SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The Salt Lake County Council voted to approve the sale of 6.5 acres of the Salt Palace Convention Center to Ryan Smith and the Smith Entertainment Group for the development of a new sports and entertainment district.
The resolution, which passed unanimously on Tuesday, creates a property tax zone for the area, and with the sale, it was expected that SEG would demolish that part of the convention center and expand their footprint east from the Delta Center.
The county said the sale has been negotiated at fair market value.
The approval also green lights modernizing the convention center downtown. The space will shrink by nearly 1/3 after the sale. Then, 50-percent of the Salt Lake Convention Center will be redesigned, leaving half open during construction. Completion of the construction was expected to be complete in 2031.
“We’re looking at the 6.5 acres that the county owns and how best to utilize those acres for the public benefit going forward,” explained Council Member Arlyn Bradshaw who oversees District 1 where the Salt Palace sits.
The sale will help fund the nearly $1.8 billion dollar project which will renovate the rest of the Salt Palace along with infrastructure upgrades in the area. The Convention Center Reinvestment Zone was created by Utah Lawmakers and combines tax revenue from the city and county to make the plan possible. Salt Lake City also recently approved a .5 percent citywide sales tax to help repay $900 million in bonds that Smith is seeking towards construction costs on the land. The Smith Entertainment group wants to develop a new Sports, Entertainment, Culture and Convention District on the site.
“We’ve actually overbuilt our exhibit hall space and what we desperately need is a new ballroom and that is what we’re getting from what we accomplished today,” explained Mayor Jenny Wilson of Salt Lake County on Tuesday.
The county projects all of this should generate about $11 million in new tax revenue ever year and they allocated $5 million for Japantown. During public comment many residents expressed concern about protecting Japantown.
“It’s all so enormously complex just trying to understand it. There is so much public tax money going into this project it’s all very exciting, but I think it is very important for the public to understand how their tax dollars are being spent,” explained Lori Wike, a resident at Tuesday’s meeting. She’s concerned about Abravanel Hall which will get some upgrades in this plan.
Businesses owners like Matteo Sogne, who owns Matteo Ristorante Italiano downtown, hopes the short-term pain will drive more foot traffic in the long term. “I’m just excited for how the 10-20 years of Salt Lake City will look and I just think it will be good for downtown,” he said.
This comes after tax incentives were given for a 26-story Hyatt hotel that was built and opened in 2022 that is attached to the convention center. Which offers 60-thousand square feet of meeting space and a ballroom and junior ballroom.
The County hopes to complete renovations and have everything done by the 2034 Olympics here in Salt Lake City.
The sale will close on or before Feb 16, 2027.
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