Intermountain reveals renderings for new downtown SLC hospital
Renderings recently released by Intermountain Health give a good idea of what to expect when construction of the healthcare company’s new “urban hospital” gets underway in Salt Lake City. Looking northeast from the corner of Main and 800 South streets, this view shows the two main hospital buildings. (Rendering by HDR Architecture)
The project can best be characterized as a matter of fits and starts, but a clearer picture of just what Intermountain Health’s new hospital in downtown Salt Lake City will look like is beginning to emerge.
Almost five years after it bought the site of the old Sears store at State Street and 800 South, and almost two years after Salt Lake City agreed to rezone the property to allow for a hospital, Intermountain has released enough details — in the form of more complete renderings — to give a good idea of what to expect on the long-vacant site.
Intermountain Health acquired the property in 2021 from private developer Colmena Group when plans for a mixed-use and housing district fell apart due to the loss of financing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The site has developed into somewhat of an eyesore in the city. Stormwater has filled the hole where the Sears store basement was excavated, forming a pond jokingly dubbed the Great Sears Lake.
In its new filing with the city for a conditional use permit, Intermountain also seemed to confirm that it will close the old LDS Hospital at 8th Avenue and C Street when the new hospital is complete. In the filing, the new facility is referred to as “LDS Hospital replacement site.” There has been no indication from Intermountain when that might be — or even when ground might be broken, although the filing seeks permission to build the hospital, complete with ambulances and life flight helicopters.
Intermountain also indicated in a statement accompanying the release of the renderings that it recognizes the facility will dominate the neighborhood, but expects the area, just south of downtown Salt Lake City, to grow to match the hospital’s magnitude.
“While the size and intensity of this project are much larger compared to existing uses in the surrounding area, the intent is that this ‘anchor’ project will be the catalyst for redevelopment of surrounding neighborhood with higher density and intensity than currently exists but consistent with the D-2 zone predominant in the surrounding neighborhood which requires lower density and intensity than the hospital campus,” Intermountain wrote in the published documents.
In summer 2024, Intermountain released rudimentary drawings of the hospital campus. The new renderings, produced by HDR Architecture of Cottonwood Heights, add much more detail.
In the submitted plans, the main hospital tower, at 10 stories and 209 feet, will face south on 800 South between Main and State streets, while a second adjacent seven-story building will face Main Street and be connected to a parking structure across Main Street to the west by an aerial walkway. The two medical structures will total more than 520,000 square feet.
A second parking garage will be accessed off 700 South on the north side of the property. The plan calls for a total of more than 1,200 parking spaces on the campus.
In addition to other auxiliary structures, the campus will include open spaces and a public plaza, plus walkways, a food market or coffee shop and other street-level facilities. Murals and other art displays are also depicted in the renderings.
Intermountain officials have told media representatives to expect more details by year’s end.
