Article by Madeline Osberger of the Aspen Daily News:
Base Village received its final approval from the Snowmass Village Town Council on Monday night, as a “super-majority” of the seated members voted 4-1 in favor of the plan, which has many conditions to be buttoned up later. Councilman Bob Sirkus cast the lone dissenting vote.
“We’re thrilled to get this moving forward,” said Andrew Dance, senior vice president of Related Companies, which owns the stalled development. “We’re going to have a busy 2016 and a busier 2017,” he said.
2016 won’t be busy enough to satisfy a council that for months has pushed toward the Dec. 21 deadline so as to allow “vertical construction” on buildings to commence in the new year. But elected officials were told by the developer well before voting that only two roundabout traffic circles will be built in 2016, with construction on up to five buildings slated to begin the following year.
While the approval opens the door for Aspen Skiing Co. to buy Lot 2 from Related to build the Limelight Snowmass, CEO Mike Kaplan said it won’t break ground on the hotel next year and only “maybe in 2017,” due to ownership’s concerns about the project’s viability.
“This is a major project we have to pin up and we have a ton of loose ends. Nobody is more frustrated or upset than I am,” said Kaplan, who was also critical about the protracted town review, which has taken 14 months. He said that construction costs for the project have gone up about $10 million in that time.
Kaplan’s other “loose ends” that could potentially derail the Limelight include: uncertainty about a citizen’s lawsuit that could challenge the project’s vesting; a lack of firm details about usage of a Base Village plaza and the unknown appearance of three, very visible buildings.
“We need to know what it’s going to look like outside our front door,” Kaplan affirmed.
Following the meeting which surpassed four hours, SkiCo vice president of hospitality Don Schuster said outstanding issues still remain before the purchase and sale agreement with Related can be consummated. But the final PUD approval “is one of the hurdles that needed to be cleared,” he added.
Trust and commitments
For a while, the fate of Ordinance 9, which required a second reading and vote on Monday, appeared to hang in the balance.
Madeleine Osberger/Aspen Daily News
Early on, Mayor Markey Butler challenged Related’s Dance by saying: “What surprise do you all have for us tonight?” That was a reference to back-to-back meetings when significant bombshells were dropped, including a height request by potential project purchaser East West Partners that seemed to come out of the blue. The deal with East West has since fallen through.
Dance answered the mayor by saying, “none,” and possibly sensing the tenuous situation in the room, appeared more collegial than in the past.
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http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/169415
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