Both historic buildings, more than a century old, may be ripe for becoming stores, offices, restaurants or condos.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Tracy Loan & Trust Co. Building at 151 S. Main in Salt Lake City.
Two historic buildings a block apart along Salt Lake City’s Main Street are up for sale and potential redevelopment.
The Tracy Loan and Trust Company Building, 151 S. Main, and the David Keith Building, 254 S. Main, are both enshrined on the National Register of Historic Places and are going on the market amid a spate of adaptive reuses for vintage properties downtown.
New sale listings for the two buildings, which are both more than a century old, say they offer flexibility for conversion into offices, retail outlets, restaurants or condominiums.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The David Keith Building, 254 S. Main, on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
Calling the two landmarks “historic and architecturally significant,” listings by the commercial brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield in Salt Lake City tout the properties for their one-mile proximity to tens of thousands of well-heeled residents and daytime visitors.
Current market conditions and the unique character of both buildings, according to Kip Paul, Cushman & Wakefield’s vice chair of investment sales in Salt Lake City, will probably lead any future owners to repurpose instead of demolishing them.
“I don’t see either building being torn down,” Paul said.
The Tracy Loan and Trust Company Building sits on about a tenth of an acre, immediately adjacent to the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater. It was designed by well-known New York architect Walter J. Cooper and completed in 1916.
Cooper was also among several architects who designed the Walker Bank Building, 175 S. Main.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Tracy Loan and Trust Co. Building, 151 S. Main, on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
Though now vacant, the Tracy building has about 15,000 square feet inside, with a stately facade and interior features such as marble floors, walnut paneling, an original bank vault and elevated ceilings with stained-glass windows.
“In its day,” said Paul, “I’m sure it was spectacular.”
The building was known as the Hope Gallery and Museum of Fine Art for many years and underwent substantial renovations in the late 1970s, around the time it was listed on the national register.
The David Keith Building, constructed in 1902, was known for decades as home to Sam Weller and other bookstores. Keys on Main, a popular piano bar, is now its main tenant, located on the ground floor.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The David Keith Building, 254 S. Main, on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
The building was designed by New York-born architect Frederick Albert Hale, who also had a hand in other prominent Salt Lake City historic buildings, such as the First United Methodist Church, 203S. 200 East, and the David Keith Mansion and Carriage House, located on South Temple.
The brown stone building with a long Main Street facade has about 65,000 square feet inside, with an interior that brokers say is “a blank slate ready for customization.”
Both buildings are located within downtown’s D1 zone and its central business district, meaning the properties are eligible for structures as tall or taller than any already standing in the city.
