- A Utah committee approved a $1.8 billion reinvestment zone Friday for downtown Salt Lake City.
- Last-minute changes increased project costs by $300 million, adding Block 67 to the zone.
- Salt Lake leaders sought a delay in Friday’s vote; the committee approved it amid tight deadline pressures.
SALT LAKE CITY — A state committee has agreed on a $1.8 billion “reinvestment zone” where major downtown changes will take place next to a soon-to-be remodeled Delta Center.
However, the vote didn’t come without some last-second drama as the project cost and zone size were drastically adjusted within a day of the vote as Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City race to meet an April 15 deadline to finance a Salt Palace Convention Center makeover.
The Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone Committee, a section of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, voted 9-4 Friday to approve the Capital City Convention Center Reinvestment Zone. The zone includes the arena, the convention center, Abravanel Hall, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and what’s left of historic Japantown, as well as nearly 9 acres of additional land added this week called “Block 67.”…