SALT LAKE CITY — A swath of land west of the airport and north of I-80 has been flagged as the next major development project here. The Salt Lake City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, recently approved the creation of a «community reinvestment area» to spur major amounts of developme…<\/b>
\nSALT LAKE CITY \u2014 A swath of land west of the airport and north of I-80 has been flagged as the next major development project here.
The Salt Lake City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, recently approved the creation of a \u201ccommunity reinvestment area\u201d to spur major amounts of development.
The Northwest Quadrant (graphic by Russ Slade, FOX 13 News)
\u201cThis land is incredibly valuable for development, but also economic growth in our community,\u201d said Salt Lake City Councilman Derek Kitchen.
The Northwest Quadrant, as it\u2019s known, is already going to be the site of Amazon\u2019s massive fulfillment center and construction is already under way for a lot of other industrial and light manufacturing businesses. Salt Lake City is also laying the groundwork for a \u201cglobal trade port.\u201d
The concept of an inland port has been eyeballed by the state for a while. That is where shipping from the coast comes in via rail or truck to warehouses here, then it would shipped out region-wide.
There has been some concern the state of Utah would step in and take over some aspects of the Northwest Quadrant. Last year, a bill was introduced in the last days of the Utah State Legislature to give the state more authority as the new prison was constructed nearby. (The bill ultimately did not pass.)
Development projects are under way in Salt Lake City\u2019s Northwest Quadrant. (Photo by Ben Winslow, FOX 13 News)
But Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, said he sponsored the bill to ensure Salt Lake City moved fast with development opportunities.
\u201cIt would make a lot of sense if Salt Lake City would be nimble on this process,\u201d he told FOX 13. \u201cWe just don\u2019t want to lose the opportunity.\u201d
Sen. Stevenson insisted that the city and state were working well together on development opportunities in the area.
\u201cWe are focused on being good collaborative partners for the global trade area,\u201d Kitchen said. \u201cAs well as all of the economic development alternatives that exist out here.\u201d
Kitchen, who also chairs the city\u2019s RDA, said the impact of the Northwest Quadrant development will be massive:
Kitchen said another benefit of moving forward with developing the Northwest Quadrant is that 10% of revenues will be earmarked toward affordable housing options elsewhere in Salt Lake City.
The RDA is set to finalize the Northwest Quadrant plans in a meeting slated Tuesday.
Filed in: News, Politics
Topics: Derek Kitchen, Northwest Quadrant, salt lake city, salt lake city council, utah<\/p>\n

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