REAL ESTATE IN THE NEWS
REAL ESTATE IN THE NEWS
News 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
Short-term Rentals Regulations Are Effective
Short-term-rental permit regulations implemented about six months ago in the city of Aspen and Pitkin County are limiting the growth of the residential vacation rental marketplace, Aspen Journalism reported. Both governments debuted new short-term rental policies last year, in response to accelerating residential construction, environmental impact and socioeconomic concern.
Since new permits became available in September and October, Aspen has issued 790 as of April 3 and 111 licenses were issued in unincorporated Pitkin County as of April 20, for a total of 901 licensed STRs between the jurisdictions. That appears to be well below the total number of properties involved in short-term vacation renting prior to the new permit regulations. There are now more than 50 properties on a waitlist for a city STR permit, while eight of 14 residential zoning districts have reached or exceeded their caps.
Park Rental Regulations Take Effect
Aspen City Council voted 4-1 to approve updates to Aspen’s park rental and special events policies, the Aspen Daily News reported. The proposed fees for commercial uses charges groups with less than five participants $10 per day and groups with five or more participants $35 a day in addition to the hourly park rental fee and an application fee. Aspen’s park rentals will be regulated going forward based on group size and type, and commercial uses will be subject to the new fees. Under the new park use policy, rentals will be limited to four hours, and only 16 of the city’s nearly 30 parks can be rented. Those 16 larger parks must be rented for acceptable uses, and the city anticipates each park to be rented for a certain number of hours each month.
Mark Hunt Purchases Mother Lode Building
Another building on the 300 block of East Hopkins Avenue was bought by developer Mark Hunt in a $7 million commercial deal, the Aspen Daily News reported. A limited liability company controlled by Hunt added the Mother Lode building’s ground-level space to the other buildings on the 300 block of East Hyman Avenue that he acquired in recent years.
The latest deal gives Hunt 2,794 square feet of ground-level retail/office space and 499 square feet of storage space in the building basement. Not included in the deal was the building’s penthouse that sold for $36.5 million in September 2021. Hunt also is building a boutique hotel in the former Crystal Palace Theater space next door to the Mother Lode building.
Snowmass Village
Snowmass Concert Series Announced
The Snowmass Free Concert Series, a long-standing summer tradition, returns to Fanny Hill every Thursday evening from June 15 to Aug. 24, the Aspen Daily New reported. Booked in partnership with JAS Aspen Snowmass, the lineup includes June 15: Don Chicharron, June 22: Robert Jon & the Wreck; June 29: Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble; July 6: A-Mac & the Height; July 13: James Hunter; July 20: Chicago Farmer; July 27: Emily Wolfe; Aug. 3: The Brothers Comatose; Aug. 10: LowDown Brass Band; Aug. 17: Digging Dirt; Aug. 24: Honey Island Swamp Band. Admission to Fanny Hill will open at 5:30 p.m. with shows starting at 6:30 p.m.
Town Decides to Delay Transportation Project
The town of Snowmass Village withdrew its Mall Transit Center project application after the town council heard information from the public and town staff that suggested now is not the right time for the improvements, the Aspen Daily News reported. The decision sends the project back to the drawing board, and it also means that the previously secured project funding is no longer available. The town had secured $32 million in funding, only $3 million of which came from the town itself.
The project would have redesigned the transit center to include restrooms, more space for buses and more convenience for guests and commuters. Staff presented two timelines: a more disruptive, fast-paced 28-month construction plan and a slower 40-month plan. Members of the business community who spoke during public comment said that 40 months would not be sustainable amid an already bustling construction schedule for other projects in the area.
Basalt
Recreational Use Limited
Ongoing development in the midvalley is impacting deer and elk herds and driving a proposal by Colorado Parks and Wildlife to curtail recreational use of the Basalt State Wildlife Area, the Aspen Daily News reported. The value of the habitat on the roughly 5,000-acre wildlife area in the hills above Basalt has increased because of several land-use development proposals.
CPW officials have noticed more deer using the wildlife area and surrounding federal lands for fawning and more elk using it for calving. The extended closure dates will provide more protection for the herds. CPW is adjusting rules for the 350 wildlife areas it operates, including the Basalt State Wildlife Area, where access was closed from Dec. 1 to April 15 and under the proposal will remain closed through July 15. That would affect a trail network above Basalt’s Hill District that is popular with hikers. The wildlife area was already closed to mountain biking.
