Aspen
Single-Family Home Sells for $30 Million
The biggest single-family home sale so far this year and in all of 2016 in Pitkin County sold for $30 million in April, the Aspen Times reported. Located at 343 Willoughby Lane on Red Mountain, the palatial home was acquired by Mochen Strata, a limited liability company based in Houston. The same LLC also bought a Maroon Creek home for $9.5 million in May 2014.
The selling group was listed as Trustee Howard C. Draft and the Howard Craig Draft Trust. Draft, CEO of the global advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding, bought the Willoughby property in August 1998 for $6.5 million and built a 9,600-square-foot home there in 2012.
The Willoughby transaction translated to $3,120 per square foot, which also noted the property originally went up for sale Jan. 15, 2016, for $42.5 million and most recently was marketed for $36.5 million. Pitkin County has recorded six single-family transactions of at least $10 million this year, including a $15.2 million deal April 18, $13.5 million on April 5 and $14.9 million on March 30.
Council Approves New Buildings for Its Offices
Aspen City Council approved a proposal for a new city offices building that will rise three stories from Rio Grande Place, praising design changes brought back by architects after prior drawings were deemed too unwelcoming and institutional, the Aspen Daily News reported.
The building, which will likely reach just over 41,000 square feet, will read as one story from Galena Plaza, where new meeting rooms and one of three entrances to the building will be located. The building will then step down the hill toward Rio Grande Park.
A design team led by Charles Cunniffe Architects, which has been working on the proposal since its inception, made changes to the project since a March 6 meeting where council members were critical of the building’s look. These include pulling back the Rio Grande entrance and adding a two-story channel glass feature, giving more definition to the entrance. Some city offices will remain in the armory building, where there are currently located.
Sky Hotel Constructions Starts This May
After months of delays due to a pending lawsuit, the teardown of the Sky Hotel and redevelopment of a new W Hotel Aspen in its place is set to start in May, following the resolution of a lawsuit brought by a neighboring condominium complex whose owners were concerned about construction impacts, the Aspen Daily News reported.
The lawsuit, brought in September 2015 by the Chateau Chaumont, raised issue with developers’ plans to use the Dean Street alleyway that runs between the Chaumont and the Sky for construction traffic access to the site.The new hotel will be a 91,000-square-foot building at 709 E. Durant Ave. It is to reach four stories, with a rooftop deck where there is now a low-lying three-story building at 43,000 square feet.
Hotel Jerome Construction to Last Through Next Year
The Hotel Jerome began its expansion April 11, which includes removing the old pool, replacing it with a new one, and gutting the old Aspen Times building, where a subterranean speakeasy-style lounge is slated, and the project is estimated to finish in March 2018, according to The Aspen Times. The entire project is projected to cost $11 million.
The work is the latest improvement underway at the Hotel Jerome, which was bought by Dan Friedkin and Iconic Properties-Jerome LLC in February 2015. The seller was Chicago-based DRW Real Estate. The deal was worth $72.5 million. The hotel is scheduled to reopen May 25, but its pool and courtyard will be closed for the duration of the construction. The Jerome will, however, provide outdoor-dining space on its ballroom terrace.
Snowmass
Sculpture Coming to Snowmass Roundabout
Though greatly debated, Snowmass Village Town Council chose to accept its first-ever piece of donated public art, which will sit prominently in the middle of the town’s main roundabout, the Aspen Daily News reported. People were concerned about accepting donated art and the piece’s actual aesthetics.
Council debated for about an hour the proposed donation, which would be paid for by the artist, a part-time resident, and five other donors, and channeled through the nonprofit Snowmass Community Fund. The sculpture, which will be 22 feet high and 11 feet wide, will be comprised of stainless steel and river rock, resembling the trail left behind a skier and also looking like a lightning bolt.
The piece by South Dakota sculptor Dale Lamphere has been valued at $225,000 to $300,000. The town will be obligated to fund about $12,000 for the piece’s base and its installation. Existing landscaping in the roundabout will need to be removed to make way for the piece.
Snowmass Cabin Closer to Receiving Overnight Access
People may be able to stay overnight on Snowmass Ski Area, after rezoning a small parcel of privately owned property on it took an initial step toward approvals from town council, the Aspen Daily News reported.
Applicants are looking to rezone a 1,770-square-foot portion of the parcel. If approved, this could potentially help pave the way for the first on-mountain hut on one of the four ski areas.
When the bulk of the 1.8-acre lot was rezoned from conservation to recreation in 2005, the Burlingame Cabin portion, which includes a historic log building that has been traditionally used for snowcat tours and parties, was not included.
