According to one seasoned Utah observer, Salt Lake City owes its post-Winter Olympic, economic surge to three factors: public and private investment and human capital.

The public part of that equation is the Eccles Theater, which opened in 2016 after Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City (RDA) purchased the original building to make way for the new complex. 

With private dollars, the luxury mall City Creek Center was completed downtown in 2012.

“That was a phenomenal investment that not only rebooted retail opportunities downtown, but the nearly $2 billion in spending really buoyed the local economy during the recession,” said Dee Brewer, executive director of the Downtown Alliance Salt Lake City.

The third rejuvenation piece was Goldman Sachs’ opening its first office in Salt Lake City in 2000, two years before the city hosted the Winter Games. The company now employs more than 5,000 people in two Class A buildings downtown.

“That infusion of human capital and young talent has helped shape many things” Brewer said.

Brewer was part of a panel discussion at the Chamber’s Intercity Visit Oct. 6-8 in Salt Lake City. Joining him were Jacob Maxwell, deputy director of economic development of the City of Salt Lake and moderator Brian Kurtz, executive director of the Downtown Tulsa Partnership.

Improvements aside, Salt Lake City still faces challenges in making its downtown feel like a neighborhood. The municipality has no public school in downtown and lacks in public green space and affordable housing, panelists said.

“That is my biggest pain point about creating a family-friendly downtown,” Brewer said of the school issue. “Green space, we can improve on that, and we have plans to.”

One space targeted for an upgrade is Pioneer Park, which for 35 years has drawn an average of 20,000 people to its Farmers’ Market for 21 Saturdays of the year.

A proposed $18.4 million overhaul of the park will include a new pavilion, plaza and misting fountain.

“It’s the safest, most vibrant, most interesting piece of downtown on Saturday mornings, Brewer said.”

“I would say about parks and green space; it’s not ‘If you build it, they will come,’” he said. “It’s ‘If you program it, they will come.’ And our Farmers’ Market is a great example.”

Maxwell said Salt Lake City’s downtown population has doubled since 2020 and is expected to double again in the next five years.

To complement affordable housing expansion, the city also wants to enhance childcare for workers by incentivizing developers who build projects with childcare facilities on ground floors.

“Historically, downtown has been a vertical office park, not a lot of nightlife after hours,” Brewer said. “But that is changing. What we do have to encourage a neighborhood feel is strong employment and private investment in housing.”

This article covered programming from the Tulsa Regional Chamber Intercity Visit to Salt Lake City. Each, fall, the Chamber leads a three-day Intercity Visit during which leaders learn how other regions approach growth and learning challenges. Topics often include development, infrastructure and workforce.

Click here to view takeaways from previous visits.