Will it be worth the wait? Will it be worth the temporary desolation, the detours and dust?

When it comes to the LDS Church's plans for downtown redevelopment, business and community leaders, as well as participating and neighboring retailers, say yes.

"It's the best iteration of this project we've looked at yet," said Brooke White, spokeswoman for Nordstrom. "It has all the elements: downtown living, a grocery store, potentially a great mix of retailers, office space. There's a lot there that will create synergy and energy and reason for people to come downtown. That's what we've been looking for all along."

The project, outlined Tuesday by Bishop H. David Burton, presiding bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the Salt Lake City Council, spans 20 acres and is slated to be complete in mid-2011. It will begin with a year of demolition and site preparation, the church said, which will start in early November.

The cost of the project is said to exceed $1 billion, and it requires the leveling of the Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center malls and two office towers, excavation for a 5,600-stall underground parking structure and the construction of the new facilities.

The business community applauded the release of preliminary information Tuesday and expressed relief that a starting date has been set. The project, announced to awe and exultation three years ago, has in the years since generated anxiety and not a little speculation about how and when the church would proceed.

No more.

"'Wow!' ... is the first and lasting impression that comes to my mind when seeing the church's plans for our downtown," said Lane Beattie, president of the Salt Lake Chamber. "We are so fortunate to live in a place where an entity is willing to make such a substantial financial commitment to our collective future."

Anchor tenants Nordstrom and Macy's said Tuesday they had mixed feelings — both said they were excited about — and confident in — the project but grieved at the prospect of closing. As with all the remaining mall retailers, the two anchors will close their doors in January — Nordstrom on Jan. 20, Macy's on a yet-to-be-announced date — and plan to reopen in 2011. Both said they will try to relocate employees to other stores and will provide severance packages to those who do not find positions.

Nordstrom employs 180 people at its Crossroads Plaza store.

"It was a tough day," White said. "It is sad that we won't be able to keep everyone. We will work really hard to find positions for everyone who wants one, both at other stores in Utah and across the country.

"It was sad that we couldn't deliver the whole package to them (Nordstrom employees) because they are so valuable to us. But the alternative was leaving Salt Lake City altogether, which is what we are not going to do."