SL City Council approves agreement, tax hike for downtown rebuild project
The Salt Lake City Council has approved the final participation agreement between the city and Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) that will allow the Utah Jazz and the Utah Hockey Club to stay in downtown Salt Lake City. The agreement gives the go-ahead to a revamped entertainment and sports district and sets in motion the imposition of a 0.5 percent sales tax hike for city businesses. The tax increase, which doesn’t apply to groceries and major purchases like vehicles, takes effect on Jan. 1.
Under the agreement, SEG will receive up to $900 million in bonds that will be repaid by the sales tax increase over the next 30 years. The bonding will help pay for a downtown rebuild that will include a Delta Center revamp to accommodate hockey.
In April, the National Hockey League approved the sale of the Arizona Coyotes to SEG, an investment group headed by Qualtrics founder and Utah Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, which kicked off the current push to rebuild the district. A committee of the Utah Legislature voted unanimously last month in favor of the project.
SEG intends to put $3 billion of its own money into redeveloping a three-block area in the city center, which includes reconfiguring the Delta Center entrance to face east. Also in the plans are building pedestrian plazas, building a residential tower and a hotel and providing retail and restaurant space. Current plans also include preservation and upgrading of Abravanel Hall.
The agreement between SEG and the city also includes the creation of a community benefit fund from fees SEG would attach to ticket sales for basketball and hockey games and other Delta Center events, ranging from $1 to $3 per ticket depending on the ticket price, starting in July 2025. The city would use the money for affordable and family-sized housing, a Japantown streetscape project and public art.
Salt Lake City residents are likely to see changes to the downtown area beginning with Delta Center renovations at the end of the Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club seasons that are just beginning and run through next spring.