A master development agreement filed earlier this month will drastically alter the layout of streets surrounding the proposed Smith Entertainment Group district in Downtown Salt Lake City, according to a October 29 report from Building Salt Lake.
The agreement includes plans to rebuild 200 West as a curbless shared street and remove 400 feet of loading docks on 100 South to make room for retail, office, and streetscape improvements.
The changes to 100 South involve removing loading docks between 200 West and 300 West, an area that includes the Japanese Church of Christ and the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple. Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan previously told the City Council in 2024 that the company intended to replace those docks with street-facing spaces to enliven the area.
Under the agreement, a performance venue is planned for the corner of 200 West and 100 South. While the venue may be exempt from certain ground-floor code requirements, such as active uses and specific glass percentages, its 100 South side must include some commercial space at the sidewalk level.
The development will also transform 200 West between South Temple and 100 South. The street, which currently sinks below grade to pass beneath the convention center, would be rebuilt at grade as a "woonerf-style" shared street. This design would remove vertical curbs, allowing the sidewalk and street to exist at the same level.
This change would exempt that block from its current Typology 6A urban green street designation, applying a Typology 5 commercial shared street designation instead. This new designation does not require the inclusion of separate bike lanes and would allow parking on both sides of the street outside of a 10-foot travel lane.
A central paseo and a service lane called North Lane are planned to run between 300 West and 200 West. The agreement treats both the paseo and North Lane as private property that would not be subject to the city's zoning code.
Additionally, previous designs for the area near the Delta Center included a pedestrian plaza to bridge the arena to the paseo. However, latest plans show no substantive changes to 300 West, a nine-lane road that serves as a portion of US-89. This means 300 West will no longer receive a hybrid pedestrian plaza to elevate visitors above the highway, a design previously discussed by the Utah Department of Transportation.
The city is accepting written comments on the development agreement through Nov. 30. The Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Dec. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in room 326 of City Hall, located at 451 S. State St.
