Talks between local leaders and the state Military Installation Development Authority about a proposal for a commercial area near Silver Creek broke down suddenly as officials prepared for a public hearing on the matter on Monday.
Military officials have said a commercial development was needed to offset the costs of providing lodging discounts in the Park City area to servicemen and their families. The military is planning to build a hotel in Wasatch County.
Park City and Summit County jointly own the land near The Home Depot that MIDA wanted to purchase for the commercial development. But local leaders said they would only sell the property if the developer agreed not to build more than 350,000 square feet on the land.
Officials also said that they would sell the property only if the developer could draw Costco into the new commercial center.
After signing a nonbinding letter of intent with City Hall and the county,
MIDA Executive Director Rick Mayfield now says the deal is off because 350,000 square feet is too small for the project to be economically viable.
“We’ve got to have 500,000 square feet,” Mayfield said in a telephone interview. “We’ve gone back to our developer and we don’t think that we can make it work with 350,000.”
The developer originally wanted to build a regional commercial center of roughly 1.25 million square feet.
“We kept saying that our developer was saying that they need 700,000 square feet but they would do it with 500,000,” Mayfield said.
The project was discussed with Costco representatives, Mayfield said.
He informed local leaders of the need for more square footage in a letter on Monday.
“As you may or may not be aware, due to a variety of factors, this is a site that does not fit into Costco’s traditional model and the enticement has been that it will be part of a larger development that will help attract patrons and provide Costco with assurances regarding long-term sustainability,” Mayfield’s letter stated. “However, as the development’s size shrinks, so does the likelihood that Costco, and other similarly situated tenants, will agree to lease there.”
Mayfield said MIDA is not in discussions about the commercial center with any other landowners in Summit County.
The retail center will likely not be built in the Park City area unless local leaders agree to allow more development on the parcel near Home Depot, he said.
“We are not going to look for another piece of property in Summit County if the deal falls through,” Mayfield said. He declined to comment when asked if the commercial center would be built in Wasatch County.
Summit County Councilman Chris Robinson said the county will not allow more than 350,000 square feet of development on the land near Silver Creek.
Local leaders also spoke with a Costco representative.
Costco has built stand-alone stores in areas smaller than 500,000 square feet, Robinson said.
County Councilman John Hanrahan said he is pleased that the deal appears to have fallen apart.
“I think we owe a real deep gratitude to the citizens of this county,” Hanrahan said about those who have spoken out against the proposal. “I think that has been a very significant factor in the outcome.”
The state Legislature formed MIDA to facilitate development for the military in Utah. Much of the sales tax generated by the commercial project would have been used to help fund lodging discounts for soldiers. Property tax revenue generated by the project would have helped fund the retail center.
Citizens rallied to oppose the proposed development when they found out taxpayers would be subsidizing a private developer.
“We need to fight these projects tooth and nail regardless of how the state Legislature feels,” Snyderville Basin resident Chris Hague said.
But Park City resident Jan Wilking said he is not convinced that MIDA has scrapped its development plans in Summit County.
“I still have a great fear that this could happen,” Wilking said.
According to Summit County resident Glenn Wright, “if this reemerges in the future, I would like to see my tax dollars going to fight it.”