SALT LAKE CITY -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Business College and Brigham Young University-Salt Lake extension will move to downtown Salt Lake City as part of the LDS Church's plan to redevelop the area.

According to an article in The Salt Lake Tribune, the schools' move to the site of the 2002 Olympics Medals Plaza will bring more than 3,000 people downtown, "adding to the vitality and rejuvenation of the city," said David Burton, the church's presiding bishop.

Planning for the schools' move will start immediately, but it will be mid-2004 at the earliest "before we see much change" at the site, he said.

This is a vital stretch of real estate and its development will substantially add to the city's infrastructure, Burton said in the article.

Other plans unveiled Wednesday call for building two upscale residential towers and making some structural changes to the church-owned Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center malls.

Preliminary plans for renovation of the malls, which would occur over a three- to four-year period, would remove parking from the top two levels of Crossroads and place it underground. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wants to open up the two malls with glass ceilings. Crossroads also would have a glass facade.

Burton said the church is prepared to invest "hundreds of millions of dollars" to redevelop downtown, but would not provide a specific dollar figure. Burton emphasized that none of the money will come from tithing by church members.

The money "comes from the business operations that are run quite separately" from the church, he said. The church has not asked for financial assistance from the city, according to the article.