A tomorrow for 2 malls

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will spend "hundreds of millions of dollars" on the construction and redevelopment of Salt Lake City's two Main Street malls.

But it won't be enough to keep Nordstrom.

LDS Church Presiding Bishop H. David Burton unveiled preliminary designs for the church-owned ZCMI Center and Crossroads Plaza shopping centers Wednesday, along with plans to relocate Brigham Young University's Salt Lake Center and LDS Business College to a two-block project on South Temple near the Triad Center — the site used as the Medals Plaza during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

Flanked by Ron Pastore of AEW Capital Management, the church's real estate advisory firm, and Bruce Heckman of mall developer The Taubman Co., Bishop Burton said the projects will proceed as quickly as possible. Planning for the new education campus will begin immediately, he said, even as designs are finalized on the Main Street project.

That's nice, but it doesn't matter, Nordstrom said Wednesday afternoon. Spokeswoman Brooke White said although the church's plans are impressive, they've come too late. The store still faces only two options, White said — move to The Gateway development or leave Salt Lake City altogether.

"The project sounds wonderful," White said. "It's ambitious and will be a wonderful addition to downtown Salt Lake City. We really wish this was the solution for us. We really do. But it's coming too late for us to participate."

• The malls will be two-story structures, with the outer facades reduced from 60 feet to 40 feet and "opened up" with wide, tall windows.

• The interior will be opened up with longer, broader sight-lines. Shoppers will be able to look from one end of the mall to the other, Pastore said, "without wondering what's around the corner, like they do now." The ceiling likely will be glass, adding natural light and allowing shoppers to see the sky and surrounding buildings.

• The parking terrace will be replaced by underground parking.

• At least two new buildings are planned, one slated primarily for residences.