By Madeleine Osberger, Special to the Aspen Daily News
“May 29 is our target date” for submission, Jim D’Agostino, Related Colorado’s new president, told the Snowmass Village Town Council this week.
After the application is determined to be complete, the public may be able to glimpse what the project that’s been under way since 2004 could look like at buildout. That includes two very visible properties in the center of the resort whose false fronts have been in place since construction completely halted eight years ago.
“Buildings 7 and 8 are going to be much bigger buildings,” said Julie Ann Woods, the town’s community development director. “We are now just seeing the baseline of these buildings, which are intended to have more stories.”
Building 7, which includes the unfinished arrival center, was originally approved for 27,327 square feet of development and eight units of residential and mixed usage.
Just uphill is Building 8, the larger of the two faux-front structures. Once planned for the luxury Little Nell Residences, it’s approved for almost 100,000 square feet of development. A new medical facility will also be included in the structure, per the approval.
Fractional, or vacation club, units were what was envisioned when Sunrise Co. and Oaktree Capital Management signed a letter of intent last year with Related to develop up to 44 units in buildings 6, 7 and 8.
Also of high interest in the forthcoming application is the developer’s plan for the site adjacent to the proposed Limelight Hotel, the 102-unit lodge and condo complex that Aspen Skiing Co. would like to build. Sale of the Limelight lot to SkiCo is contingent on the project’s final approval.
The adjacent lot (originally known as the Building 9ABC parcel) was to have hosted an aquatic center open to residents, hotel guests and Base Village condo owners. But after much deliberation, elected officials vetoed the aqua feature.
Related’s amended proposal offers an events plaza in place of the pool.
“I do think we’ll be anxious to see what the plaza looks like,” said Woods, who has heard references to the hiring of a nationally known landscape architect.
That couldn’t be confirmed by Related’s new president.
“Jim D’Agostino is not available to discuss the project at this stage,” said spokesman Steve Alldredge.
Nor could D’Agostino shed light on what the missing buildings will look like when they take shape.
Design images must be included in the preliminary plan phase, according to Woods.
“Here’s the architecture and here’s what it’s going to look like,” she said about what to expect in the application. “There are all kinds of requirements that will have to be met. This is the next step in the process.”
One facet of the application that’s of no surprise is the Limelight Hotel.
“Assuming town approval of the final PUD application by fall, we could start construction in the spring of 2016,” said Don Schuster, SkiCo’s vice president of hospitality development.
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