SALT LAKE CITY — The future of the Fleet Block in downtown Salt Lake City will soon start to take shape. The vacant area had been known in recent years for social justice murals on the abandoned buildings there that are now demolished.

Thursday morning, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced the new developers who plan to redesign the area.

The developers will revamp almost an entire city block at 800 South from 300 West to 400 West. It’s expected to go from a run-down part of the city to an active property, full of affordable housing, art and retail space.

Mendenhall announced the developers for the space are Brinshore Development and Mercy Housing, who will split development on the north end of the block. Brinshore recently built two large apartment buildings in the city, Aster and Spark on North Temple, and Mercy Housing is a non-profit builder, specializing in affordable housing.

Up until this spring, the Fleet Block had been home to social justice murals painted on the city’s abandoned fleet buildings. Now the area will be redesigned, mixing apartments with commercial space. It’s been something the mayor has wanted to do since taking office.

“Salt Lake City has sat on this piece of property, mostly vacant and abandoned buildings, for decades. It was time we unlock this with our growing population and the importance that’s come up in the last several years around the social justice movement and accountability,” Mendenhall said.

Two things that will set this area apart: The mayor said there will be art honoring the social justice murals that stood there since 2020, still yet to be determined, and people who live there will get to decide what future amenities the city block will have.

A lot is yet to be decided. Developers will need to take a lot of public input and planning before any construction could begin. That’s not expected to start until late 2026 or early 2027.