If you’re a Salt Lake City resident, or even if you’re not, you may be hearing a lot about the Northwest Quadrant lately. That’s because the Northwest Quadrant is a big deal and an unparalleled opportunity for the City. It is, perhaps, the single most unique development project in the City. The approximate area runs from 4000 West to 8800 West, 2100 South to the north city limits.

The Northwest Quadrant presents Salt Lake City with a generational opportunity to identify a strategic path for smart development that can build on key industry sectors, best serve residents, and align assets and resources to continue to build a sustainable, diverse, and vibrant local economy.

NWQ Map - Existng Background Map2

As the site for the new state prison, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said of the Northwest Quadrant, “This opportunity includes state financing of basic roads, water, sewer, gas lines, fiber-optic cabling, and lighting which will serve as the backbone for an employment, light industrial, and manufacturing center. Opportunity is also found in the unprecedented cooperation from the state, county, city, private landowners, and critical stakeholders to responsibly develop this area and protect nearly 4,000 acres of open space for wildlife conservation.”

The Mayor went on to note the unique character of Northwest Quadrant. “No other city in the United States has 3,000+ acres of developable land within 10 minutes of an international airport, major interstate highway interchanges, vibrant downtown, and national rail crossings. Salt Lake City is already the Crossroads of the West and a prime location for an inland port, but the Northwest Quadrant will catapult Salt Lake City’s economic place in the western half of the United States for the foreseeable future. And business is already taking note.”

NWQ RDA Map with tables

The Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City (RDA) is working withJones Lang Lasalle (JLL), a financial and professional services firm and MIG, a planning and design firm, on a two-phased development plan for the Northwest Quadrant.

  • Phase I: Salt Lake City Northwest Quadrant Visioning Report
  • Phase II: Salt Lake City Northwest Quadrant Strategic Implementation Plan

Phase I was completed in March, 2017 and consisted of stakeholder engagement, a market assessment, and creation of development scenarios. It will serve as the framework for Phase II which the department is expecting to complete in summer of 2017.

Phase II will:

  • Analyze land use implantation alternatives for the Northwest Quadrant, including an alternative with a potential Inland Port (logistics hub that combines containerized rail. trucking interchange, and warehousing and distribution activities) or Mega Site (large contiguous  track of land that is a choice location for a big industrial operation or a cluster of co-located operations) and an alternative without the Inland Port or Mega Site.
  • Create a single opportunities and constraint plan.
  • Identify the estimated number of parcels, approximate acreages and preliminary gross square feet based on floor area ration (FAR) and building height assumptions.
  • Develop a financial feasibility model to include conceptual economic feasibility assessments including potential development financing costs, residual land values, infrastructure cost, projected taxes, as well as other potential economic factors resulting from conceptual development alternatives.
  • Prepare annual projections for property taxes and other revenues that may be produced as a result of the various development alternatives.
  • Identify potential financing options through the evaluation traditional financing mechanisms and evaluation of innovative programs.
  • Prepare a matrix of available funding sources, timeframes and recommendations.

Throughout the Phase II planning process, the RDA will host periodic meetings with stakeholders to present preliminary work for review and feedback.