Elevated Snowmass, led by Hotelier Stephane De Baets, gave an initial presentation to the Snowmass Village Town Council and Planning Commission during a joint work session Monday on the potential redevelopment of the Viewline, Snowmass Conference Center and Wildwood Lodge into the Ritz Carlton.

De Baets, owner of the St. Regis in Aspen and Redstone Castle, acquired the Snowmass property last year.

"My love story with the valley started about 16 years ago, when my company acquired the St. Regis in Aspen," De Baets said at the session. "Last year, we had this wonderful opportunity to acquire what I believe is one of the best pieces of real estate in North America, which is the Viewline, Conference Center and the Wildwood."

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Photo: Viewline Resort Snowmass.
Courtesy photo

Aspen City Council voted to move the Aspen Meadows affordable housing project forward Monday after hearing an updated proposal and reopening the public comment.

The Aspen Institute, Aspen Music Festival and School and Aspen Center for Physics are currently proposing a development of housing units spread out over the Aspen Meadows subdivision, with highest priority of employee housing given to full-time year-round staff. New trail connections, right-of-way improvements, reconfiguration of parking lots and landscaping improvements are also included in the proposal.

Updates to the proposal recommended at the council's March 24 meeting were presented Monday, namely the removal of the three units from North Street and the potential safety measures for the entrance to the property off 4th Street that prioritize pedestrians, bicycles, and public transit.

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Photo: The Aspen Meadows affordable housing project, proposed on the same campus that hosts Aspen Ideas Festival among other events, was approved Monday.
Ideas Festival Aspen/Aspen Institute

Aspen City Council heard an updated proposal Tuesday night for the Aspen Meadows affordable housing project, with Mayor Rachael Richards reopening public comment in response to the changes.

The proposal is to construct affordable housing spread over the Aspen Meadows campus for the Aspen Institute, Aspen Music Festival and School and the Aspen Center for Physics, according to an executive summary submitted before the regular meeting. Based on feedback previously provided at council's Feb. 24 and March 10 meetings, updates were presented in order to accommodate concerns around the proposed housing units on North Street and the Aspen Center for Physics, in addition to the proposed 4th Street entrance, among other topics.

Josh Frieman, chair of the Board of the Aspen Center for Physics and a 40-year volunteer there, took the lead to address the particular concerns surrounding the center's proposal.

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Photo: The Aspen Meadows Resort.
Aspen Meadows Resort/Courtesy photo

The construction of a 109-unit building at the Aspen Airport Business Center could soon begin.

Aspen City Council will decide on March 24 if it will tie up financial documents needed to begin construction for the first building of the Lumberyard affordable housing project, a three-building, $360 million, 277-unit workforce housing development. The Lumberyard site is located across Colorado Highway 82 on the upvalley side of the Aspen Airport Business Center.

Aspen Capital Asset Director Robert Schober said in a Monday work session that the city and Gorman & Company - the contractor that will build and manage the development, once finished - are on track to finish the financial closing for the first, 109-unit building and preliminary infrastructure work by late-March or early-April.

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Photo: The late-winter sun shines down upon the site of the Lumberyard affordable housing development on Wednesday. Construction of the first Lumberyard building may begin this spring.
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale/The Aspen Times

The Aspen Center for Physics will rethink part of its affordable housing proposal after the Aspen City Council expressed concerns about the center's proposed housing units along North Street.

Council members requested the Aspen Center for Physics review its proposal during a meeting on Tuesday night. It was a continuation of the Feb. 24 meeting, where the city council heard nearly two hours of public comment both in support and opposition to the larger Aspen Meadows affordable housing proposal.

Council members did not make a final decision on Tuesday. Mayor Rachel Richards said at both meetings that she and her fellow council members want to move through the application slowly to ensure it meets the needs of both the Aspen Meadows institutions and the West End neighborhood.

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Photo: Aspen City Council asked the Aspen Center for Physics to reconsider three proposed single-family housing units along North Street. The proposal is part of the larger Aspen Meadows housing project that includes housing for the Aspen Institute and Aspen Music Festival and School.

Jason Charme/Aspen Daily News