CITY CREEK MALL IN SALT LAKE CITY: 10 Years Later Largely Empty with Few Shoppers

Here's an eye-witness report from January 25, 2022

". . .Last Saturday, I took my family to hear a man who was born without arms or legs. While he was not up on a tower, he was up on the steps of Utah Capital that overlooks downtown Salt Lake. In my opinion, this disabled man reminded me of Samuel the Lamanite, the great prophet in the Book of Mormon.  For those who don't know much about Samuel, he was an unlikely prophet who cried repentance to a prosperous people living in the great city of Zarahemla. These people thought they were righteous and had built a magnificent Temple in the center of their city. However, they had set their hearts upon riches and had become prideful. Samuel cried repentance to this people to warn them of their pending destruction if they didn't turn from their wicked ways. 

https://youtu.be/V8clCnqOyBU

It is interesting that after ten years, the shopping mall is largely empty with few shoppers.  I can't help but think that the billions of dollars used by the Church to built this mall could have been spent helping to clothe the naked, feeding the poor, and helping the sick.

I took this below photo of a man named David and his dog named Peedy. While he was grateful for the assistance I offered to him, he said it meant more to him that I would sit down with him and talk to him like a friend instead of garbage like most people do who pass him by. 

 

Re: https://barerecord.blogspot.com/2022/01/modern-day-samuel-lamanite-in-salt-lake.html 

 

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RELATED CONTENT ON MESAZONA

HYPER-LOCAL

A Flash-Back to June 10, 2018: Coulda, Woulda . . . It's A Done Deal

Massive Mesa Mormon Temple Make-Over Plan could transform downtown Mesa- East Valley Tribune Report by Jim Walsh reproduced by Rose Law Group Reporter 
"An extensive renovation of the iconic Mesa Arizona Temple has the potential of becoming a catalyst for the transformation of the city’s downtown. Using Pioneer Park* and the revamped Temple as its anchor, that transformation could attract an unparalleled revival, said Maricopa County Supervisor and East Valley Partnership President Denny Barney.

Iconic figure from Monopoly

“We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in private investment down there,’’ Barney said. “I think this will be a catalyst for future investment. . . " 

RIGHT DENNY! . . . but we'll never know since no financial details were ever revealed.

* Blogger Footnote: The original Parks Bond budget approved figure for the renovation of Pioneer Park was $5.9 Million dollars that somehow doubled to $12 Million$ while the eastward Gilbert Road Extension of Valley Metro Light Rail Service was in-progress. One public report stated that the architect for the temple's redevelopment area 'worked with' planners, possibly for the underground installation of city-owned utilities infrastructure.
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Reporter Jim Walsh frames his take on the story like this: (it is) . . . " a classic confrontation between neighborhood revitalization and historic preservation with a landmark of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the center. . . " It's way more than that!
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09 October 2018

Inspiring Better Cities > Elevating the Role of Architects as Advocates for Equitable Housing

OK sounds nice, right?
What happens when we take that hyper-local to home right here in downtown Mesa. . . What we get instead is what you < see in the opening image: plans for new construction in the Mormon Temple Area for a Massive Make-Over that mimic the retro-old faux-historic architecture used for the 23-acre Cave Creek, an urban revitalization project in Salt Lake City.
Shall we call it "Cave Creek-Lite" resigning ourselves to outside plans with no local input from downtown residents?
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There's nothing "Mesa-authentic" in the proposed plans that have doubled from about 4 acres into more than 8 acres now. It's not the right thing and it's not the right time.

That's the hype we get and the hype we read:
If you're not directly involved in real estate speculation and development as an investment affiliate of the for-profit tentacles of the LDS Church all this came as a surprise slow-reveal after years of behind-the-scenes planning with city officials, developers, and stakeholders (so they said in announcements from the Mormon Newsroom in May 2018).
No financial details disclosed. No input from the public. 
Is there any redemption at all for this architectural mimicry? 
There's only one local architect - Tim Boyle, with a degree from Columbia University - who did speak up. He's also an appointed member of the City of Mesa's Planning &

Here's this report in The Salt Lake Tribune June 7, 2018
THIS WEEK IN MORMON LAND:

Plans for 'City Creek South' Unveiled
(Courtesy Intellectual Reserve Inc.) Plans have been announced to redevelop 4.5 acres of land near the Mesa Arizona Temple. This rendering offers a southeast view of the mixed-use community.
City Creek South? You could call it City Creek South or City Creek Lite.
By David Noyce  ·  Published: 3 days ago Updated: 2 days ago
The real estate investment arm of the LDS Church has announced plans to erect a new mixed-use development near the faith’s Mesa Temple, which is being renovated.
The Utah-based church completed a similar — albeit much larger — project in the heart of Salt Lake City with its City Creek Center.

"All of us are very familiar with the non-profit side of the Church with the buildings of Temples, churches, and the missionary program, but most are not familiar with the LDS Church for-profit companies. . .
Many might be surprised to know that the LDS church is the largest non-governmental land owner in the US.
It is not unusual for the Church to buy land. It normally does so through its primary corporate entity, the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . .
the Church builds more square footage in United States than Walmart."
Source: BARE RECORD OF TRUTH

“We’ve been planning this project for years,” said Matt Baldwin, real estate development director for City Creek Reserve (CCRI)), an investment affiliate of the Church.
 “We’ve talked with city and county government leaders, city planning staff and other local developers. We want to enhance and beautify this block, but we also want to make sure what we’re proposing is what downtown Mesa needs,” he added. . . .
Image: Matt Baldwin with Mesa developer Tony Wall and Mike Hutchinson, former Mesa City Manager and Vice President East Valley Partnership
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> Source: The Mormon News Room https://www.mormonnewsroom.org

 

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14 March 2020

A Cloak of Secrecy Persists @ "City Creek Lite" Under The Guise of "The Grove on Main Street"

Take your pick of whatever city officials here in Mesa, AZ have chosen to call it, but the bare fact remains that NO FINANCIAL DETAILS WERE EVERY DISCLOSED TO THE PUBLIC over the "Temple Area Transformation"
It's one thing to claim an exemption for "a non-profit" status organization but when a for-profit religion is in the business of real estate development - and uses public taxpayers municipal funds to for all the underground infrastructure - it is time way over due to provide both "an abundance of clarity" and accountability.

Especially when development officers in City Creek Reserve, Inc. have stated publicly that they've been talking with city officials for years and buying up more than 90 properties around the Mesa LDS Temple Area neighborhood for a Massive Mormon Make-Over on the eastern fringe of downtown to transform Mesa into a satellite of Salt Lake City.
That's no secret.
It's a smaller-scale 10-acre version of the 23-acre project called City Creek Mall in Temple Square.

< "City Creek Center Lite"@ SEC Main/Mesa Drive

The complaint alleges a series of payments from EPA totaling $1.4 billion to help construct the City Creek Center mall in Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, which features a retractable roof, luxury storefronts and simulated creek with live trout. The LDS Church and its developers aimed to create a new urbanism in downtown Salt Lake City. The success of that expenditure of billions is open to conflicting opinions