A rundown of government and business activity over the last month, focusing on issues and items that are of particular interest to the Real Estate community:
ASPEN
Little Annie’s Gone for Good, New Tenant Must Be Low-Priced
Little Annie’s Eating House has served its last shot and a beer, but whatever goes in the space in the future is required, per an agreement between the city of Aspen and the property’s owners, to be a rent-controlled, “low-priced restaurant,” according to the Aspen Daily News.
Language restricting how much a future operator in the Annie’s space can charge for food spells out that common items on the dinner menu must have an average price no greater than $19, or $14 for lunch, with increases allowed to account for inflation. Future rent is also not to exceed 2012’s rate of $9,500 per month, with increases allowed for inflation.
The origins of the deal date back to 2011, when Aspen Core Ventures, after purchasing three side-by-side parcels on the 500 block of East Hyman Avenue, proposed new development that would have seen Little Annie’s and the Benton building demolished. Across the street, a deed-restricted basement space meant to serve as an affordable restaurant or bar underneath Brunello Cucinelli has sat vacant since the building — with a penthouse that sold for $13.2 million last year — was completed in 2012.
Lift One Lodge Approval Upheld
Plans approved for the Lift One Lodge in 2011 were upheld by Aspen City Council last month, with minor tweaks to the timeshare hotel near the base of Aspen’s Lift 1A. The project’s current owners, who purchased the site last year, sought to convert around 18,000 square feet within the project from a private club to commercial space encompassing restaurant, retail, spa and meeting areas. They also lowered the height in some areas of the project and changed the design of the facade.
Otherwise the proposal is unaltered from council’s 2011 approval, which set total square footage at about 77,000 square feet spread out between two buildings straddling a ski corridor. The project will contain 22 timeshare units that can lock off into 84 separate rooms, plus five free-market condos. The development would also include changing the Skiers Chalet steakhouse building on the site into affordable housing, and renovating the Skiers Chalet lodge, also on site, into a ski museum that would be moved down the hill into Willoughby Park.
City Officials Admit Error in Zoning for Power House
City officials disclosed that they have been mistaken in their assertion that the Old Power House site is zoned residential, after an investigation into municipal records showed that the property was designated as “public” in 1988, the Aspen Daily News reported.
The question of zoning has loomed large in the debate over whether the Aspen Power Plant proposal — a shared workspace coupled with an alcohol-serving food and beverage vendor, television studio and for-rent event venue — is the right choice for the city-owned former Aspen Art Museum site on the banks of the Roaring Fork River. Aspen City Council picked the concept over four other finalists in a request-for-proposals process that concluded in March 2015. Lease negotiations between the would-be new tenant and the city have been ongoing since.
Sardy House Sells for $23 Million
The Sardy House, one of Aspen’s Victorian jewels, swapped hands for $23 million in April, making it the most expensive real estate deal so far this year in Pitkin County, the Aspen Times reported.
The new owner is BTRSardy LLC. John Devaney of Key Biscayne, Florida, was the seller. The property, located at 128 E. Main St., was sold off-market and not listed for sale, according to property brokers. The purchase price, $23.09 million, is more than double the Pitkin County Assessor’s actual value of $11.82 million for the property.
SNOWMASS
Roundabout Construction Underway
The $4.3-million roundabout intersection project in Snowmass Village kicked off in April.
Construction on the main roundabout at the intersection of Brush Creek, Kearns and Wood roads, as well as a “mini roundabout” closer to Base Village, is scheduled to continue through late October. Final landscaping will be completed by the spring 2017.
Nearby businesses had not reported any issues yet, but are waiting until the busier summer months to see how the constructions affects them. In the near-term, the main inconvenience will be to cars trying to access the Snowmass Center as the entrance has been limited from two to one.
Limelight Hotel in Snowmass More Likely
Aspen Skiing Co. is feeling more confident about developing a Limelight hotel in Snowmass Village following a recent unanimous approval by the town council to move up the phasing of its 10-unit luxury Fanny Hill Cabins project, which is seen as the hotel’s financial driver, the Aspen Daily News reported. During a town council meeting, officials said they were still planning for a 2017 start.
SkiCo has been spending between $200,000 and $250,000 per month on design development for the Limelight in Snowmass, despite not having final assurances about the Fanny Hill Cabins phasing request. That changed on April 4, when council approved the change in phasing that was tied to the 2004 Base Village approval. Initially, construction on the cabins could not go forward until the hotel and other buildings were completed, but with council’s decision, the cabins and the Limelight can go forward concurrently.
