Microsoft Word - NYT - A Mature Ski Town Gets a Face Lift.docx

Co ontact Kenton Hopkins MRE E, CRS, GRI oor David McHugh M e-PRO O for Addition nal Information n (970) 8445-8053 - (9700) 376-7171 - khopkins@slife k er.net & dmch hugh@slifer.neet

A ‘Matture’ Ski Town T n Gets a Face-L Lift

By AMY COR RTESE Published: March M 2, 20 008

ON N a chilly evvening in latte Decembeer, hundred ds of revelerrs gathered d in the new wly remade center of Lio onshead, a village v in Va ail, Colo., fo or hot cocoa, ice skatin ng and firew works. The festivities were w for thee opeening of thee Arrabelle at Vail Squ uare, a luxurry resort featuring a 36-room hottel, 66 cond dominiums and d, soon to be b completeed, a spa an nd conference center.

Heelping to creeate a Europ pean-style town squarre for the $2 250 million n developm ment are a sk ki school, cob bblestone sttreets and several s resttaurants and cafes, also o recently added. a The developmeent serves aas a ceenterpiece of a major makeover m f Lionsheead, which, along with Vail Villagee, forms thee heart of for thee Town of Vail.

V Fou unded in th he early 196 60s by veterrans of the Army’s A 10th h Mountain n Division, which w oncee conducted d surrvival trainiing there, Vail V has grow wn into onee of the worrld’s best-k known ski reesorts. With h its num merous pea aks and sno owy bowls, it i drew six million m visiitors last yeear alone. But B local devvelopers ofteen complained that th he aging villlages were not n on par with w the qu uality of the skiing — or of a moree gla amorous rivval, Aspen. As A they politely put it, Vail was beecoming “a a mature ressort.”

Thee Arrabelle is just one piece of a broader b effo ort to rema ake Vail into o a year-rou und resort that t reflectss mo odern stand dards of luxury.

Dozens of proj ojects are un nder way in n what has collectively c been called d “the billio on-dollar reenewal” — alth hough that has lately been b upgrad ded to “the $2 billion renewal” r ass constructiion costs an nd the num mber of pro ojects have risen.

“W We’re bringin ng the expeerience peop ple have in town to thee same leveel as the mo ountain,” sa aid Robert A A.

Katz, the chief executive e off Vail Resorrts, a company in Broo omfield, Co olo., that operates seveeral ski resorrts and has spent moree than $700 0 million deeveloping projects p in Vail V Villagee and Lionsh head, inclu uding the Arrrabelle. Otther projectts are being g led by the Town of Vail V and privvate develop pers.

A sho ort walk fro om the Arra abelle is Go ore Creek Pllace, the Va ail Resort’s recently completed $6 60 million deveelopment off 16 luxury residences. r An additio onal 71 luxu ury condom miniums are rising nearrby as part of th he Ritz-Carltton Residen nces, expeccted to be co ompleted in n 2010.

Still in the planning stage, and perhap ps the mostt ambitiouss project at an estimateed cost of $1 $ billion, is Evver Vail, a reesort on thee edge of Liionshead, by b Vail Reso orts.

The 9.5-acre 9 sitte, a formerr brownfield d, is to be a pedestrian n-friendly mixed-use m v village featu uring a hotell, condos, retail r storess and publicc wetlands. According to Mr. Katzz, the entiree village is expected e to bee certified by b the Uniteed States Grreen Building Council’’s Leadersh hip in Energ gy and Enviironment Desig gn, or LEED D, program m. The projeect is awaitiing final approvals from the Vail Town T Coun ncil, he said..

Vail Village, V jusst east of Lio onshead, iss also underrgoing a tra ansformatio on. Vail Ressorts recenttly comp pleted a $1115 million developmen d nt called Va ail’s Front Door, D aroun nd the Vista a Bahn chaiirlift, the main n chairlift fo or Vail Villa age. The devvelopment includes neew ski amen nities like restrooms, r t ticket wind dows and a ski school, as well as 13 1 ski chalets, a spa an nd a private membersh hip club callled the Vail Mountain Club.

