South Jordan's Daybreak community will be the new home of the Salt Lake Bees after the baseball team's lease at Smith's Ballpark expires in 2024, the Larry H. Miller Company announced Tuesday.
Prior to the move, the Miller Company intends to privately fund the construction of a new ballpark in the master-planned Daybreak suburb, which would open for the 2025 season. A statement released by the organization describes the new ballpark as "a year-round entertainment anchor for the fast-growing southwest quadrant of Salt Lake County."
"The team is grateful for the long-term legacy of baseball in Salt Lake City," the statement reads, "and for the incredible fans and surrounding community that support the team."
Team owners had been openly considering a move for months, leading to several rounds of discussion with city planners and the administration of Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. The Ballpark neighborhood has long been targeted for revitalization and public investment, and that effort appeared to be accelerating after recent updates to the Ballpark Station Area Plan, which seeks to convert the area into a vibrant. mixed-use community destination and away from one of dilapidated industrial spaces, hostile surface highways and large swaths of unproductive land dominated by parking lots.
But the assumed continuation of Bees Baseball played a significant role in those plans—like the creation of a "Festival Street" adjacent to Smith's Ballpark on West Temple—making it unclear how large a setback the decision to exit for the suburbs represents for neighborhood redevelopment. On Tuesday, Mendenhall said she was disappointed by the Miller Company's decision, but excited about the potential uses of land opened up by the move.
"At a time when this city desperately needs more housing, more economic density, more recreational opportunities and more investment in human capital, we now have access to 13 acres of prime real estate and unparalleled opportunity to make them far more productive for our community," she said. "I am committed to seeing it transition from being a space activated some 70 nights a year to a place that serves Salt Lakers and our visitors 365 days per year."
Mendenhall also emphasized that Smith's Ballpark will not be allowed to fall dormant after the Bee's exit, noting the risks of un- and under-utilized areas in a neighborhood already struggling with high crime rates and concentrations of unsheltered residents. She announced the launch of Ballpark Next, a city-led initiative to reimagine the future of the Ballpark neighborhood with a public design contest offering $30,000 in combined prizes. More information on the contest and redevelopment effort can be found at ballparknext.com.
"I refuse to have this site—which has been so full of energy and history—to sit idle when it holds such tremendous opportunity.," Mendenhall said. "We’ve been ready to invest in this spot for three years and now that we know, we’re moving forward immediately."