SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s capital city is close to finalizing a new lease agreement with Smith Entertainment Group to keep the Utah Jazz and Mammoth downtown for the long haul.
Members of the Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency board of directors, who are also City Council members, could vote as early as Tuesday afternoon on an “amended and restated lease for Delta Center” during the agency’s meeting Tuesday, according to the meeting agenda.
While details on the agenda are sparse, the city has spent the last few months negotiating a new 99-year lease agreement with Smith Entertainment Group, said Salt Lake City Council Vice Chairman Alejandro Puy, who also previously served as chairman of the agency’s board.
Puy declined to offer exact details of the new agreement because he said it’s still subject to change. City leaders were expected to hash out some additional details Monday night and Tuesday morning before the Tuesday afternoon meeting. The vote could be delayed to a future Reinvestment Agency meeting if the city decides it wants more time to review the proposed agreement, he added.
“We are not under the same constraints that we were in the past,” he told KSL.com, referencing the tight deadlines the city had to reach an agreement with Smith Entertainment Group on a plan to overhaul the arena and a few blocks east of it last year, based on a state bill that set up the agreement process.
“We’re less pressured by all the factors to get to the bottom of it,” he added. “Obviously, all parties are interested in getting this over with, and getting it right.”
The backbone of the agreement isn’t much of a surprise. Smith Entertainment Group proposed a 99-year lease agreement with the Community Reinvestment Agency in April 2024, as part of its application to participate in a downtown revitalization zones process. That’s because the Community Reinvestment Agency originally leased the land to the Larry H. Miller Company to build the Delta Center, which first opened in 1991.
A new lease was required as part of the wholesale changes planned in and around the stadium, Puy explained. Salt Lake City and Smith Entertainment Group finalized their agreement in October 2024, which included a 0.5% sales tax increase to help repay up to $900 million in bonds tied to improvements inside and outside of the arena.
The first phase of a three-year renovation project began in April. It includes an improved lower bowl to better handle hockey and basketball games, as well as the groundwork for a future parking garage that will be built on the southwest corner of the building. The remaining phases will be completed over the next two offseasons.
A 99-year agreement is also normal for leases of its kind. On top of that, the Community Reinvestment Agency often leases land it owns for cheap in exchange for benefits in many cases, such as the $99, 99-year lease agreement it made with the University of Utah on a few acres of Sunnyside Side park tied to a new baseball stadium.
Keeping the Jazz and Mammoth downtown could be the biggest benefit of the Delta Center lease. Last year’s agreement included provisions that keep both teams downtown for at least the next three decades, or face penalties for relocation.
“With this, (there’s an) opportunity to potentially ensure that the investment from Salt Lake City residents are protected, and ensuring we’re on the same page,” Puy said.
The update comes as other pieces of the massive downtown overhaul fall into place.
Utah Department of Transportation officials say they’re zeroing in on a plan to lower 300 West outside the arena to make way for a new pedestrian plaza linking it to the rest of the “sports, entertainment, culture and convention” district. Smith Entertainment Group reached a $55 million agreement with Salt Lake County earlier this year to acquire a piece of the Salt Palace Convention Center to move forward with the project.
The agreement was reached a few weeks after the state signed off on the complete $1.8 billion “reinvestment zone” surrounding the arena.
This story will be updated.
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