Deseret News | Nordstrom will stay

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Nordstrom will stay

Retailer's president says he loves latest plans for downtown

By Jenifer K. Nii

Published: Monday, Aug. 30, 2004 12:43 p.m. MDT

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Even after the church made its announcement last October, pledging upward of $500 million toward renovating the two blocks now home to ZCMI Center and Crossroads Plaza, Nordstrom maintained anything the church did would be "too little, too late."

Then, sometime within the last few months, Taubman approached Nordstrom again, Blake Nordstrom said — this time with a proposal that "fully resolved" any concerns the store previously had about parking, tenants and everything else.

Karen MacDonald, spokeswoman for Taubman, had little to add Friday. "We continue to work with (LDS Church real estate arm) Property Reserve Inc., Nordstrom and the other major stakeholders to plan the best possible mixed-use development for this vibrant downtown. We are still not able to release any details on the plans as this is a complex undertaking with much left to do. Today's announcement is an encouraging step forward."

LDS Church officials were likewise mum. Spokesman Michael Purdy declined to comment beyond the information in Nordstrom's press release and said Presiding Bishop H. David Burton would not take questions Friday.

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Still, city, community and business leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief upon hearing the news. The dearth of information about the project after the church's initial announcement last October left empty space eventually filled by rumors and questions — about its ramped up property-buying in the downtown area, its relationship with Taubman, and the health of the project in general. By late summer, the persistent hum of speculation had begun to sound more like a hive.

"Because there wasn't this information coming out, people were getting nervous, but this changes all of that," Mayor Rocky Anderson's spokeswoman, Deeda Seed, said. "The LDS Church and Taubman have done this. They have gone where others were not able to. It's a great thing. It's a happy day."

The City Council and mayor's office (Anderson is out on vacation) were first alerted that there would be an announcement Thursday evening but were not told what that announcement would be. Friday morning City Council members, the mayor's office and others were informed of the news.