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The high-rise office tower proposed for the corner of 100 South and Main Street would be one of the largest buildings in downtown Salt Lake City, a skyline-altering structure with as many as 25 floors and as much as 425,000 square feet.

But because of to the economic downturn, tighter lending standards and the time involved to design such a large building, it could be as long as eight to 10 years before the structure is completed, developer Bruce Bingham of Hamilton Partners said Wednesday.

Developers of the proposed $88 million to $98 million Broadway-class theater in downtown Salt Lake City unveiled plans Tuesday for the new office tower to be built on land owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that is currently home to Bennion Jewelers.

Hamilton Partners, which built and owns the high-rise office building at 222 S. Main St., would construct the new building, which would connect with the theater through a galleria and shared Main Street entrance.

But the issue for the developer, which invests in real estate in both the Salt Lake City and Chicago areas, is that the 222 S. Main St. building is only about 60 percent leased. And under current, more stringent lending criteria in place today, the proposed new building would need to have lease commitments for at least two-thirds of the space — a whopping 300,000 square feet — before a bank would consider approving a construction loan.

Banks are expected to loosen lending standards as the economy improves.

"But … we're still going to need at least 200,000 to 250,000 [square feet] of the building pre-leased" before construction could begin, Bingham said.

He said even if his company were to get enough lease commitments next year, which is unlikely, it would take six months to a year to design the building and two more years to build. That means, under the best-case scenario, the building would be completed in 2014 or 2015.

"It all depends on when you secure a tenant for the building," Bingham said, adding that he has the patience to see the project through, even if it takes 10 years.

"It could take that long," he said. "But I hope it doesn't."

Longtime downtown-area broker Vasilios Priskos said today's tighter lending criteria will help ensure Hamilton Partners doesn't proceed until the time is right — either for them or for any others downtown that own and lease office space.

"No one is lending money these days to build a vacant building," Priskos said. "The financial markets keep things in check."

He likes the fact that Hamilton Partners already has a downtown office building and is searching for tenants and trying to fill empty space like most other building owners.

"They won't build another building that would hurt their other project," Priskos said.

After more than two years of construction, the 22-story office building at 222 S. Main St. opened in December 2009, with only about 20 percent of the space leased by tenants that include real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis and the law firms of Holland & Hart and Brinks, Hofer, Gilson & Lione.

In March, Goldman Sachs announced it had leased 10 floors of 222 S. Main St. and would move there after vacating space in Research Park at the University of Utah. The announcement was a coup for Hamilton Partners in that it represented a plum tenant, even though it boosts occupancy to only 60 percent.

There is no doubt that the corner of 100 South and Main Street is a desirable piece of land that will become even more so after the LDS Church completes its City Creek project, bringing thousands to the area to live, work, eat and shop. City Creek is under construction just north of Bennion Jewelers.

That's why Bill Bennion said he isn't too happy to hear he may have to move his business sometime in the years to come. He said he hasn't heard anything about whether he may have to do so.

"Where could we go and have a location as good as the one we have?" he asked. "I don't know if there is one."

Main Street bookseller Tony Weller said it would be a shame if Bennion would have to move after struggling for years along Main Street, which suffered during light-rail construction, bad economic times, the closure of the area's two major malls and, most recently, City Creek construction.

"If I were in [Bennion's] position, I don't know how I'd feel," he says. —

Hamilton Partners

The Chicago-area real estate company owns several office buildings in Salt Lake City:

Newhouse Building • 10 Exchange Place, 109,000 square feet

Boston Building • 9 Exchange Place, 100,000 square feet

Lollin & Karrick Building • 236 S. Main St., 17,000 square feet

222 Main office tower • 222 S. Main St., 425,000 square feet

Broadway Centre • 111 E. Broadway, 256,000 square feet

California Business Park • 3755 W. California Ave., 146,000 square feet of industrial space, plus Hamilton owns about 9.1 acres of adjacent land