Gateway to Brownfields

Redevelopment 

Salt Lake City, UT

On November 1, 2001, the first 60 of 84 retailers, restaurants, and 

other attractions opened for business at the Gateway, Salt Lake City's new 

downtown mixed-use development. Where railroad lines once webbed 

across contaminated brownfields, this $375 million redevelopment project 

is revitalizing a 30-acre portion of the neglected west side of Utah's capital 

city and is the latest project to be completed under Salt Lake's Gateway 

Land Use and Development Master Plan. Salt Lake City's multiyear project 

targets a 650-acre blighted industrial area known as the Gateway District. 

In 1996, the city received a $200,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment Pilot 

grant to conduct environmental assessments on the 650 acres. The project 

was further aided by a $200,000 EPA Brownfields Supplemental Assistance 

grant in March 2000 and another $500,000 resulting from the city's designation 

as an EPA Brownfields Showcase Community. The master plan for the 

redevelopment of the Gateway District includes 10,000 new residential units, 

cultural facilities, commercial developments, and a transportation hub that will 

link bus, light rail, and commuter rail systems by the year 2005. 

Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and preparations 

for this major international event have created a new wave of construction, 

development, and renovation projects. This included a major overhaul of 

Interstate 15 in the Salt Lake Valley and has been the driving force behind 

fast-track cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields in the western section of the city. The 30-acre Gateway development is across the street 

from the Delta Center, which is home to the Utah Jazz and served as venue 

for figure skating events during the Olympics. New apartments that were 

constructed as part of the Gateway mixed-use development housed members of the media covering Olympic events. 

The 650-acre area now targeted for restoration once prospered during the 

mining and railroad booms of the 19th century with railroad manufacturing 

and maintenance facilities, heavy industry, salvage yards, and warehouses. 

This history of industrial use left 50 percent of the parcels in the district 

with environmental contamination, which has contributed to abandonment 

and the decline of an area now plagued with severe crime and homelessness. 

Concerns over real and perceived contamination and the lack of basic infrastructure have created a sort of "no man's land" in the western section 

of the city around the railroad tracks and I-15. Property in the area is 

undervalued by four times and causing an estimated $1.6 million loss in 

annual property taxes. 

continued 

An Abandoned building within Salt Lake 

City’s Gateway District. 

JUST THE FACTS: • The Gateway District's history of 

industrial use left 50 percent of its 

parcels with environmental 

contamination that contributed to the 

area's decline. 

• The Brownfields Pilot performed 

assessments on all 325 of the 

Gateway District's parcels, and the 

degree of contamination proved to be 

far less than expected. 

• The first 30 acres have been 

redeveloped by a company that 

invested $375 million to create two 

million square feet of shops, 

restaurants, office space, and 

housing; a 12-screen movie theater; 

and other attractions, which in the 

future will include a children's 

museum and a planetarium. 

Salt Lake City has a master 

redevelopment plan for a 650-acre 

blighted industrial area known as the 

Gateway District, enabled in part by a 

$200,000 EPA Brownfields Pilot grant 

that allowed area-wide assessments 

to be performed. 

the area include 10,000 residential 

units, cultural facilities, commercial 

developments, and a transportation 

hub that will link bus, light rail, and 

commuter rail systems. 

Reuse plans for 
CONTACTS: 

For more information contact 

U.S. EPA-Region 8 (800) 227-8917 

Or visit EPA’s Brownfields Web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ 

A Redeveloped, now-thriving portion of 

Salt Lake City’s Gateway District. 

The Salt Lake City Pilot performed environmental assessments on all 325 parcels in the Gateway District, 

and the degree of contamination proved to be far less than expected. 

that have been redeveloped are now home to the Gateway, which recently opened 

for business. This site was developed by the Boyer Company, who invested $375 

million to create two million square feet of shops, restaurants, office space, 

and housing; a 12-screen movie theater; and other attractions, which in the 

future will include a children's museum and a planetarium. Adjacent to the 

retail area is an attractive housing development that includes 350 apartments 

and 150 condominiums. 

condominiums are still under construction but will soon be available for sale. 

Of these 500 units, 156 have been specifically designated for low- to moderateincome tenants. 

promenades, park benches, and old-fashioned lampposts and is centered around 

the historic Union Pacific Depot, which underwent a $15 million renovation as 

part of the Gateway development. 

$20 million annually, and property taxes will contribute $5 million to Salt Lake City's 

revenue. Approximately 7,300 new jobs will be created in the Gateway, and as of 

spring 2003, nearly 4,000 people are employed at the Gateway. TRAX light rail 

runs directly in front of the Gateway center, and the master plan for the Gateway District includes a 

transportation hub that will include bus, light rail, commuter rail, and Amtrak services. 

Several other projects are in the works for the 650-acre Gateway District, with the goal of 

creating neighborhoods that combine residential, commercial, retail, community, and 

open space reuses. This plan includes the 500 West Park Blocks—an $18.6 

million effort that includes overall street and infrastructure improvements and 

construction of 100-foot-wide, landscaped park blocks. Along 500 West Street, 

Artspace, Inc., a nonprofit development company, completed their Bridge 

Project in September 2001. 

housing units, office space for Tree Utah and Volunteers of America, classroom 

space for the Salt Lake City Community College writing center, a public art 

gallery, and offices for the Artspace Institute of Art and Imagination. 

for this project came from many individuals and nonprofit organizations and included 

$1.25 million leveraged through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 

Development. 

The first 30 acres 

The apartments are completed and filling fast. The 

The open-air design of the Gateway features tree-lined 

Retail sales and taxes are expected to generate 

Salt Lake City's 

This $12.4 million project includes 62 affordable 

Funding 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 500-F-03-014 

Salt Lake City, Utah and Emergency May 2003 

Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/