A Great Salt Lake-inspired tiki bar coming to downtown Salt Lake City just picked up some serious financial backing from the city itself. The Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency board of directors approved a $418,000 loan for Remora, funding that will go toward rehabilitating more than 4,000 square feet of commercial space on Edison Street.
The money is earmarked for the building at 228 S. Edison St., a spot that previously housed Campos Coffee, according to Axios. Per the mayor's office news release, the Remora project will create a themed hospitality venue inspired by the Great Salt Lake, celebrating local and international cultures through art and design, and the project carries a $1 million budget. The city's listing describes it plainly: Remora Bar LLC will rehabilitate and build out approximately 4,297 square feet of existing commercial space at the address, according to the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office.
Remora is co-owned by Sean Neves and Scott Gardner, who also run Water Witch and Bar Nohm. The pair's latest venture isn't just an idea on paper anymore — Remora was one of five businesses to receive full bar licenses from the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services commission in December, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
A Phased Rollout, If Timelines Hold
Back in December, Neves laid out an ambitious, multi-room opening schedule for the space. He said the main room, dubbed The Great Salt Lake Room, would likely open in February or March, per the same Tribune report. The Primordial Room and a rooftop bar were expected to follow in April or May, he said at the time.
How the City Loan Fits the Bigger Picture
Remora's loan is part of a much larger pot of city money moving through downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. The city council voted to approve just over $7 million in loan funds across six projects, the Building Salt Lake outlet reported. The CRA had up to $10 million available for this particular round of its Commercial Development Loan Program, with each individual application capped at $2 million, according to Building Salt Lake. Loan terms run more than five years and can stretch to 10 years with CRA board approval, with amortization up to 20 years, the outlet noted.
The loan program itself is designed to finance commercial and mixed-use development in eligible CRA project areas, according to the Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency. For a bar like Remora, that kind of financing can mean the difference between a modest buildout and the kind of elaborate, design-forward space its owners have described.
Edison Street's Ongoing Transformation
Edison Street has undergone a revitalization, with a slew of newly opened bars anchored by Ryan Lowder's Copper Common at the southern end. Neves has long been part of that scene — at the time of a 2023 Tribune report, he was a co-owner of both Water Witch and ACME Bar Company.
That same ACME connection ties into Salt Lake City's earlier flirtations with tiki culture. In February 2023, ACME Bar Company ran Suckerfish, a temporary tiki-bar concept in Sugar House that paired classic tiki drinks with Asian-inspired dishes, the Tribune reported. Around that same time, bartenders Sam Miller and Mikey Edwards said they wanted to open the city's first dedicated tropical bar, and were using classes and pop-ups to build local interest in tiki cocktails first. Miller described tiki as experiencing a renaissance, with drinks built from fresh-squeezed juices and handmade syrups rather than the sugary mixers of decades past.
Whether Remora becomes that long-anticipated first true tiki bar remains to be seen, but with a liquor license secured and city financing approved, subject to final underwriting and closing requirements, the project has cleared two major hurdles on its way toward opening its doors.
