The developer has designs for a six-story office tower on 200 South near 500 West. No tenants have been named, but Boyer wants to start construction next year. And the company has mentioned the possibility of a grocery store - a long-desired amenity downtown - opening on the ground floor.

Boyer already owns some of the land, but wants to buy a city-owned portion. Gateway Manager Jake Boyer says if he can't obtain that parcel, the company won't be building the office tower - or grocery store - there.

"We're not threatening in any way. [Without the parcel] it would make it hard for us to come up with a configuration that would work," Boyer said. "We'd like to get it [the area] cleaned up. It's the front door to that part of our project."

But city planners and Mayor Rocky Anderson don't want to sell. Doing so - the City Council will ultimately decide - could prevent the city from building two light-rail stations on a planned line from the Delta Center to the transit hub at 300 South and 600 West.

City officials say it also would preclude the city from reconfiguring an adjacent electrical substation - although Boyer disagrees.

Without moving the substation, the city couldn't finish the linear parks that sit in the middle of 500 West, nor could it build a new type of underground commuter-rail system on 500 West - a project not even on the drawing board but one that could be built decades from now.

Redesigning the substation could be a long shot, too. Owner PacifiCorp expects the city to pay the $2.9 million to do it. The city planned to do it in 2000, when it would have cost closer to $2 million, but newly elected Anderson backed out of the deal. Boyer predicts it could take another 20 to 30 years to do.

Long shot or not, Councilman Carlton Christensen said it might be better for taxpayers to keep their land than for the city to try to get the land back when reconfiguration becomes possible.

"I am not as motivated by the short-term gain as much as, is there a realistic long-term value in [keeping the parcel]?" he said.

The Boyer Co. donated $2,500 this election year to three council incumbents: Christensen, Eric Jergensen and Jill Remington Love. The council will discuss the project tonight and will hold a public hearing Dec. 6.

City planner Doug Dansie maintains Boyer could build the office tower on 200 South without the city land. But office tenants would have views of the electrical substation, something Boyer wants to avoid.

With the city land, tenants would have better vistas, and Boyer could build a surface parking lot parallel to 500 West - an element the city cringes at: The Gateway is supposed to be urban and pedestrian-friendly.

As for the tantalizing idea of a grocery store, Dansie said: "There's no guarantee [Boyer would include] a grocery store."

hmay@sltrib.com