BASALT
Schendler, Schwoerer and Riffle Win Council Seats
In the at-large race for three council seats in Basalt, Auden Schendler, Katie Schwoerer and Jennifer Riffle were the top vote-getters, according to the Aspen Times. Schendler pulled in 612 votes. Schwoerer had 604, and Riffle had 562, in the election which took place in early April. Mayoral incumbent Jacque Whitsitt won a squeaker over challenger Rick Stevens, with 51 percent to 49 percent.
Former Mayor and Councilman Leroy Duroux, who won multiple previous elections, received 448 votes. Two incumbent councilmen got tossed — Rob Leavitt with 362 votes and Herschel Ross with 315. The election signifies a shift in the town’s politics, with veteran politicians being outvoted to make way for new, “next-generation” candidates. At the heart of the conversation is the Pan and Fork site, an undeveloped parcel along the Roaring Fork River.
CARBONDALE
Two Taxes Shut Down in Local Election
Carbondale voters batted down both tax questions – the proposed climate action tax and property tax for town infrastructure – in its municipal election in early April, according to the Glenwood Post Independent. For the so-called “carbon tax,” 1,022 voters cast ballots against, while only 637 Carbondale residents voted in favor. The proposed property tax, intended to pay for town infrastructure projects, came only slightly closer to passing, with 959 voting against and 692 in favor.
The board of trustees hoped to bring in as much as $777,000 annually with the two tax increases combined. The climate action tax proposed to increase residents’ gas and electric bills in an attempt to promote clean energy projects and reduce energy usage in keeping with the town’s 2020 energy goals.
The proposed property tax to fund capital improvements around town would have raised Carbondale’s mill levy by three mills, which would translate to a $119 increase on a $500,000 residential property and an $870 increase on a $1 million commercial property, according to town staff figures.
GLENWOOD SPRINGS
I-70 On-Ramp Work Continues
Work is now underway to improve the on-and off-ramps at Exit 114 on Interstate 70 in Glenwood Springs as part of the massive $125.6 million Grand Avenue Bridge replacement project, the Aspen Daily News reported. The goal is to both elongate and widen the Exit 114 westbound on-ramp and the eastbound off-ramp in preparation for a detour route once the venerable bridge is closed sometime next year.
The existing Grand Avenue Bridge will remain open to traffic until phase four (August 2017 to December 2017), when demolition will take place. At that point, traffic in Glenwood Springs will be funneled up Midland Avenue, through a downtown “square-about,” and finally onto Grand Avenue toward the upper valley, raising widespread concerns about congestion. Construction at Exit 114 is expected to last throughout the summer. Travelers are encouraged to use the recently re-opened Exit 116 to help mitigate traffic.
PITKIN COUNTY
Pitkin County Looking to Improve Intercept Lot
Pitkin County is planning to improve the Intercept Lot on Brush Creek and Highway 82 by including new lighting, bathrooms, landscaping, trail access and 200 additional paved parking spaces, and they’re applying for a $1.9 million federal grant to do so, according to the Aspen Daily News.
The effort is designed to create a more enticing location for people to park their vehicles to help alleviate parking and traffic challenges in and around Aspen. There are also plans to move the carpool kiosk from the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport to the Intercept Lot.
County Locks in Funding for Forest Service Officer
Funding for a new federal forest protection officer has been secured after the Pitkin County Healthy Rivers and Streams Board approved $5,000 for the seasonal position, the Aspen Daily News reported.
The officer will have the power to write citations on U.S. Forest Service land, and will patrol the Hunter Creek and Smuggler Mountain areas as well as the popular river put-in on Wildwood Lane east of Aspen this summer.
Wildwood is located on federal property, creating a jurisdictional headache for the county. Officials want to rein in parking and drinking issues at the put-in, which has blossomed into a party scene for revelers floating into the North Star Nature Preserve on the Roaring Fork River.
The position will cost roughly $26,000, and operate between May 15 and Sept. 30. The Forest Service is covering the cost of a vehicle, while the city of Aspen ($5,000), Pitkin County Open Space and Trails ($10,000), Healthy Rivers and Streams ($5,000), and an anonymous donor who lives near the preserve ($5,000) are providing the rest. The forest protection officer position is funded for one summer, but could be brought back if it proves successful in calming the scene at Wildwood.