Funds bloom for downtown projects

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and downtown retailers racked up some wins this past week as the City Council made major funding decisions regarding the heart of Utah's capital.

Anderson finally persuaded the City Council, acting as the city's Redevelopment Agency Board, to fund at least parts of two of his pet projects — 300 South median improvements and flower arrangements on Main Street. In the past, the council has repeatedly declined to put any cash into those downtown beautification projects.

"I'm thrilled to do anything we can to get this started," Anderson said.

Besides being good to Anderson, the council also was generous with certain downtown merchants.

The council decided that displaced downtown mall tenants will be able to get some free taxpayer cash if they stay in the center of Salt Lake City.

One loser was the Utah Transit Authority. Council members declined to pitch in $200,000 for UTA's downtown transportation study, although they will likely reconsider the study next month.

On 300 South, the City Council acquiesced to Anderson and set aside $450,000 to fund medians with trees and other amenities in the downtown area.

While $450,000 will complete the medians on two blocks only, it's more than the council had previously been willing to fund, and Anderson could seek money for more medians later.

The mayor would like to see the medians on 300 South from 400 West to 200 East. With only $450,000, however, the plan now is to put them between Main and 200 West or from West Temple to 300 West.

"It's incumbent upon us to invest in the downtown," Squatters brew pub owner Peter Cole told the council in arguing for the median improvements.

Anderson maintains the medians will spur economic development, especially between Main and West Temple where the southwestern portion of the block is largely vacant.

Besides the medians, the City Council, acting as the RDA Board, put $100,000 into a grant fund for mall tenants who are being kicked out of Crossroad Plaza or the ZCMI Center, as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints redevelops its two downtown malls.

Retailers that are not being kept at the mall can apply to get up to $20,000 in free cash from the grant fund if they relocate somewhere downtown between 400 South and South Temple and State and West Temple.

Downtown real estate broker Vasilios Priskos, who has been tapped by the LDS Church to help displaced mall retailers find new homes downtown, said 30 locally owned businesses in the mall will be displaced.

Many of those businesses' leases will expire as early as next week, he said.