{"id":2441415,"date":"2019-03-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=300910"},"modified":"2019-03-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T07:00:00","slug":"it-will-take-at-least-two-years-before-construction-on-aspens-lift-one-plan-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/it-will-take-at-least-two-years-before-construction-on-aspens-lift-one-plan-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"It will take at least two years before construction on Aspen\u2019s Lift One plan begins"},"content":{"rendered":"
A 3D model of what a new chairlift alignment and new development would look like at the base of Aspen Mountain’s west side.<\/strong>
Courtesy rendering<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The campaign screaming is over, the ballots have been cast and a decision has been rendered on the Lift One Corridor Plan.<\/p>\n

Now what?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect big changes at the western base of Aspen Mountain anytime soon. Representatives of the Lift One Lodge and Gorsuch Haus said they are a couple of years away from breaking ground on their projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about a year to draw (final design and plans) and about a year to permit with the city,\u201d Michael Brown, a partner in the Lift One Lodge, said shortly after the election results were released Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe intend to move very quickly through this,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe\u2019re incredibly excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim DeFrancia, president of Lowe Enterprises, which is a partner in the Gorsuch Haus, said the hotel development team will shift its focus toward final design and approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that\u2019s going to take 12 to 15 months, so that puts us into mid-2020, and then we move into detailed construction design, bidding,\u201d DeFrancia said Tuesday night. \u201cWe look to break ground in probably spring of 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one of Aspen\u2019s closest elections ever<\/a>, voters approved the Lift One Corridor Plan by 1,555 to 1,529, or a razor-thin margin of 50.4 to 49.6 percent.<\/p>\n

That grants approvals to the 107,000-square-foot Lift One Lodge, which will add 34 fractional and six full-interest condominiums, and the 64,000-square-foot, 81-room Gorsuch Haus luxury hotel.<\/p>\n

Brown estimated the \u201chard costs\u201d for his project at $150 million.<\/p>\n

The plan includes skiers\u2019 services space, restaurants, bars, a ski museum and a parking garage. The total square footage is about 320,000.<\/p>\n

Ben Anderson, a planner with the city, said Lift One Lodge and Gorsuch Haus will be treated separately for the remaining land-use reviews. Within one year from Tuesday\u2019s election, both projects are required to apply for a detailed review by the Aspen Planning and Zoning Commission, he said. Lift One Lodge also must apply for a final review with the Historic Preservation Commission because of on-site historic resources.<\/p>\n

Approvals by the boards are subject to call-up by the Aspen City Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, it is important to note that the major aspects of both projects have been established by (Tuesday\u2019s) voter approval,\u201d Anderson said in an email. \u201cThe detailed reviews are just that, about details \u2014 materials, windows, doors, landscaping, exterior lighting, etc. At this point, mass, scale, height, basic sight planning and internal programming \u2014 are all set.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the projects complete final review and entitlement documents are recorded, the development teams can apply for their separate building permits.<\/p>\n

City Attorney Jim True said some issues not directly related to land use, such as escrow funds, will go before the council, he said.<\/p>\n

A key part of the Lift One Corridor Plan is the replacement of Lift 1A and its extension downhill by an additional 500 feet. That will make the lift more accessible from Dean Street.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s prior purchase of one-half acre from the Dolinsek family ended up being essential to making the relocation of the lower lift terminal possible. The terminal will be downslope and west of the Dolinsek land. The property will be used for skier access to the lift as they come down the mountain.<\/p>\n

The Dolinseks have a life estate<\/a> on the property. It cannot be used for skiing until no family members live on the site, so even when the lift is constructed it is unknown when it could be used.<\/p>\n

Once construction starts on the chairlift, Aspen Skiing Co.\u2019s goal \u201cwill be to have the lift out of commission for as short a period as we can,\u201d company officials said in an email in response to an inquiry from The Aspen Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost likely two seasons, but that is dependent on a number of variables with regard to other construction timelines,\u201d Skico officials said. \u201cThere is a slim chance we could pull off the install in one season, but a lot of puzzle pieces would have to fit together for that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The terrain on the west side of the ski area would remain open down to Summer Road, which provides access to the Little Nell terrain and the Silver Queen Gondola.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe replacement process would impact skiing on Norway as well as the lower sections of Fifth Avenue, Normandy and Schuss Gully,\u201d Skico officials said.<\/p>\n

The company is planning for what is called a telemix or chondola, which is a combination of a chair and gondola.<\/p>\n

White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams said last week no further review of the lift replacement is necessary by the U.S. Forest Service. The agency granted approval for replacement of the lift last year, when it was contemplated the lower terminal would remain in the same vicinity it is now. Fitzwilliams said it doesn\u2019t matter to the Forest Service if the lower terminal is moved further downhill because it doesn\u2019t affect national forest lands. Additional Forest Service review would only be triggered if Skico changed the alignment, he said.<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 3D model of what a new chairlift alignment and new development would look like at the base of Aspen Mountain’s west side.Courtesy rendering The campaign screaming is over, the ballots have been cast and a decision has been rendered on the Lift One Corridor Plan. Now what? Don\u2019t expect big changes at the western […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2441415","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 00:11:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2441415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2441415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2441415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2441415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2441415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}