Utah’s NHL team, Utah Hockey Club, officially has a place to build its new practice home.
Smith Entertainment Group announced on Thursday they acquired a 111-acre shopping mall in Sandy, The Shops at South Town, “in its totality.”
According to a news release from the investment group, the practice facility will be permanent and will be completed in 2025. The facility will be located on the southeast end of The Shops. The purchase will include the mall facility, the surrounding park lot, adjacent retailers, restaurants and hospitality buildings.
(Smith Entertainment Group) A rendering of the property Smith Entertainment Group acquired for the Utah Hockey Club's practice facility in Sandy, Utah.
In the release, Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski said, “We are thrilled to welcome Smith Entertainment Group and Utah Hockey Club to Sandy City.”
Woodley Real Estate, a real estate agency based in Lehi, “supported SEG with the transaction.”
According to the release, The Shops will remain open for business. However, in May, a week after SEG announced its intent to buy the Sandy mall, the nonprofit Utah Arts Alliance received a request to vacate the space — in a former Macy’s department store — where it staged a sustainable art exhibit, Dreamscapes.
The exhibit spanned 35,000 square feet of the 100,000-square-foot space. The bottom floor of the space has been home to a car museum, Automotive Addiction. Dreamscapes will move back to its original location at The Gateway is downtown Salt Lake City, according to Derek Dyer, the Utah Arts Alliance’s founder and executive director.
The Utah Hockey Team’s practice facility will have “a minimum of two NHL-standard regulation ice surfaces and the team’s official offices.” The team will also make the facility available for “community purposes” outside of the team’s use, the release said.
“Today is a crucial step forward in expanding SEG’s real estate footprint and public benefit offerings for our fans and residents of Utah,” said Jim Olson, an executive with SEG and project lead for The Shops at South Town.
A ceremonial groundbreaking event for the future Utah Hockey Club training facility is scheduled to take place on the site on Monday, August 12.