This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The LDS Church has nearly emptied its Key Bank office tower in downtown Salt Lake City in preparation for demolition.

But the church is not saying when it will raze the aging 300,000-square-foot building - or even that it has committed to do so - because it still is trying to relocate a handful of remaining tenants to other buildings.

For the past year, the church, one of the city's largest landowners, has been moving tenants out of the tower. Demolishing the building, which is attached to the ailing Crossroads Plaza mall, has been part of the church's multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan for Crossroads and neighboring ZCMI Center mall.

But the process of relocating more than a dozen tenants hasn't been easy - or cheap. Many tenants had long-term leases and, like the law firm Richards Brandt, did not want to leave. Richards Brandt spent a significant amount of money renovating and upgrading its space.

"If [church officials] have to, they could leave the tower and renovate around it," said Mike Richmond, a broker with commercial real estate company Commerce CRG in Salt Lake City. "But they are so close to getting everybody out of there. It will be interesting to see what happens."

The list of exiled tenants has grown quite long over the past year. Accounting firm Deloitte & Touche is leaving.

Tenants that already have left the tower include Skywest Airlines, which moved a small office operation to a building at 175 S. West Temple, and HJ & Associates, which relocated to the Chase Tower 50 W. Broadway. Citicourt Reporting Group and the law firm of Berman & Savage went to 170 S. Main St.

All of the relocations have pushed down the office vacancy rate in the downtown area over the past year, making good office space harder to find.

One of the last major tenants left in the Key Bank building, the law firm Van Cott, Bagley, Cornwall & McCarthy, also plans to go, said attorney Stephen Swindle.

"We have an agreement and we're trying to work out the terms," Swindle said. He said the law firm is relocating to another building in the downtown area.

The church continues to decline comment about its lease negotiations.

"Because of confidentiality agreements with tenants, I'm unable to comment on the Key Bank Tower," said Dale Bills, LDS Church spokesman.

A Richards Brandt representative did not immediately return calls seeking comment. And what about Key Bank? A spokesman said his company hasn't been told "anything" by the church.

Another of the major remaining tenants, the law firm of Christensen and Jensen, is negotiating with the church to move to another of the church's office buildings, Gateway Tower West, by the end of the year.

Kelly Macfarlane of the law firm said he has been told the church has a contingency plan if it can't get every tenant out. But "I know they really, really want to [tear down the Key Bank tower.]"

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Tribune reporter Heather May contributed to this article.