C The Solaris, S a $250 million n redevelop pment projeect by Crosssroads Redevelopmen nt, will repla ace a 1970 0s-era struccture with a new buildiing containing 75 cond dos, 60,000 0 square feeet of retail and a resta aurant spacce, a movie theater t and d undergrou und parking g. The projeect, which had h faced in nitial oppo osition beca ause of its sheer scale, is expected d to be comp pleted in 20 009.

A Fo our Seasonss resort — th he chain’s first f propertty in Colora ado — is exp pected to open in the fall f of 2009 9. Sitting att the entran nce to Vail, it i replaces an a older ho otel and gassoline statio on with a 12 20-room hotell, including g 16 private residencess and 19 residences havving fractio onal ownersship.

Thesse are in add dition to reecently com mpleted reno ovations in the valley, including those t of thee Vail Mou untain Lodg ge, the Tivolli Lodge and the Sonnenalp resorrt. The build ding fervor extends to nearby villag ges like Bea aver Creek, where an ecologically e y friendly Westin W Riverrfront Resort and Spa is rising, and as a far “dow wn valley” ass Edwards, a town wheere a mixed d-use develo opment dessigned by th he archiitect Daniell Libeskind d is being pllanned by Remonov R & Company, a local devveloper.

Vail’s makeoverr will bring a new levell of luxury to t the area. At the Arra abelle, guessts have acccess to a perso onal concieerge and, affter a day on n the slopess, can rest with w a warm m drink in the ski valett lounge whilee their streeet shoes aree fetched. Membership M ps at the slo opeside Vaiil Mountain n Club cosst $275 5,000 plus annual a duees (or $150,000 withou ut a parking g space).

The supply s and variety of housing h aree also expan nding. “In the t old dayss, it was jusst condos, period,” p said Rodney Sliifer, a partn ner at Slifer, Smith & Frampton F R Real Estate, and twice the t mayor of o Vail.

But as older bu uildings are torn down n to make way w for new ones, he sa aid, “there is a variety of o own nership optiions, from time t sharess to more co omplex club b membersh hips,” comb bining private own nership with h the convenience of 24-hour 2 hottel amenitiees.

With h near-reco ord snowfalll this seaso on, Vail seem ms to be sittting pretty. The nation nwide houssing slow wdown has barely b regisstered here.

At th he Arrabelle, a lottery was conducted for its 65 condos,, which drew w 500 interrested buyeers in 2005, nearr the heightt of the hou using boom,, according to Mr. Katz of Vail Reesorts.

Con ndos and fra actional sha ares are still selling briiskly, and well w in adva ance of theirr completio on, acco ording to deevelopers. The T Front Door’s D 13 ch halets sold for f around $2,500 a sq quare foot, and twothird ds of the Riitz-Carlton residences,, not schedu uled to opeen for anoth her 18 montths or so, ha ave sold forr up to $1,900 a square foott. At the Weestin resortt in Beaver Creek, 60 percent p of the 210 condos, rang ging from $300,000 $ fo or a studio to around $2 $ million for f a three-bedroom, have h sold in n advance of a summer 20 008 openin ng.

Loca al developeers attributee the strong g performan nce to a dessirable locattion, deman nd for secon nd homes and partial-own nership opp portunities, and limiteed supply. (Because ( th he area is heemmed in by b mou untains, theere is a limited amountt of develop pable spacee.) Many bu uyers pay in n cash, according to Mr. Katz.

“In this t whole valley, v there is no subp prime morttgage crisis; it just doeesn’t exist,” Mr. Stifler said. “Our grow wth has beeen sensible, unlike parts of Florid da and Califfornia wherre there wass tremendous overrbuilding.”

Non netheless, mindful m of th he 1970s, when w Vail un nderwent rapid develo opment folllowed by a slowdown, s deveelopers havve begun to sound a bitt more cauttious note.

“Thee market is not as froth hy as it wass,” Mr. Katzz said. He added a that buyers b weree being morre selective, with h distinctivee, high-end d propertiess most in deemand. Foreign buyerss, though, have h been more m active,, buoyyed by the strong s currrencies of th heir countriies.

“Vaiil is in a league by itsellf,” he said. “There is a sense amo ong buyers that that will w protect their t inveestment.”