Tenants signing up for Old Navy site

As renovation work intensifies at the Old Navy building on Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City, the tenant roster too is firming up. And signs point toward the commencement of construction on the massive redevelopment project by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Though the church, through spokesman Dale Bills, said that "no announcement has been made regarding a construction schedule or project time frame," work is ramping up to refit the former Old Navy building for new occupants, and tenants continue their exodus from the two downtown malls.

The former Old Navy building will be home to at least two of those tenants. Bennion Jewelers manager Michael Lawrence confirmed that the church has agreed to move Bennion from its current location at 59 S. Main to occupy half of the Old Navy building's street-level retail space on the corner of 100 South and Main Street.

Also Tuesday, Deseret Book confirmed it will take the upper three floors of the building for its corporate offices, currently located at ZCMI Center.

Negotiations are ongoing with other prospective tenants to fill the space, Bills said. He declined to elaborate.

All 150 Deseret Book corporate employees will make the move to the former Old Navy building — which will be renamed the Deseret Book Building — in the spring of 2006, spokeswoman Gail Halladay said. The company will keep its retail presence at the mall, though it will move to a smaller temporary store once redevelopment construction at the mall begins, she said.

Bennion Jewelers will remain open at its current location through the holidays and then make its move across 100 South by Jan. 15, Lawrence said. The new store will be nearly double Bennion's current space, at more than 4,000 square feet.

"We're looking at it as a very good thing," he said. "We like it here, and have done well here and are doing well here, but we have to go.

"We're only moving a block, to a brand-new store, and it will be very nice," Lawrence said. "We'll be on a corner, so exposure should be better. And because we're only moving a block, we feel like our customers will still come to us."

The LDS Church, which owns the Crossroads Plaza shopping center, ZCMI Center mall and the former Old Navy building, announced plans in 2003 to invest $1 billion in a massive downtown redevelopment project. When complete, the multi-year project will include retail, restaurants, housing and office units.

For now, however, the malls are losing tenants, or finding space for or working around those who stay.