City Creek gets Dillard's

And Dillard's makes three.

The upscale retailer announced Wednesday that it has joined Nordstrom and Macy's as anchors of City Creek Center, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' estimated $1 billion downtown Salt Lake City redevelopment project.

Dillard's will occupy 150,000 square feet on three levels near the northeast corner of Main Street and 100 South, the church said Wednesday.

"This is a great fit," Dillard's spokeswoman Julie Bull said. "At Dillard's we've been taking a more upscale approach to the market, both in merchandise presentation and store presentation. City Creek in Salt Lake City provides us a great opportunity to present the market with our latest advances in both those areas."

Bruce Heckman, vice president for development at Taubman Centers Inc., which will develop, lease and manage the retail center, said Dillard's was always the first choice to fill the final anchor slot, and talks had been ongoing since the church's project was announced three years ago.

"We think Dillard's responds well to the market, and they're quite anxious to put in a brand new store that they'll build from the ground up, to show the best that it has to offer," Heckman said. "This will be the first real location where a brand new Dillard's and a brand new Nordstrom and a brand new Macy's will be located together in the market — three major anchors located together in the same center, in brand new stores, offering the best they have to offer."

City Creek Center is expected to open in fall 2011 and will include retail, office, residential and open space on the former Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center blocks. When complete, Nordstrom will have a two-level, 124,000-square-foot store located midblock on West Temple, while Macy's will occupy 150,000 square feet on three levels on the east side of Main Street.

Heckman said long-term agreements have been reached with all three anchors, though he wouldn't specify the terms or specific length of those agreements.

"I'll say they're long-term agreements," he said. "You'll definitely be able to count on them being here.

"The thing about this type of a project is that these stores will build and own their own stores. So when they make a commitment to a project like this, it's no casual commitment. It's not like they're a tenant signing a lease. They're making a substantial commitment to the market. There are an awful lot of cities in the United States that would give their right arm to have department stores like these committing to their downtown. Salt Lake City should be very proud."