Granary District developer explains Utah Pickle Company building demolition

The historic Salt Lake City building, built in 1894, was supposed to be preserved as part of a new mixed-use development.

A key link to the Granary District’s past is now just a pile of bricks.

The historic Utah Pickle Company building was toppled this week. Constructed in 1894, it sat about a block west from what is now Fisher Brewing and was supposed to be preserved, according to a March deal between developer Blaser Ventures and Salt Lake City’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

Through the deal, Blaser Ventures was to receive $6 million in tax reimbursements on its real estate development project, known as “Pickle & Hide,” planned for the site at 739 S. 400 West.

The project calls for a public plaza, some affordable housing and restaurant space — incorporating both the pickle building, which the deal required Blaser Ventures to preserve, and the neighboring Bissinger Company Hides edifice.

But crews were tearing down the dilapidated pickle building as early as Wednesday, as shown in photos shared by The Granary District Alliance, a nonprofit group of neighborhood business owners and residents who advocate for thoughtful growth.

“We are deeply saddened to hear about the demolition of the beloved Utah Pickle Company building today,” the group wrote on Instagram. “… We are hopeful that the integrity of the Granary can be preserved for the future.”

On Thursday, Blaser Ventures’ president Brandon Blaser said the firm plans to rebuild the former pickle company warehouse on the same footprint “utilizing significant portions of the original material.”

The reconstruction will include 30% of the old facade’s bricks, 50% of the foundation, some wood beams and columns, and parts of its cornice moulding — all in a way that “closely replicates the original building’s scale, shape, and architectural character,” according to a company statement.

In an Instagram comment, Salt Lake City Council member Eva López Chávez explained why the building needed to be rebuilt.

“The analysis showed the sandstone foundation needed to be replaced,” López Chávez wrote in response to the Granary District Alliance’s post.

Blaser Ventures confirmed Thursday afternoon that the pickle building had been damaged in the 2020 earthquake that struck the Salt Lake Valley, structural analysis showed.

“It became clear that the pickle building could not stand on its own and did not meet safety requirements,” Gretchen Milliken, Blaser Ventures’ planning director, said in a statement. “It was a last-resort decision that we did not take lightly.”

In another Instagram comment, López Chávez added that she fears other remaining buildings “will also show similar seismic determinations,” so the city could see more demolitions. She added that Utah’s capital has “very few historic areas left that must be preserved without rebuild.”

Work has already begun on the Bissinger building next door, where an addition will hold the project’s planned apartment units. That property’s facade and other parts of its exterior will be preserved, according to the March agreement.

The simple two-story, red-brick Utah Pickle Company building was first managed by the Grant family, including Heber J. Grant, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There, they operated a soap company.

By 1911, the Mount Pickle Company was running its operation inside instead. The building sported a large yellow Utah Pickle Company sign on its roof for decades.

In 2017, Salt Lake City won a $50,000 grant to help preserve both buildings. At the time, local creative agency Ori Media and photography studio Studio Elevn planned to turn the pickle building into a studio and event space for artists.

Whether the new project will still receive tax reimbursements is up in the air now that demolition is underway and the agreement has yet to be executed, according to redevelopment agency spokesperson Tauni Barker.

“That step could impact the CRA’s next actions, including a slowing of the contract process and, possibly, eligibility for funding,” she said. “At this time, the outcome is unclear, but we’ll continue evaluating the situation as more information becomes available.”

For her part, Milliken said the company believes the updated reconstruction plans for the pickle building uphold “the spirit of that commitment.” Blaser Ventures plans to complete construction on the development project by the end of 2026.

Blaser Ventures also acquired iconic concert venue Kilby Court — just east of this property — last year, where it plans to build a public walkway through to the venue in the future.