Keystone Resort’s Honki Dori parking lot sold to developers with big designs

This rendering from the developer’s website shows concepts for a planned development that could transform the base of Keystone Resort. Vail Resorts, the owner of Keystone Resort, announced on Monday that it has closed on a deal to sell four acres at the base of Keystone Resort to a development teams that hopes to build a new hotel, about 95 condos and commercial space there.

Vail Resorts has closed on a deal that could land a new hotel, about 95 residential condominiums and more than 12,000 square feet of commercial space where a parking lot currently sits at the base of Keystone Resort.

Vail Resorts, which operates Keystone Resort, announced on Monday that it has agreed to sell of four acres at the base of the River Run Gondola to One River Run Acquisition LLC, a Colorado-based development team. A diagram on the developer’s website confirms the sale encompasses the Honki Dori parking lot.

The One River Run project, as it’s been coined, has been envisioned as part of the Keystone Planned Unit Development for more than two decades now and represents “a critical piece” of Keystone’s base, according to a news release from Vail Resorts.

In it, the company says the planned development at Honki Dori will help make Keystone “an iconic North American mountain resort.”

A resort spokeswoman declined the newspaper’s request for details of the sale.

However, the release says the developer is proposing a full-service, 107-room RockResorts-branded hotel. RockResorts is a subsidiary of Vail Resorts and already manages various properties in Summit County and beyond.

The new hotel would come with a spa, restaurant and banquet space. Other pieces of the planned project call for approximately 95 condos and more than 12,000 square-feet of commercial space, including some restaurant and retail space that’s supposed to be operated by third parties.

“We look forward to collaborating with the Keystone community throughout the development process to significantly enhance the tremendous destination that Keystone represents and create added value and enjoyment for locals and destination guests,” said Shervin “Shevy” Rashidi, a member of the development team, in a prepared statement.

“As a member of the Keystone community for more than 25 years and owner of multiple area businesses, I am extremely proud to be a part of the team that will develop a premier base area project at Keystone,” he added.

One River Run Acquisition LLC is comprised of a group of Colorado developers with experience in commercial, multi-family, mixed-use, residential, medical and hospitality developments, in addition to building, managing and operating more than 200 Yum! Brands properties, which include Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut.

The development team also has deep ties in Summit County and Keystone with ownership of Base Camp Wine & Spirits, Sauce on the Blue, the Inxpot, and Sauce on the Maggie. Along with Rashidi, the developer’s website lists Ryan and Jeff Geller and Scott Russell as the other members of the team.

“This sale to a Colorado-based third party provides a tremendous opportunity to add a vibrant mix of lodging, retail and services to a prime parcel of land at Keystone Resort and a prominent gateway just steps away from the mountain,” said James O’Donnell, executive vice president of hospitality, retail and real estate at Vail Resorts.

The project will have to go thought the county planning process.

“We’re working with the developer as we’re going through the review process,” said Don Reimer, Summit County’s planning director. “We anticipate it going to public hearings sometime this spring, but we don’t have an exact date yet.”

Keystone is one of the closest ski resorts to Denver and the Front Range and boats having more than 3,000 acres of skiable terrain with an average of 300 days of sunshine a year.

via:: Summit Daily