West Valley looking for a face lift

WEST VALLEY CITY — Utah's second-largest city is ready for a downtown face lift.

But first planners need to find someone to do the operating.

West Valley City has started its search for developers who want in on a piece of the city's aggressive downtown redevelopment plan, aiming to give the blighted area a new look and a new sense of community, Brent Garlick, economic development specialist, said. They're hoping to find local developers or at least regional developers with local ties to get the job done.

"It sure would be nice to have a developer close at hand," Garlick said.

The city has sent out feeler messages to developers. Within the first few days, about a half-dozen let the city know they'd like to hear more about the plans.

And they're big plans.

"We want to kind of change the face of West Valley to the world," Garlick said.

The City Council in late December approved a city-center plan that would turn 150 acres of rundown multifamily housing and a struggling mall into a transit-oriented mix of business, offices and housing that surround the city's center of government.

The government buildings are already there, a complex on 2700 West and 3650 South that includes City Hall and a 3rd District courthouse that was built in the early 1990s. But Garlick said planners who approved that complex seemed to lack a clear vision, hoping instead that the complex would naturally lead to a developing city center.

That never happened.

But with the Utah Transit Authority planning an intermodal transit hub near the city government buildings and a light-rail line eventually headed to the area, city planners and developers say the time is right for reinventing downtown.

"The pieces started to kind of come together," Garlick said. "West Valley has the opportunity to have a true transit center. It's a great fit. You're not just trying to make something out of nothing."

The plan approved by the council calls for diverse shopping choices, landmarks, public art, sit-down restaurants, cafes with outdoor seating and public plazas with lots of open space. Garlick said he envisions multilevel buildings with ground-level businesses that front tree-lined streets with office space and residential units on the stories above ground.