LDS dream for Salt Lake hailed
Church is committed to downtown, publisher says
The featured speaker at a Salt Lake Chamber CEO Roundtable, Singleton cited Oakland's dynamic mayor, Denver's baseball team and Long Beach's ocean for sparking downtown revitalization in those cities.
"You don't have an ocean, you don't have a baseball team, but you've got a downtown landowner that's got a dream. They've got land, they've got a dream and they've got a commitment. Nobody else has that. In every downtown redevelopment, there's been one unique quality that made it happen.
Yours is your real estate ownership," said Singleton, vice chairman and chief executive officer of MediaNews Group and publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Singleton said no other community in the world "has that kind of citizen that's willing to pour that kind of money into making Salt Lake a good place to be. And while we've not been able to see all the plans and what it's going to look like, those will come soon enough."
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — actually perhaps a once-in-two- or three-lifetime opportunity — to have the resources and the love of the church and their real estate to make Salt Lake a great place. And I will tell you that The Salt Lake Tribune is absolutely committed to doing our part to seeing that this project is a success once it's out there and ready to be talked about, because I know of no other opportunity like it in the country."
Singleton's presentation took place at the under-construction headquarters and press facility for the Newspaper Agency Corp., which handles production, distribution and advertising for the Deseret Morning News and Tribune. Singleton is NAC's chairman.
The news and editorial departments of the News and Tribune, which are separate and competitive, will remain in their respective office buildings in downtown Salt Lake City, but the NAC's six-month moving process from downtown Salt Lake City to the $90 million-plus West Valley facility is expected to begin in October, NAC President Harry Whipple said. The first of three new presses will begin operating in April, with the two others following in May and June.
But Singleton's talk focused on Salt Lake City.
"There are some exciting things happening in Salt Lake today. I don't think there's a more exiting market in the country than Salt Lake City," he said, noting that the city has land, a low cost of living, an educated work force and people "who like being here and want to be here."
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