Aspen
City Looks Across the Street for Office Space
The City of Aspen will further explore purchasing the majority of the old Aspen Daily News building and a next-door restaurant space for a total of $32.5 million, though elected officials are still debating whether to make the deal with developer Mark Hunt or dig in on a previously approved plan that is tied up in litigation, the Aspen Daily News reported.
Hunt’s latest offer brings forward 5,500 square feet of space on the second floor of 204 S. Galena St., which is currently occupied by the restaurant Aspen Kitchen, at a purchase price of $9.5 million. That is in addition to his proposal to sell the city 21,500 square feet of turnkey space in his soon-to-be-redeveloped property at 517 E. Hopkins Ave. for $23 million. The initial offer, however, comes up a few thousand square feet short of the city’s longterm office space needs.
The council voted to go under contract on the 204 S. Galena St. space, though the city has 30 days before $3.5 million in non-refundable earnest money is due.
Aspen Fire Protection District to Ask for Mill Levy Increase
The Aspen Fire Protection District will ask voters this fall to approve a property-tax increase of 1.25 mills to generate an additional $3 million annually that would help pay for construction of an affordable-housing complex for volunteer firefighters and assist the district with new equipment and other needs, the Aspen Daily News reported.
Currently, the district taxes property owners within its boundaries at .875 mills, a rate that has not changed since 1953. That rate brings in $2.1 million per year, an amount that’s not enough to keep up with the rising cost of maintaining and upgrading vehicles, equipment and apparatus. The fire district’s affordable-housing complex, estimated to cost $16 million, would be built on land the district already owns in the North 40 area near the Aspen Business Center. It would consist of 12 to 14 units with a mix of one to three bedrooms.
Aspen Among Top Markets for Growth in Luxury Sales
Aspen finished on the podium for growth in the world-wide luxury residential property market, according to the recently published Douglas Elliman – Knight Frank 2018 Residential Wealth Report, which tracks habits and preferences of the ultra-wealthy, the Aspen Daily News reported.
Wealth of $50 million or more qualifies one to be ultra-wealthy, and in 2017 there were 129,730 people across the globe who drank this rarified and expensive air. Guangzhou, China, saw a 27.4 percent increase from Sept. 2016 to Sept. 2017, followed by Cape Town, South Africa, with 19.9 percent. Aspen’s values rose 19 percent, ahead of Amsterdam (15 percent) and Seoul, South Korea (13.2 percent).
Snowmass
Voters Will Decide on Pot Sales Tax
As Snowmass gives the green light to pot shops in the village, voters will soon decide if the town should pose an additional 5 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana, the Aspen Times reported. Snowmass Town Council unanimously approved a resolution that will place the sales tax question on the ballot in November. Snowmass’ moratorium on marijuana, which has been in place since 2013, is set to expire for a third time Oct. 31.
The ballot question asks the electorate if Snowmass Village should implement an added tax on the sale of retail marijuana and respective products, which town staff believes would generate between $194,967 and $584,900 annually. These projections include the 15 percent excise tax and 10 percent sales on recreational marijuana that the state levies across all jurisdictions. Altogether, the town projects that pot shops would sell between $1.9 million and $5.8 million in Snowmass Village.
Basalt
New Pan and Fork Plan Passes Planning
The latest proposal for the former Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park property sailed through the first round of review by the Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported.
The project received universal high marks for providing permanent homes for two nonprofits — the Art Base community arts center and the Basalt Chamber of Commerce. The Art Base would obtain a 7,000-square-foot space while the chamber would get 1,300 square feet, according to the application. Some commission members had concerns about the number of free-market units—12 duplex units in six buildings and 10 row house units—and wants the team to explore more diverse options for the affordable housing units, which currently has six one-bedroom rental units.
Carbondale
Carbondale Increases Tobacco Age
Carbondale officials are raising the age to purchase tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported. The new ordinance will take effect in August. The town joins other valley municipalities, like Aspen and Basalt, in the policy change.
Glenwood Springs
New Retail Coming to Glenwood Meadows
Two and a half years after Sports Authority closed and moved out of Glenwood Meadows, Denver-based Miller Real Estate has announced that a Marshalls clothing store and Natural Grocers food store will be moving in, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported. The two new businesses plan to open their doors in the spring of 2019.
Because the Sports Authority space was so large, it allowed for two tenants to split it into two smaller stores. Vitamin Cottage, located at the other end of the plaza next to Target, is owned by the same company as Natural Grocers. The company plans to close the current Vitamin Cottage and move it into the new, slightly larger space under the combined Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage name. Marshalls is an off-price national clothing and accessories retailer, with several Front Range locations but no stores currently on the Western Slope.
E-Bikes Still Allowed on Lower Portion of Rio Grande
Following months of debate among board members and public comment both for and against the use of electric-assisted bicycles on the Rio Grande Trail, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority rejected a resolution to restrict such bikes on the lower portion of the trail, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported. Class I and II e-bikes will be permitted on the portion of the Rio Grande between Emma and Glenwood Springs. A Class I has to be pedaled in order to go to 20 miles an hour, and a Class II has a throttle that allows you to go 20 miles an hour without pedaling.
Pitkin County
Housing Board Looks to Change Makeup
The power structure within the local housing authority may soon get turned upside down, if Aspen City Council gets buy-in from its Pitkin County counterparts, the Aspen Times reported. The biggest move would be to change the Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority board of directors from a citizen committee to one with elected officials on it. They would be responsible for making big policy decisions on the affordable housing program. City councilman Adam Frisch is proposing that the board be comprised of two City Council members, two members from the Pitkin County Board of Commissioners and three citizens who specialize in particular areas.
It would be a significant shift in how APCHA has been governed for the past 40 or so years. No longer would the APCHA board deal with compliance or administrative issues.
Airport Expansion Given OK by Environmental Assessment
The next phase of Pitkin County’s plan to build a nearly $100 million new airport terminal and runway can begin after Pitkin County Commissioners received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration on the environmental assessment of the project, the Aspen Times reported.
The agency found “no substantial impacts” to the environment if the county builds up to a 140,000 square-foot new terminal and relocates and widens the runway. Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock has said the county won’t build a facility that large, though it will be a minimum of 80,000 square feet. The current, aging airport terminal is 47,000 square feet.
With the long-awaited environmental assessment approved, county officials can move on and begin a community dialogue and airport about what the new airport should look like and what kind of airplanes it should serve.