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Show The National Enterprise, May 11, 1977 Page six " j r I. new can and should live Continued front page one veloper John Price. The demolition permit recently issued to Price has been a year in the making, and is one of the first in the city issued under a new ordinance providing special handling of developments involving historic buildings. The Landmark Committee, a heterogeneous group which advises city planners on such matters, studies the developer's plans and ended up recommending the demolition of all three buildings (including the Christian Science Church and the Bamberger home) and subsequent erection of an office building. The required five months for input of concerned citizens elapsed. Developers plead for action whole thing. He reiterates a common complaint of developers who find themselves up against preservation interests. They had over a year to look at it, and never offered us a single alternative. Because of the groups opposition, Bader claims, three potential sales fell through, . . with the value dropping each time. The company at one time went to the state with an offer to the property, with preservation in mind, but was sell turned down. Bader accuses preservation interests in general of narrow vision in view .down to dollars and cents next 20 years (it has been 6.7 percent fo the past 10 years). Preservation is more than polishing old bricks. No buyers Spokesperson Marilee Latta of the preservation group Friends of South Temple says the period leading up to the demolition permit was fraught with misrecently-forme- d understanding between her group, the Utah Heritage Foundation, and the LandThe pubmark Committee. lic was not kept aware of the she and we thought there committees actions, says, was going to be a public hearing on the matter earlier. We had also heard from the Utah Heritage Foundation that several firm offers to buy the property were made by parties interested in preserving it, but it turned out those offers never materialized. The problem was a lack of sureness of what the committee was up to, says mema Stephanie Churchill, ber of both the Heritage Foundation and the Landmark Committee. The committee is only an advisory body, she says, and is very unsure of its duties and powers. The new preservation ordinance is partly to blame for the Hogle mansion situation, she adds, because it lacks a flexible approach in dealing with such The committee problems. itself is not without blame, We should Churchill says. have done our homework better before we made recommendations. Destruction of the property is probably certain, this in spite of a special public hearing on the matter later this month. future of ing the long-rang- e South Temple and the surrounding historic district. If we save every old house just because its old, w'ell end up with just a trashy old street, "South Temple he says. could be the Wilshire Boulevard of Salt Lake City, with Old and the proper vision. The McIntyre building has been nominated for the national register of historic places largely because of its steel facade, Martin says. The 4th floor of the building is the only one which retains any original interior. Were the interior in better shape, says Martin, the building could possibly qualify for 5050 matching funds from the federal government to aid in restoration, another provision of the tax reform act. For the first time, restorationpreser-vatio- n can mean money in a businesss bank account. The tax reform act of 1976 gives decided tax advantages to developers who choose to polish old bricks rather than install new ones. Developers of the McIntyre Building at 68 S. Main have come up with exact savings figures which new owners of the condominium-style office building can expect. Miller, Noble & Co., with the aide of state preservation planner Wilson Martin, calculates the following: Other developers are planning to take advantage of accelerated depreciation on downtown-are- a projects. Martin lists the Exchange Place project and the Hogar Hotel, west of the Salt Palace, as among the most promising. Estimating a $70,000floor remodeling cost, owners are able to amortize the cost over five years instead of the usual 20 (accelerated depreciation). For a floor owner in the 45 percent tax bracket, the law allows $31,500 in depreciation over the first five years, for an annual depreciation figure of $6,300year, as depreciation of opposed to straight-lin- e $l,575year. Savings in the long run will be many thousand of dollars, according to Martin, with the actual figure being tied to the average rate of inflation for the Martin adds one note of warning to developers who may be planning to shut down their bulldozers and call in the restoration experts. When restored or preserved buildings are resold after taking advantage of accelerated depreciation, sellers are liable for a capital gains tax on the savings. Even at that, he adds, the program provides much incentive for polishing old bricks. Preservation SHOPLIFTERS BEWARE one of these cameras is can You tell which is real ($500) and which is simulated ($50)? the time being. Our memis mainly concerned bership we dont pretend to people be experts. We organized only recently, mainly just to get our position on the record. Latta promises better things from Friends in the future, however. Meanwhile, a few blocks away on the Avenues, Heartland Realty was proving to two clients and the rest of the city that preservation doesnt have to be a painful thing. Heartland agent Bryant Schroeder is completing final arrangements on the sale of an entire block of elderly houses which, at one time, had been the proposed site of a Safeway supermarket. Money talks When the city planning commission had refused rezoning on one old mansion, two brokers. Gene Eubanks and Larry Anderson, picked up the 16 homes and one lot. Schroeder found buyers for all of them, mostly at fair prices in the 30 s, within a month or two. Everybody concerned made some money. . .everybodys happy, he says. Theres definitely a future for preservation using this line. It does no good to go with your hackles up, according to the broker. Many more preservation issues will be solved in workable meetings than at curbside rallys, he adds. Tax advantages are valuable IN THE ACT! marketing of their vestment Co., seller, (the transaction is still in limbo), is about talked out on the -style Surveillance cameras are tremendously successful crime deterrents for just that reason. But for most small businesses and some large ones, the cost is just too great. And remember, with shoplifting losses running in locally. . . It the McIntyre Building is being saved for much the same reason money talks. Developers of that site are making the new tax advantages of preservation a major item in the Neither can the non-pr- o shoplifter or professional thief. Because the simulated camera is a real camera with the working parts removed. AND NO THIEF WANTS HIS PICTURE TAKEN GuardianESS has an effective alternative. For as little as $50 you can have the same deterrent value as the real thing. Call us today for details. (The simulated camera is on the right) In- isnt painful Latta admits her group, and preservation groups in general, tend to be short on expertise, development savvy, and alternatives. . .at least for Downtown, Couldnt offer alternatives Gordon Bader of Hogle gether, he says, but thats not likely considering the confrontational thinking of preservation groups. kind of technique. Schroeder notes that talking to developers in their own seems money language to work. Forget about persuading owners to save buildings just to save them. That doesnt appeal to many owners when cash is on the Daunted by options The alternative purchase offers were scared away by Prices option to buy the property, Churchill says. She adds that the committee abandoned a study it should have done because it didnt anyway have access to Prices financial data on the project. to- the millions won't hurt you to call us. But it may hurt a lot if you don't. condominium- office complex. All of this is not falling on deaf Both Latta and Churchill realize the importance of the Safeway and McIntyre situations to their own future efforts. It is. as the way Churchill says, things are going to have to be ears. E3S GUARDIAN Bacbonic Security Systons DMiion Mie 4 Security EquipmM Corporation M06So.2910WM.SLC (801)972-673- 1 done. Jr a ; s 5 4 IV..U. m KJ e gi $ |