- Salt Lake City Council hesitates on a rezoning request for a 180-foot hotel project.
- City planners argue the proposal disrupts neighborhood transitions and utility needs.
- Council members express concern over housing needs versus hotel development benefits.
SALT LAKE CITY — Shawn Wade contends that his family has looked at every option possible since the historic apartment buildings that once stood just east of downtown burned down in 1991.
His father, who owned the property, wanted to rebuild but was met with “many roadblocks,” Wade explained. The space became a parking lot as a temporary solution that has unintentionally lasted for decades. Now that he and his siblings oversee the land, they believe there are better uses for the space at 256 E. 300 South, but they see why it’s taken so long to develop anything.
After struggling to find a development concept that made financial sense, the family finds itself facing an uphill battle with a proposed hotel in Central City. Salt Lake City leaders expressed their unwillingness to support a rezone of the lot, following negative recommendations from both city planners and the Salt Lake City Planning Commission…