Towering plans are in works for Provo

PROVO — Superman will have to jump higher to leap tall downtown Provo buildings in a single bound.

And he'll have to leap more often.

A 10-story office tower and two four-story buildings will rise on the same block on University Avenue and Center Street where the seven-story Wells Fargo Center was completed two years ago, city officials and developers announced Wednesday.

The estimated cost of constructing the three buildings is more than $27 million.

That's not all, Provoans.

Zions Bank is expected to make a major announcement of plans for yet another Provo business tower in the next 30 to 60 days, multiple sources told the Deseret Morning News.

"It's no secret we're looking to create additional business space in downtown Provo in the near distant future," Zions executive Kelly Ward said.

The Deseret Morning News first reported in March that announcements about high-rise office buildings would be made in coming months.

Now another developer is considering a tower project in the area, sources confirmed, and Provo Redevelopment Agency director Paul Glauser said the city and county could start construction on a downtown convention center as early as next year.

The new Provo Center for the Performing Arts is scheduled to open later this summer.

"This is a reflection on the momentum downtown Provo has and is achieving," said Mayor Lewis Billings, who called Wednesday's press conference "one of the most substantial announcements made in this city in the past decade."

The 10-story building at approximately 50 N. University will initially be called University Tower and could be completed by fall 2009, when it might have a new name.

"We're working with the representatives of a national Fortune 100 company that is looking at taking 30,000 square feet and acquiring naming rights," project developer Brad Sears said.

Only one Provo building is taller, the Kimball Tower on the campus of Brigham Young University.

The Nu Skin International building is also 10 stories tall. The Downtown Provo Marriott is nine stories and the Novell building in the city's East Bay business area is eight stories.

University Tower will have a parking basement, retail shops on the front of University Avenue and more parking on the first and second floors. In addition to business space, the tower could have residential space on the second, ninth and 10th floors, depending on market demands, architect Soren Simonsen said.

The tower will be built between the Wells Fargo Center and the historic Knight Block building that straddles the corner of University Avenue and Center Street.