Salt Lake City is looking to turn on a spigot of funds for fire-stricken Main Street business owners and employees in hopes of cooling some of the financial fallout of the devastating burn.
On Tuesday evening, city staff briefed council members on a proposed budget amendment that would allocate about $800,000 to recovery efforts for bars, restaurants and stores hit by the Aug. 11 blaze.
“There are businesses that are willing and able to reopen immediately that need this gap financing and support,” downtown council member Eva Lopez-Chavez said. “It’s a lever and tool that we’ve exercised in different ways. ... But this is a way that we can expedite that economic development that we so desperately need in this area.”
The catastrophic fire — which closed four businesses, including Los Tapatios, London Belle, Whiskey Street and White Horse — put over 200 employees out of work. Most of the property and business owners said they intended to rebuild in the immediate aftermath of the blaze.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Businesses destroyed by a fire on Main Street in Salt Lake City are seen through a chain-link fence, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025.
Now, City Council members are considering how the city can aid in restoring the lively Main Street block between 300 South and 400 South.
The proposal on the table would allocate $600,000 in no-interest loans to businesses hit by the fire to help them temporarily cover some operating costs. Each of the four bars and restaurants that remain closed would be eligible for $100,000, while those that suffered damage but did not close, like bar Cheers 2 You, could get a slice of the remaining funds.
West-side council member Alejandro Puy, however, expressed interest in narrowing the eligibility requirements for business loans.
The second-largest pot of money — $100,000 in total — would be available to employees of the shuttered businesses to help them cover their rent payments if they live in Utah’s capital. Full-timers could get $2,000 or one month’s rent, while part-timers could get $1,000 or one month’s rent, whichever is lower. Employees must’ve lost at least a quarter of their earnings and have a combined household income less than 80% of the area’s median income.
“That’s really cool,” said Jason LeCates, who is the managing partner of a group that owns Whiskey Street and White Horse. “It’s going to be super helpful … The state has that one-week waiting period for unemployment to kick in, so everyone ate a week of pay. And then unemployment is never 100%.”
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Pedestrians look at businesses destroyed by a fire on Main Street in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025.
A private fundraiser for employees, set up by the Downtown Alliance, also garnered $500,000 in donations. The group’s website says a round of checks will be mailed to those eligible this week.
While council members seemed mostly in favor of helping the businesses and workers, some urged caution and asked for a deeper discussion of when and how the city offers loans to companies and individuals.
“To me, it seems like we need to have the policy discussion before we can start getting to this place,” Puy said. “I do appreciate the amount of tools that are being unleashed here in front of us and I am willing to support some of them. But I don’t want to get too deep into this, especially when there is already a fund.”
The city’s budget amendment also calls for setting aside $80,000 to put up barriers on the shoulder of Main Street so pedestrians can walk around the fenced-off portion of the sidewalk safe from cars.
The appropriations are scheduled to get a public hearing and final vote at the council’s formal meeting next Tuesday.
In a separate action, council members are looking to open up another pot of money for rebuilding. Next Tuesday, in their capacity as the Community Reinvestment Agency, council members are set to discuss offering $1 million in gap financing to the four properties — either their owners or long-term lessees — to help expedite reconstruction on the block.