Swede Alley through the decades has been largely utilitarian.
But the alley is one block off Main Street, City Hall has significant land holdings there, and some of the ground could hold development.
A committee is considering the future of the Main Street core and Park City’s elected officials recently received a written update of the work. The update includes wide-ranging possibilities for improvements and, in one section, covers a concept for further development on Swede Alley.
The update says the parking lots and garages on Swede Alley are “on some of the highest (value) per acre land in the State of Utah.” A consultant team “proposed developing these assets into higher value uses, while maintaining structured parking beneath any new developments,” it says.
The update outlines possibilities for Swede Alley “that drive positive direct and indirect economic impacts for the Main Street area.” They include what are described as a “high-end boutique hotel” and an “upmarket professional hotel.” A conference center, a “high-end electronics retailer,” a grocery store containing a U.S. post office and better space for a state liquor store are also included in the materials.
“The proposed projects were specifically targeted at adding positive economic impact to the Main Street area while reducing cannibalization/competition with existing Main Street sectors,” the update says, explaining that an analysis was conducted of gaps in business sectors in the Main Street core.
It is not clear whether Park City leaders, or the private sector, would be interested in the broad idea of development along Swede Alley. Some could see hotels and conference space as additions to the Main Street core that would attract people to stay there, leading to more spending on the shopping, dining and entertainment strip. Others, though, could express concern about wider development in tightly packed Old Town and the traffic that projects would be expected to generate.
Businesses along Main Street, meanwhile, would closely watch any effort to create commercial space on Swede Alley, even if sectors that generally are not present on Main Street are sought to occupy space. Some could see retailers of any sort as competition since they would present another opportunity for spending by people headed to Main Street.
Park City provided a statement regarding the concepts under consideration in the Main Street core. The statement, though, did not address the specific concept of the possibility of further development on Swede Alley.
The statement:
“The Main Street Area plan is a locally-driven effort working with Main Street merchants and Old Town residents designed to contemplate how the area can remain vibrant and welcoming for future generations. These bold concepts are designed to start a series of community conversations about how we achieve our goals.
One of the opportunities the Main Street Area Plan Committee is considering is how to utilize the city’s land holdings in Old Town to address multiple community needs — including transportation, housing, affordability, accessibility, quality of life, and economic vibrancy.
We look forward to seeing the concepts that the committee puts before the city council and community this fall. We anticipate a significant amount of interest, as the Old Town area and Main Street remain the cultural and economic centers of Park City.”