Groundbreaking for SLC’s new power district makes way for potential MLB stadium

SALT LAKE CITY — Groundwork construction has now begun in Utah’s bid for a Major League Baseball team.

The site where Utah wants to build the baseball stadium in Salt Lake City is currently home to Rocky Mountain Power. On Monday morning, the power company held the groundbreaking to relocate its corporate offices.

In other words, to make room for the stadium, RMP needs a new home. On Monday, many dignitaries gathered to watch the first steps in making it happen, including Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, leadership of the Larry H. Miller Company and Real Estate, RMP leadership and Utah State Sen. Scott Sandall, among others.

The first shovels hit the dirt on North Temple 1460 West, where the first new building in this big transition is slated to be. The new offices are going in literally down the block.

RMP is building a brand new 10-story, 300,000 square foot corporate campus. The company will then demolish the old building to transform the 100-acre Power District into a hub of sports and entertainment, anchored at first by the new offices, and hopefully a baseball stadium in the future, seen in renderings released last year.

Construction is now the latest puzzle piece in the bid to convince the league that Salt Lake City is the best place to expand a team.

“We continue to demonstrate we’re the most ready market, that our ownership group is prepared; we have a site, that’s ready to go that’s literally shovel-ready. So whenever they expand and start that process, we should feel really confident about our chances,” said Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company.

To this point, the Larry H. Miller Company has secured over $3.5 billion in private investment for this project, but the League has not said one way or the other if Utah is getting a team.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he hopes the league can select two expansion teams before his term expires in January 2029, but he won’t move forward until the Tampa Bay Rays and the team’s new owners have a deal for their new ballpark.

Reports said about nine teams are vying for an expansion team, but Salt Lake and Nashville are considered the frontrunners.

The new Rocky Mountain Power offices here are expected to be finished in September 2027. Starks said the company wants the old RMP office location to be shovel-ready for a stadium by October 2026, when collective bargaining with MLB will take place and the expansion process could potentially begin.