Smith Entertainment Group seeks 99-year lease, 2 extra blocks as part of Salt Lake plan

SALT LAKE CITY — Smith Entertainment Group is proposing a 99-year lease to keep the Utah Jazz and a new National Hockey League team at the Delta Center and is seeking “to lease the two additional blocks” directly east of the facility, according to an application filed to Salt Lake City last month.

The company’s seven-page application isn’t long or detailed; however, it describes proposed zoning changes, street adjustments and a renovation to the Salt Palace Convention Center, which is located directly across from 300 West. The application doesn’t list a cost, but requests “a significant amount of public financing” to make the project “financially viable.”

“To make the subject property financially viable, and in order to maximize the overall positive impact of the project to the surrounding community, and to justify the significant private investment, a significant amount of public financing is required in connection with (Smith Entertainment Group’s) development of the project area,” the company wrote.

Smith Entertainment Group is expected to present its proposal to members of the Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday, but KSL obtained the seven-page application on Friday through a public records request. Salt Lake City has until September to come up with an agreement, but it’s not the only major task in front of them.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall is also scheduled to present her proposed 2025 fiscal year budget on Tuesday, meaning that the City Council will have to weigh both major financial proposals to sift through in the coming weeks and months.

Smith Entertainment Company filed its application on April 4, igniting a city process outlined in a bill that legislators approved earlier this year to create a downtown revitalization zone. It was filed about two weeks before Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith officially acquired the Arizona Coyotes and relocated them to Salt Lake City.

The application focuses on retaining the Delta Center and securing Salt Lake County land around it, which would require major overhauls to downtown Salt Lake City.

The group is asking the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City, which owns the land the Delta Center sits on, for a 99-year extension to its current lease at the same rate as the existing lease. It’s also requesting to lease two blocks east of the Delta Center from Salt Lake County on “substantially the same financial terms” as its RDA lease for “substantial redevelopment, urban renewal and reconstruction” in the area.

That would require renovation to the Salt Palace Convention Center, located across 300 West from Delta Center. The project would also include “re-routing, permanent closure and/or bridging of certain surrounding streets,” which is why it says the Utah Department of Transportation and Utah Transit Authority would have to get involved.

The company is also asking for the Salt Lake City Council to approve a 0.5% sales and use tax, which it is asking to take “the full amount of.” The tax is something set up in SB272, which officially went into law this week. It’s up to the Salt Lake City Council to approve any tax increase, which would last 30 years.

Smith explained that he initially intended to build a new arena when he began his efforts to bring the NHL to Utah. His vision had the arena built within an entertainment district, mirroring a trend happening at other U.S. stadiums. The arena would likely have also housed the Utah Jazz.

He scouted out land “south” of Salt Lake City before the Utah Legislature and local leaders got involved, urging him to keep the teams in Utah’s capital city. Smith added that he was also presented with a proposed remodel of the Delta Center’s interior that could make it work.

The application also explains that the Delta Center will be remodeled to accommodate both the Jazz and the National Hockey League franchise after Smith purchased the hockey operations of the Arizona Coyotes to move to Utah. The remodeling is expected to take place “over several offseasons.”

This story will be updated.