Downtown rebound: LDS Church unveils plans for 20-acre development

Three national department store chains will anchor the development. The church has announced two of them: Macy's and Nordstrom, both of which have stores in the current malls. Those stores will close in January and won't reopen until the rest of the project does, in 2011. Taubman said negotiations are ongoing with a third store.

In total, the development will have about 928,000 square feet of retail space. Bishop Burton said that represents about a one-third reduction from the amount of retail currently on those blocks.

Simonsen said he worries that the development will favor national retail chains and will not incorporate enough locally owned businesses. Taubman said the selection of retail tenants remains to be negotiated, but he admitted that including local businesses is "a challenge, because the bulk of the retail business in the country in fashion" is done by chains.

Simonsen said he expects the character of the project to be "a little different" from the nearby Gateway development, suggesting that some retail may move from The Gateway to the new project, some may choose to stay put and others may opt for a presence at both developments.

Jake Boyer, president of The Boyer Co., said The Gateway remains "confident that the church will stand by their assurances to us, that they won't be in a mode of raiding tenants from us."

"That's why we feel positive about the development as a whole, that it will be a complementary project to The Gateway," Boyer said. "It doesn't do anybody any good if their strategy is to take tenants from The Gateway. The key element for downtown is that we bring shoppers back downtown."

The stores at City Creek Center will be closed on Sundays, Bishop Burton said. However, many restaurants may choose to stay open.

When the development is complete, it will boast at least 300 residential units. But space is being left for possible future residential buildings, and the number of apartments and condominiums available could approach 800.

"We're very excited about introducing a 24/7 population to Salt Lake City," Bishop Burton said.

Four residential towers will line South Temple. There will also be two floors of housing located above the two floors of retail at various points throughout the project.

Along with the housing comes a grocery store. The Harmon's store will be built on 100 South between State Street and 200 East just south of Social Hall Avenue. A 100-unit residential tower could one day go up next to it.

Dan Lofgren, president of Cowboy Partners, which will own some of the planned housing, said it is too soon to say what the housing will cost, what the mix of condos and apartments will be and what sort of size and floor plans to expect.