It is the first sale of land in the city's mixed-use project planned for the 20-acre, two-block section in the heart of downtown.

Redevelopment of the Ogden City Mall, which was demolished two years ago, has been slower than the city wanted.

But Property Reserve Inc.'s purchase is a sign of growing interest from developers, Mayor Matthew Godfrey said Friday.

In fact, he said, PRI may put in more retail shops than had been previously planned.

"They want to expand the retail because they've had so much interest," Godfrey said. PRI's planned office space also is leasing well, he said.

PRI is not ready to announce its plans for the site at the southwest corner of Washington and 22nd Street, said Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Whether the church will build a plaza has not been disclosed. But on Friday, Farah said, "The view of the temple from Washington is an important part of any design."

PRI has no plans to ask the city to close 22nd Street between the temple and mall, PRI President Mark Gibbons said in a July interview.

One retailer likely to be recruited for the new project is Deseret Book, a church-owned business that was in the failed Ogden City Mall near the Treehouse Children's Museum.

The new museum will be just west of the parcel PRI is buying from the city and east of a parcel that PRI is considering buying at the project's northwest corner.

Gibbons inked the deal Friday, and it should be in escrow until closing early next week, Farah said.

Gibbons earlier said the church had agreed to pay $9 per square foot for the property, which amounted to $468,000.

“We've been a strong supporter of revitalization around the Ogden Temple,” Gibbons said in the July interview. “This will be consistent with our past revitalization efforts and with the development the city is trying to engender.”

Several hundred apartments built to the west of the temple in recent years have been successful.

Godfrey said the church likely will buy more land in the project, at the northwest corner of the 20-acre site.

Preliminary indications are the church would build more housing and possibly more retail shops, the mayor said Friday.

The church also has acquired almost all of the block north of the temple, and has demolished buildings there to prepare for a separate development.

“PRI is performing environmental cleanup on the site and will be making definitive plans once that is completed,” Farah said Friday.

kmoulton@sltrib.com