Since the Kimball Art Center announced it was moving from Park City to the Dakota Pacific property in Kimball Junction, other organizations have explored opportunities there too.
Other nonprofits have yet to strike a formal agreement with the developer, now known as Six Ridge Partners.
But the extra square footage is there if they want it, after Summit County Manager Shayne Scott signed off on changes to the area’s development agreement June 23.
“I’ve talked about this development agreement for probably a month and a half now. I have reviewed the latest and final draft of the existing amendment, and I find it acceptable,” Scott said before making the approval.
The changes allow 50,000 extra square feet of commercial space in Six Ridge’s development. The new Kimball Art Center will be up to 30,000 square feet.
The Park City Community Foundation could use 10,000 square feet for a nonprofit hub and coworking space.
And the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau may use the other 10,000 to relocate its visitor center.
It’s currently located at the corner of Olympic Parkway and state Route 224.
Chamber President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff said the chamber reached out to Six Ridge last year to make sure the visitor center and adjacent development would fit together.
“The further along we got in the conversations with both High Valley Transit and the developer, we quickly realized that where we're currently positioned isn't the ideal position to reach visitors where they're at,” Wesselhoff told KPCW at a June 16 open house about nonprofit plans in Kimball Junction.
That’s because the existing library and transit center will be replaced with a mixed-use plaza above a multilevel underground parking garage.
A new bus depot will separate the garage from the chamber’s visitor center. Wesselhoff said it may work better to put the visitor center on the plaza, above the garage.
The chamber’s goal is to influence visitor behavior, to drive as many of them as possible to local businesses while minimizing negative impacts on residents and neighborhoods.
“An anchor visitor center is an important part of that,” Wesselhoff said. “Including the opportunity to really tell the Mountainkind brand, and that story, and also have retail space where we could sell merchandise.”
She said there’s an opportunity with Six Ridge Partners to get the commercial space that the chamber needs at below the usual market rate.
Summit County and the Park City Chamber of Commerce are financial supporters of KPCW.