Basalt Looking for Anchor Tenant
The developers of the Basalt Center Circle project are seeking a buyer or partner to take over 8,000 square feet of commercial space approved for a grocery store and food hall, the Aspen Daily News reported. BCC Basalt LLC, a company controlled by Tim Belinski and Andrew Light, listed the commercial component of their project for $5.5 million last week. They are looking for a party to buy, lease or enter a joint venture on the commercial space.
The Basalt Center Circle project was approved by the Basalt Town Council in August 2022 for the site where Clark’s Market once operated at the gateway to downtown. The existing building will be demolished and replaced with a new structure. The approval is for 65 apartments, with 17 of those being price-controlled, as well as 9,000 square feet of commercial space. They plan to break ground this summer.
Carbondale
Eagle Study Recommends Maintaining Buffer Zone
A year-long study of bald eagle and other wildlife activity at the Aspen Glen golf course community near Carbondale serves to support a 2021 Garfield County decision to leave a special bald eagle buffer zone in place, the Aspen Daily News reported. Volunteers with the Roaring Fork Audubon Society and John Sovell, a wildlife biologist with Colorado State University, coordinated with Aspen Glen homeowners to conduct the wildlife camera trap monitoring study from January 2022 through January 2023.
The study was requested by the Garfield Board of County Commissioners after their October 2021 decision to deny a request by the owners of the golf course and several undeveloped parcels to remove an eagle’s nest buffer zone that was put in place when the development was first approved in 1992, so that those areas could be developed. Although the actual nest that was intended to be protected no longer exists after part of the tree where it was located blew over in 2018, residents have maintained that the eagles are still highly active in the area and that the protections should remain.
Glenwood Springs
Community Gives Feedback on Old Safeway Project
Glenwood Springs community members who attended a neighborhood meeting to learn about a proposed development project at the old Safeway location said they wanted to see less rental housing and a new grocery store, the Aspen Daily News reported. The proposed mixed-use project would include 195 rental apartments, 20% of which would be deed-restricted for affordability, in addition to 15,508 square feet of commercial space across six buildings on the 5-acre property.
Team members presented a site plan, parking information, renderings of the six buildings and concepts of what the community could look like. The concept was based on Glenwood’s 2023 comprehensive plan, which zones the area as mixed-use and an ideal location for a pedestrian-friendly community. The proposal includes two commercial buildings facing Grand Avenue and four other mixed-use buildings behind them. The residential buildings would be three stories high with parking spaces underneath.
Hotel Denver Getting Facelift
Just over a year after it was sold for $15 million, the Hotel Denver in Glenwood Springs is getting a facelift, the Aspen Daily News reported. The hotel announced a two-phase renovation project to update its lobby and all guest rooms. Sherman’s Terrapin Investments purchased the hotel from its previous owners in fall 2021 along with Hotel Glenwood Springs. The total price of both sales was $24 million.
The Aspen-based company is managing the Hotel Denver project with architect Rally Dupps and Denver-based interior design company Wild Muse Interiors. The project aims to maintain the antiques and historical details but merge them with modern furnishings, including a lobby bar.
Pitkin County
Coal Basin to Add Bike Trails
A company connected to the Walton family of Walmart fame plans to expand public mountain biking and hiking trail network on its private lands west of Redstone, the Aspen Daily News reported. Crystal Basin Holdings LLC received unanimous approval from Pitkin County commissioners to add 5.5 miles of trails to an existing network of 4.5 miles of trails in Coal Basin.
The company’s 221-acre Coal Basin Ranch is located about 3.5 miles west of Redstone where Mid-Continent Coal and Coke Co. operated coal mines until 1991. The first phase of trails was approved by Pitkin County in 2018 and opened to the public in 2021. The small network includes a small pump track with flats and small hills that are family friendly.
County Mulls Slight Redistricting
Pitkin County will consider tweaks to the five commissioner district boundaries based on results of the 2020 federal census, the Aspen Daily News reported. The redrawn districts will be in effect for the 2024 general election. The district boundaries drawn after the 2010 federal census now have a 15% variance between the high and low population districts.
District 4 now has a population of 3,790. The district with the lowest population is district 5 with 3,259. District 4 is currently represented by Steve Child. District 5 is currently represented by Francie Jacober. In all options, the boundaries of District 4 will be reduced. The district includes Snowmass Village, the Old Snowmass area and a vast rural area that includes parts of Snowmass Creek Road and Capitol Creek Road.