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Utah Jazz owner posts rendering of proposed downtown Salt Lake stadium district

In a tweet, Ryan Smith calls downtown Salt Lake City “the heart of Utah” and said it “desperately needs investment.”

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith speaks with Gary Vaynerchuck during the Silicon Slopes Summit at the Delta Center, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.

  | Feb. 27, 2024, 9:43 p.m.

Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith has made his pitch for public funding for a sports and entertainment district.

Now he’s sharing a glimpse of his vision for the project.

Utah’s SB272, which would allow Salt Lake City to create such a district funded by a city-wide sales tax increase, unanimously passed through committee last week. On Tuesday, Smith tweeted out the first prospective rendering of what the project might look like.

The rendering shows a massive stadium at the end of a pedestrian boulevard, lined with retail shops, restaurants and a high-rise building that appears to have a pool with cabanas overlooking the street.

The verbiage of the tweet itself is interesting, too: Smith calls downtown Salt Lake City “the heart of Utah.” He also said downtown “desperately needs investment,” and that “NBA / NHL” — it’s not clear whether Smith means both or one or the other — would be at its core.

The Utah Senate is expected to discuss the bill this week. The legislation would clear the way for a sales tax increase of up to .5%, creating approximately $1 billion for the project over 20 years.