Vail Resorts to Sell Riverfront Site
Vail Resorts announced its real estate subsidiary, Vail Resorts Development Company, will
sell a land parcel adjacent to the Eagle River in Avon, Colorado of under
20 acres pursuant to a contract with East West Partners of Avon, Colorado.
East West Partners has several decades experience in mountain resort
development, and has previously completed numerous projects at Vail Resorts’
Beaver Creek ski resort, including projects in and around Beaver Creek Village
and at Bachelor Gulch.Separately, East West Partners announced today that it intends to build a
luxury Westin hotel of about 200 rooms and a full-service spa and fitness
facility. In addition the project will include a riverfront park and a retail
plaza as well as condominiums, townhomes and fractional vacation ownership
opportunities that will be created at what is expected to be known as the
Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa.
Importantly, the new Westin hotel would be linked to the Beaver Creek ski
mountain via a three-minute ride on a proposed new high-speed eight-person
public gondola, to be funded as part of the project, which in turn would take
guests to existing Beaver Creek Mountain high-speed lifts.
Commenting, Vail Resorts chairman and chief executive officer Adam M. Aron
said, “Beaver Creek is already internationally known as one of the world’s
finest ski resorts. It will be made even better, and we are particularly
excited by the prospect of having a new luxury Westin resort hotel linked to
Beaver Creek Mountain via high-speed gondola and lift. In addition the
proposed new riverfront park will be a welcomed new amenity for Avon and the
Vail Valley. The combination of the Westin hotel and residences, gondola and
riverfront park clearly extend the Beaver Creek vacation experience into the
heart of Avon, Colorado. While all the approvals are not yet in hand, it is
nonetheless a pleasure to salute the Town Council of Avon and East West
Partners for their forward thinking and commitment to this notable progress.”
The land sale is currently expected to close sometime in Vail Resorts’
fiscal 2006, and groundbreaking for the new hotel and residential complex
could begin as soon as the summer of 2006. However, the land sale is subject
to East West Partners securing zoning modifications and other closing
conditions, and commencement of the project is subject to certain pre-sale and
other contingencies.
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