Vail begins 'New Dawn' of age of development
Publication: Rocky Mountain News;
Date: 05/21/2004
by David O. Williams
Parking garage part of massive renewal
VAIL - What is being dubbed as Vail's
New Dawn - an ambitious billion-dollar redevelopment
of the village core and Lionshead mall - began inauspiciously
Thursday with a groundbreaking ceremony for an $11
million park and parking garage at the east end of
town.
"This is a great day for Vail, and
it's not just because we're building a parking garage
in the east village," said Vail Resorts CEO Adam Aron.
"It's because this is the first of several projects
that are going to happen in rapid-fire succession
to demonstrate to one and all that Vail's New Dawn
has in fact risen."
The ski company's projects include
$100 million to $150 million in improvements to Vail
Village that are contingent on a pending land swap
with the U.S. Forest Service, and $300 million to
$400 million to revamp the aging Lionshead area.
Private lodges have committed to another
$500 million in improvements to their properties,
ranging from face-lifts to demolitions. Those projects
are in various stages of the town's approval process,
though a few have been completed. All the work is
scheduled to occur over the next five years.
"We're ecstatic with everything,"
said Jim Lamont of the Vail Village Homeowners Association.
"We worked to get the streetscape in place and the
loading and delivery in place, and it revitalizes
the bed base so we can transition from being a day-skier
area back to being a world-class destination resort."
Loading and delivery for commercial
vehicles has long been a contentious issue, one the
redevelopment addresses by putting loading docks underground.
Also, the town broke ground last month
on a $6.65 million publicly funded streetscape project
that will replace 42-year- old water and sewer lines
and install a snowmelt system in the village core,
eliminating snowplowing.
Parking has been one of the biggest
problems for one of the nation's most popular ski
areas, and while the public won't see any benefit
from the three-story underground garage that will
be completed this summer, a number of well-heeled
Vail residents, including the mayor, will.
Of the structure's 109 approved spaces,
101 are under contract for $100,000 apiece. There's
a waiting list of 35 people vying for the other eight
spaces. The garage will be covered by a new town park.
Mayor Rod Slifer was one of the lucky
101.
"One, I think it adds value to where
we live, and two, if we ever move out of the core
of Vail, I'd like to have a parking space," Slifer
said. "Many of the buildings in the heart of Vail
had no accommodations for parking, so it really answers
a need for residents of the village core."
Aron said neither the stalled land
swap with the Forest Service nor the economic vagaries
of the ski industry will impact the timetable for
Vail's New Dawn, as it's being marketed. Last year
Vail Resorts recorded a net loss of $14 million, leading
some in the community to question the ability of the
ski company to deliver on its commitments.
Vail Resorts
MTN:NYSE
$14.67
+ 36 cents
Vail makeover facts
-
$100 million to $150 million
in improvements to Vail Village
-
$300 million to $400 million
to revamp the aging Lionshead area
-
$500 million in improvements
to lodges
-
$11 million park and parking
garage at the east end of town (parking spaces
are being sold for $100,000 apiece)
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