Snowmass Village, Colorado: Article by Madeline Osberger
Suit: Related was ‘secretly negotiating’ sale to East West Partners
After helping a Related Colorado subsidiary gain valuable land-use approvals to finish Base Village, Sunrise Company was squeezed out of the project in favor of a developer who would pay more for the prime building parcel, says a lawsuit filed Monday in district court.
In addition to compensation for costs, expenses, attorneys’ fees and services rendered due to the “unique nature of the property at issue,” Sunrise wants Related subsidiary Snowmass Acquisition Co. to be required to sell it the $8.2 million property at the resort’s entrance, in accordance with a prior contract and purchase agreement.
The property, known as Lot 3, includes the two faux-front buildings along Wood Road that constitute the “front door to the Base Village development,” according to the suit. The land in question also includes a building on Base Village’s interior that is deeded to the town through a complex piece of community mitigation rooted in the project’s original 2004 approval.
The prime location and “high visibility, circulation and traffic patterns of Buildings 6, 7 and 8 make them particularly attractive to a developer, and important to the town,” it reads.
Sunrise is requesting a jury trial. Attorney David Bovino said he could not comment beyond what was in the lawsuit filed Feb. 22 in Pitkin County
The suit alleges that Related Colorado was cutting a deal behind Sunrise’s back, despite the businesses having worked together for the months leading up to the amended base area project’s preliminary approval in September 2015.
Three days after the Snowmass Village Town Council’s unanimous decision, Related canceled the Lot 3 sale contract with Sunrise. Days later, it announced a letter of intent to sell all of the remaining Base Village assets to East West Partners with financing from KSL. That deal with East West fell apart in December, following council push back over height limits and the Viceroy hotel contract.
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http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/170149
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