Iconic Stores. Dining. Innovative Architecture. Art and sculpture celebrating the spirit of Utah.
By Carla Boecklin
When City Creek, a twenty-three acre community of residences, offices, and retail stores spread across three blocks in downtown Salt Lake City, unveiled its shopping component this past spring, it did so to an eager audience. Architects, financiers, and civic leaders from around the world joined Utah residents in marveling at the venture. Developed by Taubman Centers, Inc, in partnership with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, this unique destination is an investment in the progressive revival of downtown Salt Lake City.
City Creek is one of the largest mixed-use developments in the United States, and the City Creek Center is the shopping component of the project. Iconic stores, dining, art, innovative architecture, and sculpture celebrating the spirit of Utah. From aesthetic and economic appeal, to inspired and pragmatic serviceability, the Center delivers excellence. Details galore elevate this property from a mere shopping area to a downtown commercial centerpiece.
One-third of the one hundred stores and restaurants are new to the Salt Lake City market, and others, such as Nordstrom, are returning downtown after a several-year absence. Shops like Tiffany & Co., Porche Design, Swarovski, and Michael Kors bring glamour and luxury. Other stores, such as Tricked Out Accessories, ZAGG, Kneader’s Bakery & Café, and Utah Woolen Mills Clothiers, have local roots. The arrival of popular retailers like H&M and Foot Locker created such a buzz that patrons started lining up outside the doors at 1:30am the morning of City Creek’s opening day.
Seven-hundred-thousand square-feet provide a substantial canvas for inventive features, and there’s no shortage of imaginative amenities to supplement visitors’ retail therapy. A large four-sided outdoor fireplace surrounded by cushioned couches and chairs, overlooks an eighteen-foot waterfall that streams from the second story to the ground floor. A twelve-hundred-foot-long tribute to the historic City Creek literally flows through the Center, meandering under walkways and trickling among natural Utah sandstone masonry. Three fountains by WET Design (the creators behind the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas) fuse pyrotechnics with water to entertain passersby. A retractable skylight roof (the country’s first in a shopping center) opens overhead, and heated walkways—a snow-melt system—lay underfoot. A one-hundred and forty foot glass-walled skybridge crosses over Main Street and exterior art on West Temple presents a LED display as part of a two- story entrance into Nordstrom.
Other amenities are lifestyle-friendly. The Gym at City Creek satiates fitness enthusiasts with its ultra-modern I-Fit technology and individual satellite TV and international scenery workout programs. Dogs are welcomed throughout the Center (along with reminders to pick up after your pet!), and inside the food court resides a play area for children that includes soft sculps and a bass-relief wall mural of dinosaurs, Utah’s prehistoric citizens.
The allure of City Creek extends beyond its five-year, $1.5 billion development. Its sustainable design integrates existing historic structures, recycled/reused materials from former shopping malls and new buildings comprising a true illustration of urban renewal. Furthermore, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, City Creek is the first enclosed regional shopping center to open in the country in years. Robert S. Taubman, Chairman, President and CEO of Taubman Centers, believes that, “the commitment of these retailers is a confirmation of their belief in the rebirth of downtown Salt Lake City.” Deputy Mayor Nichole Dunn agrees. “I think everyone is excited to experience City Creek. Downtown Salt Lake is Utah’s cultural and economic hub and City Creek will certainly bring new vibrancy and opportunity.”
Certainly, the sophistication, fun, and energy of City Creek promises to exhilarate and inspire a new downtown area.
801-521-2012 shopcitycreek.com
