Seven-story hotel by Sugar House Park gets OK from SLC planners but not from a number of neighbors

A new hotel proposed for the western edge of Sugar House Park should get a green light, according to Salt Lake City planners, and could rise up to seven stories.

Holladay-based Magnus Commercial Properties has asked the city for a zoning change on land many neighbors refer to as the old Sizzler restaurant site, 2111 S. 1300 East, to permit the 145-room boutique hotel and let it rise to 90 feet, more than double the 40 feet currently allowed for that spot.

After weeks of review, city planners revealed Friday they are recommending approval of the zoning shift. The planning commission will discuss and vote Wednesday on whether to forward that positive take to the City Council, which has the final say.

‘Stupid decision’

Nearby residents and business owners, park users and some members the Sugar House Community Council have voiced opposition to allowing a hotel of that height on the 0.83-acre lot adjacent to the popular park.

Some fear the hotel will block mountain views, pose environmental risks to nearby waterways such as Parleys Creek, and worsen traffic congestion and parking snarls at that high-traffic intersection next to Sugar House’s central business district.

“What a stupid decision,” Judi Short, who heads the community council’s land use committee, said Friday of the staff recommendation. “It’s just the wrong place to change the zone.”

In a heavy volume of written comments submitted to the city, that land use committee and scads of residents have also said the proposed hotel threatens to overwhelm the park’s open spaces, not complement them as the developer has asserted.

The 110.5-acre park, which is managed by the nonprofit Sugar House Park Authority, is considered a regional crown jewel when it comes to lush green space.

Meets city planning goals, staff says

In their 349-page report, planners say the zoning change aligns with many of the city’s wider planning goals and supports redevelopment of an underused parcel and the expansion of the Sugar House business district, often dubbed Salt Lake City’s second downtown.

But approval for the hotel developer’s requests to alter the property’s zoning — from what the city now calls MU-3 zoning to more permissive MU-8 zoning — and change the city’s overall general plan, they say, should come only with strings attached.

Those conditions would be drawn up as part of a binding development agreement, planners say, to accompany the zoning change.

They would include guarantees of several community benefits; requirements that 75% of the ground floor of the hotel see active business uses; and installation of new signs for that entrance to Sugar House.

The site’s current MU-3 zoning doesn’t allow hotels, though it does permit short-term rentals. MU-8, on the other hand, allows hotels, partly to encourage higher-density housing, and other building types. It also offers more latitude for dense commercial construction.

Both zones are recent creations in city code, part of a sweeping consolidation of mixed-use zoning types citywide approved by the City Council earlier this year and which took effect in October.

Other strings attached

Planners note that additional height above 75 feet for the hotel under MU-8 can be approved only via the planning commission’s additional review of the developer’s more specific designs.

In exchange, city staffers say, the developer needs to provide several additional benefits for the rapidly growing Sugar House area.

Among those requirements: below-market rents for local businesses within the hotel’s 3,500 square feet of ground floor retail space, as well as free meeting spaces for community groups and a new bike-sharing station at the park.

The planning staff’s recommendation would also mandate public access to a portion of the 180-stall, $13 million underground parking garage that is part of the hotel’s initial designs.

That parking is of special concern to several community members for its potential impact on The Draw at Sugar House, which provides a pedestrian and bicycle link from the business district and Hidden Hollow to the park; as well as for Sego Lily, an adjacent and large art installation that also provides flood control.

In 2023, the planning commission, faced with fierce community opposition, turned down a controversial conditional use permit for building a Kum & Go fueling station and convenience store on the same spot.

That proposal was rejected over concerns for environmental impacts on Parleys Creek and a wider recharge aquifer underlying the park, which acts as a secondary source of the city’s drinking water. The commission’s ruling was later upheld on appeal.

The city has since tightened its codes on construction near watersheds.

The vacant Sizzler restaurant on that stood on the property for years was torn down in 2024.