- The Salt Lake City Council is now considering a rezoning for a seven-story hotel near Sugar House Park.
- The proposal calls for a 145-room hotel with rooftop restaurant and other amenities.
- A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 24; final vote could occur April 7.
SALT LAKE CITY — Leaders of Utah's capital city are inching closer to a vote tied to a proposed seven-story hotel next to one of the city's more popular parks, but they acknowledge there are still plenty of questions about the proposal.
The Salt Lake City Council heard from Magnus Hotel Management CEO John Potter and city planners on Tuesday, ahead of a public hearing and final vote likely to take place in the coming months.
Potter is seeking to rezone a 0.83-acre plot of land at 2111 S. 1300 East from mixed-use 3 to form-based mixed-use 8, which would allow for a building up to 90 feet in height next to Sugar House Park. That would pave the way for a 145-room boutique hotel under the Hilton Hotel umbrella, as well as a 185-stall underground parking structure in the area.
The hotel would include a rooftop restaurant and top-floor banquet space, as well as meeting areas, retail space and a lobby cafe.
"We see this (location) as a very unique site with its proximity to the park. We think it's a great opportunity to bring a number of amenities to the area," he said.
Developers would offer 25% below-market rental rates and other benefits to draw in local businesses to the retail spaces, as well as free meeting space for community uses, public use of paid parking garage and a Greenbike station in Sugar House Park — if approved by park officials — as part of additional community benefits, city planners said.
Potter first shared his vision for a hotel next to Sugar House Park during a neighborhood council meeting in March 2025, before formally filing for a rezone last summer. Members of the Salt Lake City Planning Commission voted 7-1 to support the measure in October, despite concerns raised about traffic and the potential impact on the neighboring park.
Some of those concerns, as well as housing affordability, were revisited on Tuesday as the City Council resumed the discussion. Many residents haven't been sure that the use of a paid parking garage is much of a community benefit since parking at the park is free, said Salt Lake City Councilwoman Sarah Young, whose district covers the Sugar House neighborhood.
"I think the parking is inherently challenging, just based on the site," she said, noting that above-ground parking would have created a taller building blocking beloved views of the mountains in the area, while the below-ground parking now being considered creates concerns about impacts to Parleys Creek and the retention pond at the park.
While not every new development needs to include housing, she added that converting the space into a hotel also doesn't tackle the fast-growing neighborhood's affordability worries — adding to the neighborhood concerns she's frequently heard.
Salt Lake City Council Chairman Alejandro Puy echoed her questions with parts of the proposal, especially the parking benefit.
The benefit might be the adjacent lots in the Sugar House business district, west of the proposed hotel. The project would be cheaper with a smaller lot that doesn't include parking for noncustomers, Potter said. Incoming traffic would enter the property at 1300 East and exit at 2100 South to minimize traffic impacts.
Engineers are confident that the project will not impact the park's water table, he said.
A public hearing on the proposal is tentatively scheduled for March 24, before a final vote that could occur on April 7.
Regardless of how the City Council votes, the proposal hotel is still the farthest any proposal has proceeded since a Sizzler restaurant closed in 2020 and was later demolished. A high-density housing concept quickly fizzled around the same time.
The city's planning commission also denied Kum & Go's request to convert the space into a gas station in 2023 over concerns about gas leaks trickling into the nearby park pond. An appeals officer ultimately upheld the decision, and the City Council passed an ordinance last year prohibiting new gas stations from being constructed near "sensitive lands" in response to the effort.
Young told Potter and his team that she appreciates how they've engaged with the community and incorporated feedback into the planning process, given how important the location is to the neighborhood.
"It has been a long process," she said. "It has been a thoughtful process, and I do really appreciate that you have approached it with a listening ear."
