REAL ESTATE IN THE NEWS
REAL ESTATE IN THE NEWS
Current Events in the Roaring Fork Valley of Particular Interest to the Real Estate Community
Compliments of the Aspen Board of REALTORS® A rundown of government and business activity over the last month, focusing on issues and items that are of particular interest to the Real Estate community.
ASPEN
RETT Hauls in $24 Million
The city of Aspen collected nearly $24 million in taxes paid at the closing of 638 free-market real estate deals in 2024, according to the Aspen Daily News and a sales tax report released in January. The figure achieved neither new heights nor dubious distinctions, settling in at 4% ahead of the city’s haul of $22.9 million on 603 transactions in 2023.
Buyers of free-market real estate within city limits pay a 1.5% real estate transfer tax, or RETT, at closing. The RETT is paid on sales of commercial and residential real estate, with some exceptions granted. Roughly two-thirds of RETT collections support municipal housing funds and the remaining one-third supports the city-owned Opera House and Red Brick Center for the Arts. RETT collections of $23.9 million beat the city’s budgeted amount of $19.4 million for 2024, the report said.
Armory Could Get Expedited Review
Aspen City Council will pursue an expedited land use review for the Armory Hall redevelopment project with the goal of starting construction as early as summer 2026, the Aspen Daily News reported. An expedited review would aim to have the application before the city’s Historic Preservation Commission in April and start construction one year ahead of a normal review.
Expediting the review also would prevent prolonging the development as project costs continue to increase. The city council unanimously supported expediting the land use review for the proposed community gathering space that would house a new visitors center, restaurants, bars, open seating areas and more. The city council approved $2 million in the 2025 budget for the Armory project. The construction budget is estimated at $35 million.
Sara Ott Is Not Leaving Aspen, Yet
Aspen City Manager Sara Ott was the runner-up for the Louisville City Manager position she was vying for, the Aspen Daily News reported. The Louisville City Council voted 7-0 at a special meeting to extend an offer for the city manager’s position to Diana Langley, city manager of Yuma City, California. While Langley was the unanimous favorite among the council members, Ott was the unanimous second choice. The Louisville council’s special meeting came after the open position attracted 50 applicants as part of a national search that began in August. Ott, who started with Aspen as assistant city manager in 2017, was one of the four finalists announced in December.
Survey Reveals Entrance Wishes
Results from a survey of voters regarding the entrance to Aspen show most respondents preferred a highway realignment option that reroutes all or a portion of the lanes on Highway 82 over the Marolt and Thomas open spaces, the Aspen Daily News reported. About 52% of Aspen voters ranked the modified direct (also called the preferred alternative) as their first choice. The preferred alternative would reroute Highway 82 over a portion of the Marolt and Thomas open spaces, bypassing the S-curves and reconnecting with Main Street where it intersects with South 7th Street.
About 25% of respondents ranked a three-lane shifted replacement of the current bridge as their first choice for an entrance alternative, the second-most popular first-choice option. Another 45% of the respondents ranked it as their last choice. About 42% ranked the split-shot alternative as their second choice. The split-shot would build a new two-lane road across the Marolt Open Space and keep outbound traffic on the S-curves.
Snowmass Village
Some Snowmass Lifts Move to 9 a.m. Start
Two lifts at Snowmass Ski Area now open at 9 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m., a change that Aspen Skiing Co. says is dictated by operational factors, the Aspen Daily News reported. But some local residents say the latter start cuts into their quality of life, and they are rounding up support to put pressure on SkiCo to return to the earlier start time.
The Village Express and Sam’s Knob lifts were among the earliest opening Aspen-Snowmass lifts around the holidays. They serve the west side of Snowmass. According to the Aspen-Snowmass app, they now are open at 9 a.m. No lift or gondola across SkiCo’s four mountains opens earlier (except the Sky Cab, or “Skittles,” which transports riders between the Snowmass Mall and Base Village).
Snowmass Inching Toward Housing
A year after the Snowmass Center went on the market, the Snowmass Village Town Council took its first steps in acquiring a portion of the land to build affordable housing, the Aspen Daily News reported. The town council approved a minor planned unit development amendment to the Snowmass Center redevelopment, the first step in the town’s acquisition of 3 acres behind the Snowmass Center parcel.
The town council previously approved a PUD for the Snowmass Center in 2020. The new plan the town council approved includes relocation of the transit center to accommodate future residential units behind the Snowmass Center and at the adjacent Draw site. It also includes an updated community gathering space, an atrium, a rooftop gathering space and a centrally located community space designed for year-round use and to work with neighboring businesses.
Basalt
Affordable Housing Projects Chug Along
The affordable housing landscape in Basalt will grow by at least two developments in the next three to four years as the town churns ahead on its housing goals, the Aspen Daily News reported. Those include the Stott’s Mill duplex, Sopris Meadows Parcel 9 and the Willits Housing and Community Space, also known as Parcel 2E.
