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
City Council Approves Aspen Meadows Housing
The Aspen City Council approved the Aspen Meadows housing proposal during a special meeting in May after spending five separate meetings reviewing the controversial project, the Aspen Daily news reported. Council members voted 4-1 to move the project forward while acknowledging the need to continue addressing existing traffic problems in the West End.
For months, West End residents have expressed concern about existing traffic issues in their neighborhood and the issues that might arise with the joint proposal to create new housing units on the Meadows campus for the Aspen Institute, Aspen Center for Physics and AMFS. The most recent iteration proposes building 54 units of housing for the three organizations to house employees and visiting physicists.
Aspen Valley Health Housing Approved by Council
The Aspen City Council formally approved Aspen Valley Health’s plan to redevelop the Beaumont Inn on the city’s east side, the Aspen Daily News reported. The project will redevelop the property’s existing 25 units into 60, mostly one-bedroom units to house full-time hospital staff. It’s part of AVH’s plan to build 256 housing units in the next 10 years
The housing will prioritize employees who may need to be called to the hospital at a moment’s notice during an emergency. The development will create 60 affordable housing units across seven new buildings that would range from 26 to 30 feet tall. The proposal calls for 58 on-site parking spaces. AVH will provide five additional off-site parking spaces at the hospital’s campus to meet city development parking requirements.
ARC Pool Closed for Summer
The Aspen Recreation Center is closed from June 1 to Sept. 30 while it undergoes essential facility repairs, the Aspen Daily News reported. The city plans to replaster the lap pool, remove and replace pool drains, update the pool’s ozone and chlorine system controls and replace the ARC’s boiler. Most of the infrastructure has not been updated since the building was first constructed 23 years ago.
The entire project will cost about $4.6 million, about $2.9 million more than initially anticipated. The Aspen City Council approved $1.83 million in contracts in November for the upgrades, but after securing the contracts, further analysis determined that “structural aspects of the original construction must be corrected in order to successfully complete the necessary repairs to the drainage infrastructure and concrete deck replacement identified in the original scope of work.”
Snowmass Village
Future for Krabloonik Unknown
The fate of a Snowmass Village-owned parcel formally home to Krabloonik Dogsledding operation is unknown, after the buildings have fallen into disrepair and there is no tenant, the Aspen Daily News reported. Future uses are tightly constrained by a Planned Unit Development agreement with the Divide Homeowners Association. Under existing zoning, it can be used as one of three things: dog sledding and restaurant, single-family residential or open space.
Town staff interpretations suggest it could operate as a restaurant without the dog sledding operation. In its current condition, it is far from a turnkey restaurant operation. There has been deferred maintenance over the years by tenants, combined with aging infrastructure, they describe. Work planned for this summer includes the removal of small outbuildings, site grading and revegetation. Significant work has already taken place post-tenant move-out in terms of the cleanup of the building interiors and removal of outside debris.
Willows Rebuilding Gets the Yes Nod
Snowmass Town Council unanimously approved final design plans for the new structure to replace condo D in the Willows, which burned beyond repair in a 2024 fire, the Aspen Daily News reported. A proposed $435,000 housing mitigation fee attached to the four new free-market units added to the new design, which includes two studio units at the basement level and two larger units on the third floor, was up for debate.
The original two-story building had seven units, but designs call for a new three-story building with 11 units. The four new free-market units are estimated to bring in an estimated $7.3 million to the Willows HOA. The four units are necessary to offset “construction costs growing at a rate that is very concerning for our industry,” applicants said. After a $9.2 million insurance payment, the HOA was still about $1.9 million (including the $435,000 housing mitigation fee) short in terms of covering total costs.
Basalt
Town Council Sees New and Old Electeds
Basalt residents elected Angela Anderson, Elyse Hottel and Greg Shaffran to the Basalt Town Council in April, the Aspen Daily News reported. Anderson, an incumbent elected to her second term, received 396 votes. Hottel received 467 and Shaffran received 516 votes. Hottel previously served on the town council from 2020-2024 but did not initially run for reelection because she experienced housing instability when her income surpassed the limits for her deed-restricted housing. Shaffran is a first-time candidate.
