- Salt Lake City's Historic Landmarks Commission approved a seven-story apartment project next to historic B'nai Israel Temple.
- The 113-unit complex will neighbor synagogue that was built in 1891.
- Salt Lake Art Museum moved into the historic building, and plans to open in 2026.
SALT LAKE CITY — A plan to build a seven-story, 113-unit apartment complex on the current lots next to and behind a historic Jewish temple near downtown now has the support of a key Salt Lake City committee.
The city's Historic Landmarks Commission voted unanimously to approve recommendations by Salt Lake City planners for the project that would neighbor the 134-year-old B'nai Israel Temple (249 S. 400 East) in Central City, with some conditions. It puts the project on track for future construction.
"I really like this whole premise," said Historic Landmarks Commissioner Babs De Lay, before the vote. "I think the design is very complementary to this, so I'm pleased."
The temple's history
The project would not affect the B'nai Israel Temple, which was completed in 1891. Philip Meyer designed the building for the city's growing Jewish community. Among other things, he was the nephew of Frederick Auerbach, cofounder of the Auerbach's department store that rivaled ZCMI in the 19th and 20th centuries, and one of the first prominent Jewish residents in city history.
Some of Utah's earliest Jewish residents were converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley with other pioneers in the late 1840s, state historians noted in a report about the building. The first big wave of Jewish residents arrived after the Utah War of 1857 concluded, bringing in many prominent families, including Auerbach and his brothers, they added.
"From this period of the late (1850s) and early (1860s) come the Jewish names important in the development of Utah: Auerbach, Bamberger, Ransohoff (Ranschoff), Kahn, Siegel, Ellis and Watters," historians wrote. "There were many sets of brothers among these early entrepreneurs, and most had honed their business skills in the mining camps of California and Nevada."
While the state's Jewish population grew, it wasn't organized very well early on. That changed when the Congregation B'nai Israel was formed in 1873, according to the Jewish Museum of the American West. Their first synagogue was completed a decade later, but that was sold in 1889 as they set their sights on what would become the B'nai Israeel Temple.
Meyer was brought on to design a building that resembled the Great Synagogue of Berlin. The project sought to create a building that could hold up to 500 people, costing $37,500 at the time.
It remained a key local synagogue until the Congregation B'Nai Israel and Congregation Montefiore merged in 1970, museum officials noted. Their merger resulted in the Congregation Kol Ami, which maintains a presence in Sugar House to this day.
The B'nai Israeel Temple ended up on the National Register of Historic Places and became a protected city landmark because of its importance to early Jewish history in Utah. The building has been used in different ways since then, including as a restaurant and office space.
Doing the synagogue 'justice'
J. Fisher Capital acquired the property so it could build a 113-unit apartment complex in the parking lot associated with the building, said Mitch Vance, director of entitlement for the real estate firm. He said the group sold the historic temple to the Salt Lake Art Museum, which plans to use at least some of the space to feature Jewish art and culture when it opens in 2026.
The 85-foot building would fit within the city's new MU-8 zoning code, and nearly link up with the MODA Bonneville that the company owns at 260 S. 500 East. The new development would be called "The Frederick," paying homage to Auerbach, Vance added. The project also calls for 111 parking units, some of which would be dedicated to future museum parking.
"This is a unique project," he said, pointing out that the ownership of the two allowed for the reconfiguring of parcels in the area.
The temple's fate is not in question because of the new development, aside from the removal of a piece not considered part of its history, said Sara Javoronok, a senior Salt Lake City planner. The city is working to adjust the plat that would split the parcels apart, which still triggered a review by the commission because a piece of the land the landmark sits on is part of the parcel dedicated to future construction.
Commissioners voted to approve the future construction with some conditions recommended by the city, without much discussion. The conditions include the approval of final design details by the city and that the landscaping proposed within the landmark site goes through a separate minor alteration application, along with a few other regulatory and design approvals, before the project moves forward.
Vance said the company doesn't have many issues with those requirements as it works toward getting The Frederick off the ground.
"We honestly really respect the historic integrity of this structure," he said. "We want to do it justice."
