Matthew Prince’s real estate deals in the Main Street core may continue even after the acquisition of the key holdings at the base of the Town Lift.
Prince, an Old Town resident, is the multibillionaire co-founder and CEO of tech firm Cloudflare and earlier in the year finalized the purchase of the Sweeney family holdings at the Town Lift base along lower Main Street through a limited liability company under his control.
It was among the most notable transactions in the Main Street core in recent years, with the property including multiple commercial spaces, a substantial number of the parking spots in the garage underneath the building and the deck of the Town Lift plaza.
He said he is also part of a group that acquired the building where Riverhorse on Main and Park City Pizza & Noodle are located.
Prince, who has expressed a bullish outlook for Main Street, said there are additional potential transactions along the shopping, dining and entertainment strip. He noted his investments have involved properties on lower Main Street and the upper stretch of the street.
“I think that we will try to acquire more of Main Street over time, both upper and lower, because we think that Main Street is the center of Park City, and that we need to be investing in that center,” he said.
Prince hails from Park City and said there have been changes to Main Street over the decades, leading some to opt for Salt Lake City for a night out. He praised some of the Main Street restaurateurs of recent decades but also said, “There’s time that we need to start to refresh that.”
Prince described himself as not being driven by profits in the same manner as other building owners in the Main Street core. That, he said, allows him to offer leases at rates below others.
“What I think we’re going to try to do is say, ‘How can we, you know, as landlords, how can we make spaces available for very special things at incredibly affordable rents,’ which is not what people have anywhere on Main Street right now,” he said.
Lease rates today on Main Street, Prince said, are “scaring away talent.”
“If we could get five new great restaurants to come to town with really great chefs who are committed to supporting, yes, the tourists, but also supporting the locals, I think that is part of what revitalizes all of Main Street,” he said.
Prince also addressed one of the properties in the Main Street core that he called underutilized — the Claim Jumper building. The Claim Jumper, among the largest buildings in the Main Street core, has for years been largely vacant. A gallery is currently located in part of the space.
“It is insane to me that the downstairs bar at Claim Jumper doesn’t exist. I mean, Claim Jumper, back in the day, was this incredibly lively, fun, quirky restaurant, right? And again, that art gallery there is fine, but is that the highest, best use of the space?” he asked.
Prince said the Claim Jumper building is not a current target for acquisition.
Prince also spoke about the business mix in the commercial spaces he acquired at the Town Lift Plaza, saying he anticipates “zero changes” other than those that may occur over time as part of the natural business cycle. The Flying Sumo restaurant and the Bridge Cafe and Grill are among the businesses there. Prince said he has talked to the owner of both the restaurants to express that “we love them as tenants.”
“We want them to stay. We don’t plan to change their rents at all. This wasn’t for us. This wasn’t about making money. This was about us trying to figure out how — what we think of as one of these sort of central hubs on Main Street — we could continue to invest in and make better and so we love the tenants that are there,” he said.
Prince described the Bridge Cafe and Grill as a category of restaurant that is attractive in the Main Street core. He said it is “one of the true kind of wonderful restaurants in town which has high-quality food, which does every dish, doesn’t have a full stick of butter, and actually serves food at what is for Main Street, Park City, a reasonable price.”
He added: “I think that’s actually emblematic of what we need more of on Main Street, not less of.”
Prince co-owns The Park Record with his wife, Tatiana Prince.