Carbondale
New Carbondale Pools Opens
The new Carbondale Aquatics Center officially opened to the public in May, marking the return of a community asset and the start of a new chapter for aquatic recreation in town, the Aspen Daily News reported. The new facility replaces the John M. Fleet Pool, which served the community from 1979 to 2023. Designed by local architecture firm Land+Shelter, the aquatics center reflects both the character of Carbondale and the town's continued evolution
Built by AD Miller Services Inc., a Colorado-based construction company, the $13.4 million features a six-lane a six-lane lap pool, a climbing wall, a toddler shelf, a 16-person hot tub and a diving board. It’s the region’s first fully electric pool.
Carbondale Elects Three Representatives
Carbondale residents elected three people to the Board of Trustees on Election Day in April, the Aspen Daily News reported. They also elected a current trustee to the mayoral seat. Chris Hassig, Colin Laird and Kade Gianinetti were the top three vote-getters out of four candidates for the board of trustees. Hassig received 1,232 votes, Laird received 1,230 and Gianinetti received 1,060 votes. Erica Sparhawk was elected mayor, defeating longtime Carbondale resident Patricia Savoy. Sparhawk received 1,380 votes. Savoy received 173.
Glenwood Springs
Harvest Roaring Fork Pulls Application
Harvest Roaring Fork’s Planned Unit Development application — which seeks to build a 1,500-unit subdivision along Highway 82 between Glenwood Springs and Carbondale — was officially withdrawn from Garfield County’s Community Development Department, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported. Pulling it was based on some areas identified for “clean up” by county staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the withdrawal is a necessary part of the process.
The proposal generated significant controversy and opposition throughout the valley, as it laid out plans to transform the 283-acre property (formerly Sanders Ranch) into a town unto itself, with between 3,000 to 5,000 people occupying nine neighborhoods, 55,000 square feet of mixed-use commercial space and a 120-room hotel.
Site and Architectural Plans Approved for New Site
Glenwood Springs City Council approved a minor site and architectural plan for a 30,000-square-foot mixed-use building at 210 Eighth St., a vacant downtown parcel now occupied by the Bumble food truck, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported. The project includes 24 apartments and two ground-floor commercial spaces. The building will include a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, bike and e-bike storage, ground-floor storefront space and five rent-restricted apartments.
Pitkin County
Airport Closure Dates Announced
The Aspen-Pitkin County Airport will close for nearly eight months next year so crews can rebuild the runway in a wider layout, with no flights in or out between 11 p.m. on April 4 and 7 p.m. on Nov. 19, 2027, the Aspen Daily News reported. The new runway is meant to meet current Federal Aviation Administration standards, which airport leaders say will be key for federal grants toward further airport work.
Crews will also begin construction in April on a new commercial passenger terminal and new fixed-base operator facilities for private planes. The commercial terminal won’t be complete by the time the runway reopens, so airlines and passengers will continue to use the current building until the new one is complete around 2029. During the closure, travelers will have to use other regional airports like Grand Junction, Eagle or Denver, then take ground transportation like a car or bus to get to and from Aspen.
County Floats Taking Over Maroon Bells Operations
The Maroon Bells Scenic Area is losing money, and staffing, maintenance and operations for the iconic destination cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the White River National Forest gets in revenue from the site, the Aspen Daily News reported. To make up for that deficit, starting in 2027, Pitkin County could take over day-to-day operations at the scenic area completely—running everything from staffing to maintenance, and increasing fees to help cover the costs—through a special use permit issued by the Forest Service. The idea will require more review, planning and approvals to manifest, but earned some initial support from commissioners during a May meeting.
Nell-Bell Construction Underway
Aspen Skiing Co. is replacing the Little Nell four-pack and Bell Mountain double with one continuous high-speed quad, the Aspen Daily News reported. The new “Nell Bell” chairlift is designed to run parallel to the Silver Queen Gondola, taking skiers from the base of the ski area to the top of Bell Mountain’s bumps and steeps in about eight minutes. It’s faster than riding the gondola to the summit and skiing down to access Bell Mountain. It will help reduce lines at the base at busy times, and provides some redundancy on days the gondola can’t run due to high winds or other issues. Construction began this spring and will finish in the fall for the 2026-27 season.