For Immediate Release
June 2, 2008
Related WestPac Presents Sketch Plan for Remaining BaseVillage Enhancements
Related WestPac will present a sketch plan today to a joint meeting of the Snowmass Village Town Council and Planning Commission for the remaining enhancements they wish to make in BaseVillage. The proposed changes are to buildings 2c, 5, 8, 9ab and 10ab. After consulting with the community and incorporating the goals of the Snowmass Village Comprehensive Plan, Related WestPac is proposing to modify its BaseVillage development plan in an effort to further align the plan with the communicated wants and needs of the Snowmass community and current market demands.
BaseVillage is a comprehensively designed mixed use development totaling approximately 1 million square feet in 18 buildings. The proposed sketch plan improvements affect five buildings. Related WestPac has considered the implicationsof these changes as they relate to operations, parking, overall character intent and design.
“We believe we have found ways to further improve the plan for the newBaseVillage,” said Scott Stenman, vice president of development for Related WestPac. “These proposed changes create a more balanced and diversified lodging program in BaseVillage, adds new skier and community services, creates new employee housing, and adds more open space to the core of the project with the creation of a new events plaza.”
The objective of this draft sketch plan application is to refine the current design and program by focusing on the following areas: residential product type, residential unit mix, the commercial mix, and the overall BaseVillage landscape.
The proposal creates a new type of lodging opportunity in BaseVillage by converting a small portion of the previously approved whole ownership condominiums to a fractional ownership program. Multiple resort properties in the Rocky Mountains, including resorts in Aspen and Snowmass, have found that successful developments offer a balance of lodging opportunities including hotel rooms, condo-hotels, whole ownership condominiums and fractional ownership properties. These properties report that fractional ownership offers higher occupancy, a lower price point of entry, increased dollars coming into the community from their residents, and a quicker sell-out of the fractional units.
In addition to new skier and commercial services, the proposal provides additional employee housing and hotel-like rooms. If approved, this proposal creates approximately 100 new hotel-like rooms throughout BaseVillage through the addition of additional lock-off and new, smaller hotel-type units.
A further highlight of the sketch plan proposal is the construction of a new events plaza in BaseVillage. In addition to creating more open space, the plan also enhances the entertainment possibilities in BaseVillage. The current fire lane access in BaseVillage severely restricts events in the plaza area between Hayden and Capitol Peak Lodges and the Village Express gondola. The development of a new events plaza with a public fountain in the core of BaseVillage provides a new public amenity and creates a new area for exhibit tents, outdoor seating, formal seating and entertainment event programming.
Today’s presentation of the sketch plan before the two Snowmass Village governmental bodies is the beginning of a more formal land use process regarding this application. Further meetings at both the Snowmass Village Planning Commission and Town Council are expected to analyze specific elements of this proposal.