SANDY — The purchase of Real Salt Lake by the Miller family could lead to a new sports and entertainment district to bring together transit, dining and other amenities in the blocks surrounding America First Field in Sandy.
At the announcement of the purchase of the Major League Soccer club and the Utah Royals by Miller Sports and Entertainment on Friday, Larry H. Miller Company CEO Steve Starks outlined the experience the company is hoping to cultivate around the home of Real Salt Lake.
“The venue as a place of experience is really important in sports now,” he said. “It’s not just about what takes place on the field — that’s first and foremost — but it’s about where you can eat before the game. It’s where you can park, the ease of the experience, the other amenities added.”
The potential entertainment district in Sandy could look similar to plans for an entertainment and convention district surrounding the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Starks said the company plans to use what it has learned from the renovations at the Delta Center in 2017 and the recent construction of a new ballpark for the Salt Lake Bees in Daybreak to inform “enhancements to improve the game day experience.” The Miller company already owns the Megaplex Theatres at Jordan Commons, located just east of America First Field, which, along with the Mountain America Exposition Center just across the street to the south, creates additional draws to the area, according to Starks.
“There’s already a lot of activity at this intersection. We just look at it, and there’s opportunities everywhere to improve the experience,” he said.
The city of Sandy has already proposed a Stadium Village master plan to explore enhancing transit access, retail, sports and dining in the area around America First Field, and Mayor Monica Zoltanski said the city has an “incredible opportunity” to work with the Millers going forward.
“We envision a district that includes sports, entertainment, housing, retail, restaurants, convention hotels for that area, because it’s in the center of such an important transit corridor right between TRAX and I-15,” she told KSL.com. “So, when we heard of the idea, the chance to work with such a successful family venture that is so invested in Sandy … of course, we embraced the idea, because now we can really launch that master plan for the area around the stadium and the stadium itself.”
Zoltanski said plans are in the early stages, but the city is “committed to building out the city’s infrastructure” while deferring to the Millers to “set the pace and the vision.” But, she said, “I think the city’s visions, from my discussions with the Miller group, are very aligned on hotel, housing, transit connectivity, retail, ease of rider movement from the TRAX to the gates of the stadium itself.”
She said the city has already been working to add infrastructure on Monroe Street, just west of the stadium near I-15, where the city’s fire department will be headquartered. The city is investing “close to $50 million” and working with the state Department of Transportation to make the area more accessible.
The specifics of how the area will be developed are up to the new owners of Real Salt Lake, however.
“We’ve laid the foundation,” Zoltanski said. “But … we’re not homebuilders. We need to partner with people that have the capacity to successfully develop. And what developers are interested in is working with well-run cities that have a plan for growth, and we have that in Sandy.”
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