Utah Theater Bait and Switch
Last November, Salt Lake City transferred ownership of the historic Utah Pantages Theater to developer Hines. The mayor said the transfer "fulfills a set of RDA obligations."
I believe in the Russian proverb "Trust, but verify." I looked at those obligations and whether they were fulfilled, and what I found was disturbing.
I now believe the city and Hines are hoping we won't notice their bait and switch on the theater property. Fulfilling the obligations of this deal seemed simple enough as there are only four required elements in the agreement.
The first was an affordable housing requirement to provide "a minimum of 10% of the residential units affordable to households earning 60% to 80% of the area median income." Looking at the most recent development plans, I find a building with 405 units that are 28% studios, 44% 1-bedroom, and 28% 2-bedroom units. Of the affordable units, 80% are studios, 13% 1-bedroom, and 4% 2-bedroom units.
The affordable units do not represent the mix of unit types in the building. The affordable units are also completely segregated on the least-valuable lowest floors of the building. Offering affordable units that are almost all studios and segregated by income from their market rate neighbors doesn't sound like the project that we were promised.
The second requirement was that developers include a mid-block walkway that would be a "privately maintained, publicly-accessible mid-block walkway ... extending from Main Street to the rear of the property." But the development plans that once labeled a space as the "Mid-Block Walkway" now have that space labeled as a "Mid-Block Plaza."
When the City said we would get a mid-block walkway, I knew exactly what they were talking about—a mid-block walkway like the one between Main and Regent Streets. But what is now shown 0n plans is simply an exterior open area leading to flights of stairs and the elevator to the parking garage. We are not getting anything close to the mid-block walkway we were promised.
The last two requirements were an art component that would be "prominently visible from Main Street" and that "historic elements for reclamation and reuse will be identified through a collaborative effort between Buyer and Agency in coordination with historic preservation experts." I can find no details or information about either of these requirements having been met.
We were told the loss of the theater was worth what we would get in return from Hines. We were told what we were getting from them was so valuable we could give the theater properties worth millions of dollars to Hines for free. It is now painfully obvious that we aren't getting what the city and Hines promised us.
They are hoping we won't notice their bait and switch, a bait and switch worth millions to the developer. Until we know we are getting what Hines agreed to give us in return for the theater properties, ownership of the theater must revert to the city.
CASEY O'BRIEN MCDONOUGH
Salt Lake City
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