordable Housing, the rising costs in and around Salt Lake City are spilling over into other problems. Lloyd Allen, chairman of the Downtown Alliance Advisory Board, said Utah’s homeless population will increase by 10% in 2022.
“Salt Lake City is where it’s most evident,” he says.
City, County, and State Leaders still looking for a workaround Increase in homelessness.
Allen said the Downtown Alliance will launch a new “additional trash removal” program to address concerns about trash. This will also be extended to locations near North Temple, Ballpark and Central City as a city city. downtown ambassador The team will be expanded to serve these areas in the future. The team was set up to connect people to a range of services, including resources to help those experiencing homelessness.
Meanwhile, a new report shows that construction costs will rise by 5.43% from early 2022 to early 2023. Interest rates also rose from 7% to 10% during the same period. This makes it difficult to complete projects that help reduce these types of costs.
There are many other growing pains. Work is underway to replace gas pipes and repair roads. 200 South has now crept into downtown, causing all sorts of headaches for residents, visitors, and business owners.
“I know building the road is frustrating, but I also know that life will be easier when the road is complete,” Mendenhall said. “This will allow us to move more freely and be ready for future growth.”
Despite these challenges, city leaders see all sorts of opportunities downtown as the city grows, with every new development helping to attract new businesses and employers to employees. claims to be able to attract and retain
They also outlined a vision of downtown Salt Lake City as an entertainment district, where people can walk from a business or two to events held in the area.It could include All-pedestrian promenade on Main Street and A “green loop” of park spaces surrounding the downtown core.
It has the potential to make Salt Lake City an even bigger destination.
“We’re a city of ideas,” Mendenhall said. “We are a city in motion, a city with an incredibly bright future.”