LDS Church In Position To Makeover Downtown Salt Lake City

With the recent purchase of the Crossroads mall, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now owns most of the downtown commercial core. In addition to church properties and office buildings, the 22,000 seat conference center, and Temple Square, they own all of the major office buildings and some undeveloped land used for parking. Plans include adding 300-500 housing units, reorienting the malls to the streets, adding restaurants and freestanding stores, and relocating the LDS Business College and the BYU Salt Lake Center to downtown. The school relocations alone will bring an additional 4,000 students to the area daily. They plan to recruit businesses that cater to the built-in market of tourists and LDS church members that visit Temple Square. The church doesn't want it to be strictly a retail or fashion center. Although the plan is for Main Street to eventually provide services to residents in addition to being a regional attraction, right now there is not enough of a residential base for those services. Strategies include simplifying parking and making the area a "Family and Fun" zone.