The Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, which has stood a half-century in the middle of downtown Salt Lake City, will be closed and demolished, according to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ real estate business.
The high-rise hotel at 122 W. South Temple, one of downtown’s more economic lodging options, will be torn down, church-owned Property Reserve announced in a release Tuesday. The demolition will include the long-closed JB’s restaurant on the corner of West Temple and South Temple.
The site will be used for parking to support the open house for the reopening of the Salt Lake Temple in April 2027.
According to the hotel’s website, the 13-floor building boasts 150 rooms. The building, which opened in 1973, sits between Abravanel Hall and the FamilySearch Library, formerly the Family History Museum.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Plaza Hotel in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023.
The hotel is being demolished, the release said, because of the “rising costs to maintain, operate and update its aging structure.”
Nov. 1 is the last day guests will be permitted to stay at the hotel, the release said.
“In preparation for closure in November, Property Reserve will be providing financial and job-searching support to hotel employees to help them transition to new jobs,” the release said. Property Reserve did not say how many employees are working at the hotel.
After its demolition, the release noted, there will be 7,421 remaining hotel rooms within a mile of downtown Salt Lake City.
The landscaping for the parking area “will complement” nearby Temple Square and the FamilySearch Library, the release said. Plans for the space after the 2027 open house are still to be determined.