This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The nearly unanimous vote of the Salt Lake Redevelopment Agency Board to give $5 million to unpopular developer Craig Mecham to finish what he started nearly four years ago is nothing but an attempt to cover the City Council's mistake.
Mecham began razing long-time businesses in the heart of Sugar House in 2007 to make way for a planned seven-story office building, condos and apartments and ground-level restaurants and retail. Then he admitted he had no financing, and the Sugar House Hole became an eyesore that added insult to injury for those who preferred the former eclectic mix of businesses on the site.
The Salt Lake City government (the City Council simply switches hats to morph into the Redevelopment Agency Board) wrongly allowed Mecham to bulldoze the existing buildings even though he did not have a permit or financing. Demolition was interrupted.
Then the city gave Mecham ultimatum after ultimatum, first to try to force him to move ahead with the project, and then to at least beautify the ugly scar. He repeatedly asked for more time.
Slowly, with the city's threats hanging over him, Mecham filled the hole and gradually, again only under threat of losing a $20,000 bond, he added a few bushes.
Now that the economy is beginning to grow again, the city, incredibly, has granted Mecham's latest request, for millions in a public handout to finally put the project back on track. However, Mecham's promises of a development that would make residents proud have diminished and now include apartments rather than condos and what the developer hopes will be 44,000 square feet of commercial shops.
There is no doubt the City Council and Redevelopment Board would like nothing better than to put the whole nasty affair behind them and get the space filled, once and for all, with new buildings that could help erase the scent of failure that wafts through the once-bustling retail neighborhood.
Since City Councilman Luke Garrott was the only one with enough sense to vote against the loan, it's a done deal, as much as a deal with Mecham is ever really complete. And that's a shame.
The developer still does not have private financing for the project, so an offer of millions in taxpayer money is premature, just as the demolition in 2007 was premature.
Mecham promises "a walkable environment ... an enhancement that will enhance everything in Sugar House."
We'll believe it when we see it.