Stott’s Mill is designated for town employees — specifically as a recruitment tool for department directors — with construction scheduled for completion this fall. Parcel 2E is a 2.3-acre parcel acquired in 2001 during land-use approvals for the Willits Town Center development at the corner of Willits and Lewis Lanes. The other town-owned parcel, Parcel 9, slated for affordable housing is farther along. Nearing the sketch-plan approval process, the town has a design plan for 14 two-bedroom, two-bathroom, 950-square-foot units.
Carbondale
True Nature Expands Programming
The True Nature Healing Arts Foundation, best known in Carbondale and beyond as a place promoting wellness, healing and community, is expanding its programming efforts in 2025, the Sopris Sun reported. This will include an uptick in programs centered around connection, such as addiction support, programming for children and even grief work — all built from an Ayurvedic philosophy. The owners always intended for True Nature to become a nonprofit foundation. It has operated several for-profit businesses within the establishment for a number of years toward this aim.
Glenwood Springs
Schwartz Steps Down from Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley President and CEO Gail Schwartz announced that she’ll be stepping down in April and a nationwide search committee is interviewing candidates to take over the position, the Aspen Daily News reported. The former state senator has led the local Habitat organization since early 2020. During the last five years, Schwartz oversaw Habitat’s ReStore in Glenwood Springs, along with projects that have provided homes for about 70 families, including the Basalt Vista affordable housing development.
Schwartz plans to continue as a consultant on several of the organization’s ongoing projects including the L3 condominium conversion in Glenwood Springs, the Wapiti Commons housing development in Rifle, and the construction of a modular housing production and workforce training facility in Rifle.
Pitkin County
School District Considering Cost-Saving Measures
Increasing class sizes, cutting athletic coaching positions and cutting some excess operational costs could save the Aspen School District millions of dollars, according to district leaders, reported by the Aspen Daily News. But those changes don’t come without tradeoffs, and ASD will need to balance staff, teacher and community priorities when deciding where to cut expenses, Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry said during a town hall about the district’s financial situation.
District officials held the town hall to maintain transparency as it works to rebuild its reserve balance that decreased 75% in the last five years to a precariously low amount. Mulberry and district financial leaders explained how the district allowed its reserve balance to decrease from $8 million to about $2 million from 2018 and how it was planning to save money, with the ultimate goal of increasing staff salaries to make ASD teachers the highest-paid in the state.
Essential Repairs Helps 46 Homeowners
Grants issued by the Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority for essential home repairs averaged $7,577 in the grant program’s pilot year, the Aspen Daily News reported. The Essential Repairs Pilot Program made homeowners of deed-restricted units eligible for up to $10,000 in grants for essential home repairs. Of the 92 applications APCHA received after the program launched in the fall of 2023, 46 were approved, 37 were denied and nine were received too late.
Most of the applications that were denied were because of repairs that did not qualify under the program. Some applications originally approved were later denied if homeowners took no action toward making the repair. APCHA received $400,000 in total from the city of Aspen and Pitkin County in 2024 for the first year. The most common repairs, for windows, made up 44% of the grant program’s disbursements in 2024. About 9% of homeowners used the grant to repair roofs, another 9% used the grant for plumbing or leak repairs, and 8% repaired hot-water heaters. Homeowners also used the grant for boiler repairs, mold remediation and more.
Richard Neiley Appointed to Pitkin County Attorney
Pitkin County stayed in-house for its search for a new county attorney, choosing to promote the interim Richard Neiley to the permanent position, the Aspen Daily News reported. Neiley — known as “Ry” — has been with the county for over eight years. Recently, he oversaw the finalization of the contract between the county and Atlantic Aviation for the fixed-base operator role at the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport and a major land use acquisition, Three Meadows Ranch in Missouri Heights. The position’s compensation package includes a $272,000 annual salary, plus benefits — an approximate 10% salary increase from the previous county attorney.
Pfister Land Subdivided
The ownership of two large lots off of West Buttermilk Road received preliminary approval to subdivide the property on an ask that tested the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners’ willingness to break up the rural land, the Aspen Daily News reported. After a protracted discussion on fences, water and floor area, the BOCC unanimously approved a conceptual subdivision and planned unit development for 1833 and 1901 W. Buttermilk Road at their meeting Wednesday.
The property owners, SEP Residence Trust (Suzanne Pfister) and NMP Residence Trust (Juliana Pfister) said they are planning for their families’ futures by subdividing the land. The total 85.3 acres of the West Buttermilk Pfister Tracts Subdivision will be split into six lots — four with single-family homes on each one, one with an employee dwelling unit and one serving as common open space.