S.L. gets tough on stalled project

Craig Mecham admits he's made a mess on the corner of 2100 South and Highland Drive in Sugar House.

The developer acknowledges the unsightliness of the partially demolished building that once housed the Blue Boutique and the large hole in the ground where an eclectic strip of shops once lined the street.

"It's certainly not what we anticipated and not what we wanted," said Mecham, who plans to construct a high-end residential, office and retail development at the site.

"Frankly, we're embarrassed by it," he said of the construction site. "We wish there was an easy solution to it, but I don't think there is."

Mecham's project came under fire last month after demolition at the site stalled and the interim landscaping work the developer promised had not begun.

The city has since given the developer a deadline of today to begin backfilling and landscaping the site, with a 30-day window to complete the work.

Mecham said he will comply with the order.

"We have no intention of trying to skirt around this issue," he said, "even though there were extenuating circumstances that brought it on."

Demolition work at the site hit a snag when it was discovered that the former Blue Boutique building shares a wall with its neighbor to the west, a building owned by Rockwood Investment Associates. Any further demoli-

tion to Mecham's building likely would inflict serious damage to Rockwood's building and possibly cause it to collapse, the developer said.

The neighboring building used to house the Maridadi Gallery and the (M)adam & (St)eve erotic bakery. Leann Wilson, who runs the bakery, said the shop closed on May 23, and she's looking for a place to relocate within Salt Lake City.

Company officials and attorneys of both property owners have been meeting for the past few months to try to solve the problem but have yet to come to a resolution, Mecham said.

Property owners in 1938 agreed to allow the building now owed by Rockwood to be built using the west wall of the former Blue Boutique building. In order for Mecham's building to come down without harming its neighbor, a new wall would need to be built inside the Rockwood building to support the structure.

Last week, Mecham sent a letter informing Rockwood that demolition will resume by July 1 and asking the company to construct a new wall or make other preparations.