The construction and economic development of Salt Lake City’s downtown core is on schedule, and Utah’s Capital City has become a destination for businesses looking to relocate. That was the message that surfaced during a roundtable discussion sponsored by the Downtown Alliance, held today in the law offices of Holland & Hart LLP, located at 222 Main.

Roundtable panel members included economic development, real estate, legal, and commercial development experts and interests downtown:

Mark Gibbons, President of City Creek Reserve

Mark Gibbons – Downtown Roundtable from Salt Lake Chamber on Vimeo.

Mark Bouchard, Senior Managing Partner of CB Richard Ellis

Mark Bouchard – Downtown Roundtable from Salt Lake Chamber on Vimeo.

Carl Barton, Partner at Holland & Hart LLP

Carl Barton – Downtown Roundtable from Salt Lake Chamber on Vimeo.

Bob Springmeyer, Principal of Bonneville Research

Bob Springmeyer – Downtown Roundtable from Salt Lake Chamber on Vimeo.

Jim Tozer, Managing Director & President of Vectra Investments

Jim Tozer – Downtown Roundtable from Salt Lake Chamber on Vimeo.

Jeff Edwards, President & CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah

Jeff Edwards – Downtown Roundtable from Salt Lake Chamber on Vimeo.

Bruce Bingham, Partner at Hamilton Partners

Bruce Bingham – Downtown Roundtable from Salt Lake Chamber on Vimeo.

Lane Beattie, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber.

Lane Beattie – Downtown Roundtable from Salt Lake Chamber on Vimeo.

Most noteable among the 30-plus downtown construction projects, the City Creek Center is less than two years away from completion.

“Will be completed on schedule in March 2012. We’re now down to our last 22 months before the entire project is completed,” said Mark Gibbons , president of City Creek Reserve. “If you put it in the context of a marathon, which is 26 miles, we’ve passed the 20 mile mark. What’s interesting is that the milestones we’re passing now are more visible and more exciting than any of the milestones we’ve had through the last 20 miles.”

The panelists agree something special is going on in Salt Lake City as the Downtown Rising vision becomes a reality.

“We talk ‘location, location, location,’ and Salt Lake City is the location,” said Jim Tozer, managing director and president of Vectra Investments, which owns the Walker Center. “This is the best location between the Mississippi River and the west coast. We have superior education, superior arts and a transportation system that on the ground is going to be extraordinary.”

“What’s occurring today in Salt Lake is going to be looked at, both domestically and globally, as legendary,” said Mark Bouchard, senior managing partner of CB Richard Ellis. “We are evolving as a community with a significant investment at a time when no one else in the world is doing that.”

Downtown Alliance Executive Director, Jason Mathis, who served as discussion moderator, provided a summary of important progress milestones downtown:

• In the past year, a total of 30 new storefront retail businesses, including restaurants, pubs and nightclubs have opened on or around Main Street.
• 222 Main; Salt Lake City’s first LEED certified high-rise, and Utah’s fourth LEED Gold certified building, has opened its doors and welcomed several new tenants.
• The pedestrian bridge recently placed across Main Street; mid-block between South Temple and 100 South is a visual indictor of construction progress.
• Downtown related investment between 2005 and 2012 will total approximately $5 billion. There is no period in the history of Salt Lake City with equivalent investment activity in such a concentrated time frame.