Controlled by a limited liability company owned by Dianne Light and Betsy Chaffin, the Burlingame Cabin parcel is an island amid ski runs on public land controlled through the SkiCo permit. The Light and Chaffin families are interested in building an upscale hut with bunk beds that would be designed by architect Al Beyer, known for his work on 10th Mountain Division huts.
Basalt
Whitewater Park Features Finished
Two features that create a wave effect on the Roaring Fork River were recently added about one-quarter mile upstream from the confluence with the Fryingpan River, and all enthusiasts need to enjoy them is water, the Aspen Times reported.
The water level is still a bit too low in that stretch of the river for the features to be used. They will likely start drawing enthusiasts as the flow rises later in May. The Basalt whitewater park provides options for kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders in the Roaring Fork Valley. The only option used to be the Glenwood Wave on the Colorado River.
The two features were installed on a stretch of the river between Fishermen’s Park on the east and a string of riverside commercial development to the west. The features are across Two River Road from the entrance to the Elk Run subdivision. Two concrete pilings were driven into the riverbed and capped with material that looks like rock. They are separated by about 150 feet.
Tiny Home & RV Park Idea Floated
A couple is contemplating a unique development proposal in Basalt that would combine a high-end recreational-vehicle park with tiny houses that would be available for short-term rental, The Aspen Times reported.
During an informal meeting, the couple floated the idea of 28 RV spaces and 12 tiny cabins on 9 acres of property west of where the Basalt Post Office is now located. The couple volunteered to place restrictions for coaches that are no more than 10 years old and fifth-wheels units that are no more than five years old. One possible business model would allow the individual RV spaces to be sold for private use. The owners would use them part of the time and rent them the rest of the year, much like a condominium.
Carbondale
New Housing, Bar Coming to Carbondale
Carbondale is projected to soon be home to a new, 16-unit teacher housing project, a new drive-through banking institution and a new downtown bar, according to the Sopris Sun.
The construction of a First Bank branch at the Carbondale Marketplace/City Market site, however, is dependent on final plat approval for the grocery store, which was put off for the fifth time due to a requested extension by the store’s owners and is not due for another vote by the trustees until June 28.
A beer and wine tasting room at 358 Main St. will be operated by the Roaring Fork Beer Company. The business will keep its main brewery and bar, in a commercial complex along Dolores Way.
Glenwood Springs
Glenwood Springs Mulls Paid Parking
A trial run to determine if Glenwood Springs should require paid parking downtown could answer a question about the value of making people pay to park in the commercial core, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported. A community meeting allowed the public to weigh in on the idea, leading to disagreement over whether paid parking helps or hinders downtown businesses.
Some of the business owners in attendance believe paid parking would discourage employees and nearby residents from hogging convenient on-street parking spaces all day. That would free them up for customers on a regular rotating basis. Others countered that paid parking might be a deterrent for some customers, especially those running quick errands.
In any case, the city is seriously considering a request from the Downtown Development Authority to evaluate the benefits of paid, multispace meter parking in parts of downtown.
The idea grew out of a concern that a lack of parking, and particularly a lack of regular turnover of available spaces, hurts the ability of some businesses to thrive.
Pitkin County
Aspen Skiing Co. Buys Intrawest, Mammoth and More
Aspen Skiing Co. and KSL Capital Partners announced they will acquire Intrawest Resort Holdings for about $1.5 billion, including debt, and Mammoth Resorts, which includes Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Snow Summit, Bear Mountain and June Mountain in California, the Aspen Daily News reported. Both transactions are expected to close in the third quarter of this year. The Intrawest sale includes six ski areas, with properties such as Steamboat, Winter Park, Stratton, Vt., and Snowshoe, W.V.
SkiCo and Intrawest were the original partners to develop Snowmass’ Base Village until selling the unfinished project to Related Cos. 10 years ago for $169 million. SkiCo and KSL, along with East West Partners, reacquired the beleaguered Base Village project late last year for $56.5 million. On the Mammoth side of things, the current owners have controlled Mammoth for 12 years, during which time it improved its lift capacity, pass scanning capabilities and marketing programs.
New Aspen-to-Phoenix Non-stop Added to Winter Schedule
Phoenix Sky Harbor will be the 10th airport to offer non-stop flights to Aspen, the Aspen Daily News reported. The new, daily non-stop flight connecting Aspen to Phoenix begins in the winter of 2017-2018. Provided by American Airlines, the new flight is possible due to the carrier’s recent merger with US Airways, which operated a hub out of Phoenix Sky Harbor.