The church replaced both malls with City Creek Center to prevent urban decay near its downtown headquarters (including Temple Square).

[4] The consortium requested that the city's redevelopment agency procure eight properties for the project, while most of the remaining land used was leased from Zions Securities Corporation.

[9][a] Several dignitaries were present at the ribbon-cutting, including Utah governor Scott M. Matheson, Salt Lake Mayor Ted Wilson, LDS Church President Ezra Taft Benson and his wife Flora (she was a daughter of pioneer jeweler Carl Amussen, whose historic building façade had been saved and incorporated into the mall).

[9][12] The lower level was known as the Richards Street Marketplace, which included specialty shops and boutiques, along with eateries and the three-auditorium Crossroads Cinema.

[12] Although not officially a part of the mall, the Salt Lake City Marriott Hotel was opened in October 1981 and connected directly to Crossroads Plaza.

The preserved Amussen building façade served as the Main Street entrance to the bank, which opened on July 23, 1980, earlier than most of the rest of the mall.

[21] The church closed on the deal later in 2003,[22] and on October 8 of that year, they presented preliminary plans to significantly remodel both Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center Mall.