Speaking in front of golden shovels stuck into a pile of dirt near massive transformers, dump trucks and excavators, Larry H. Miller Co. officials and elected leaders hailed the start of the west-side Power District project Monday morning.
The major development is primed to change the skyline on this side of Salt Lake City, replacing a drab industrial landscape with gleaming downtown-style buildings — and if Utah power players get their way, a Major League Baseball stadium.
“The Power District is set to expand downtown Salt Lake City,” Larry H. Miller real estate executive Brad Holmes said. “We’re expanding it to the west with this incredible mixed-use development that will now be anchored by Rocky Mountain Power’s corporate headquarters.”
Monday’s groundbreaking comes about 2 ½ years after company and government officials first announced their intent to lure a baseball team to the Beehive State. Since then, the Utah Legislature created a separate taxing entity to aid the district’s development and promised $900 million to help build the planned stadium. Late last year, the Salt Lake City Council and Larry H. Miller Co. signed off on a suite of zoning changes to guide construction at the roughly 100-acre site along North Temple.
(Larry H. Miller Co.) A rendering shows Rocky Mountain Power's future headquarters at the Power District.
Now, the company and Rocky Mountain Power will start construction of the utility’s new headquarters at the property. The 10-story, 300,000 square-foot glass office building will be the first anchor for the development, connecting the parcel’s industrial past to its multiuse future.
The utility’s president, Dick Garlish, told event attendees that his company’s current offices — just to the east across a parking lot — were built during Harry Truman’s presidency, noting that the move would be a big step up for employees.
The new tower is set to be just one small part of a packed district. Developers envision a total of 1.3 million square feet of office space, more than 300,000 square feet of retail, about 4,700 housing units and 300 hotel rooms at the end of the buildout. Miller company officials lauded the site’s connectivity to both downtown and Salt Lake City International Airport as well as its location at the intersection of the Jordan River and the TRAX Green Line.
(Larry H. Miller Co.) A rendering of a Major League Baseball stadium along the Jordan River in the Power District.
“This district has the power … to fortify the entire west-side community alongside this development,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said. “Today marks the beginning of a catalytic investment in this neighborhood that this neighborhood has not only wanted but deserved for a very long time.”
As for the Jordan River, the company said it would work to improve the stream’s water quality, remediate property along its banks and restore native fish and vegetation. The firm has also earmarked $10 million for cleaning up the property as a whole and making other improvements.
Miller officials expect the Rocky Mountain Power building to come on line in September 2027 and said they were in discussions with other companies interested in moving to the district.