{"id":2447952,"date":"2019-08-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-25T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=311720"},"modified":"2019-08-26T07:26:41","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T13:26:41","slug":"aspen-developer-looks-back-at-successes-challenges-as-w-aspen-hotel-opens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-developer-looks-back-at-successes-challenges-as-w-aspen-hotel-opens\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen developer looks back at successes, challenges as W Aspen Hotel opens"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.5676959619952\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-311720-729\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/sarpaprofle-atd-082519-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/sarpaprofle-atd-082519.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy photo | An image ot the WET Deck on top of the new W Aspen hotel. The 8,000-square-foot rootop will be open to the public.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>An image ot the WET Deck on top of the new W Aspen hotel. The 8,000-square-foot rootop will be open to the public.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/sarpaprofle-atd-082519.jpg\" alt=\"An image ot the WET Deck on top of the new W Aspen hotel. The 8,000-square-foot rootop will be open to the public.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/sarpaprofle-atd-082519-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/sarpaprofle-atd-082519-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Carolyn Sackariason\/The Aspen Times | John Sarrpa, co-developer of the W Aspen hotel and the Sky Residences at the W Aspen, in front of the new property, which is slated to open on Thursday.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>John Sarrpa, co-developer of the W Aspen hotel and the Sky Residences at the W Aspen, in front of the new property, which is slated to open on Thursday.<\/strong><br \/>Carolyn Sackariason\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/sarpaprofle-atd-082519-1.jpg\" alt=\"John Sarrpa, co-developer of the W Aspen hotel and the Sky Residences at the W Aspen, in front of the new property, which is slated to open on Thursday.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/sarpaprofle-atd-082519-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/sarpaprofle-atd-082519-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"aspen times file | John Sarpa in 1990 during the Ritz-Carlton Hotel campaign.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>John Sarpa in 1990 during the Ritz-Carlton Hotel campaign.<\/strong><br \/>aspen times file<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/08\/sarpaprofle-atd-082519-2.jpg\" alt=\"John Sarpa in 1990 during the Ritz-Carlton Hotel campaign.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspen-developer-looks-back-at-successes-challenges-as-w-aspen-hotel-opens\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspen-developer-looks-back-at-successes-challenges-as-w-aspen-hotel-opens\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">John Sarpa\u2019s ability to navigate three luxury properties at the base of Aspen Mountain in the past 30-plus years got its foundation from his involvement in the Middle East peace treaty process during the Carter administration then being part of a group that out-maneuvered Donald Trump for 120 acres of prime Aspen real estate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But it is the guiding principle of the Aspen Idea that Sarpa has relied on as the basis for what he\u2019s done since becoming immersed in Aspen in 1984.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The former director of Middle Eastern affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has helped develop more than 750,000 square feet around Aspen, and the latest is this week\u2019s opening of the W Aspen Hotel at the base of the mountain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With that amount of development, Sarpa, who has been the face of several partnerships, LLCs and organizations throughout the years, has his detractors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">His critics are part of a group that favors slow and smart growth, and didn\u2019t always agree with what he and his development groups proposed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But as former Aspen mayor Mick Ireland recently surmised, it\u2019s better to have someone like Sarpa than an outsider coming in. He compared it to having the ski areas run by a family-owned company, the Aspen Skiing Co., rather a private equity firm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHe is certainly aware of what the community wants,\u201d Ireland said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Whether one agrees with the projects, it\u2019s hard to argue that Sarpa, 69, isn\u2019t a likeable guy, which is a driving force in what\u2019s he\u2019s gotten accomplished.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Over the past 35 years, he\u2019s been instrumental in securing approvals for hundreds of new hotel rooms at the base of Aspen Mountain, as well as the preservation of the Aspen Meadows campus, and the cultural and intellectual nonprofits that reside there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHe\u2019s very tenacious and he doesn\u2019t give up easily,\u201d said former Aspen mayor Bill Stirling, who was in office in the \u201980s and \u201990s during the controversial Ritz Carlton project (now the St. Regis) that Sarpa was the face of.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Representing <a id=\"N0x21d3600N0x21f8d90:N0x21d3600N0x2116cc0\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mohamedhadid.com\/press-coverage\/unmasking-the-mysterious-mohamed-hadid\/\">Mohamed Hadid<\/a> and the Washington D.C.-based Savannah Limited Partnership, the group Sarpa was involved in was primarily interested in the property where the St. Regis now sits. But they also had acquired 80 acres at the Aspen Meadows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Savannah group had snagged a creditor\u2019s rights to several properties that were in foreclosure \u2014 beating Trump, who had a contract to buy the land from the bank that was repossessing it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe Meadows is a whole lot more than buildings. \u2026 It has a deep intellectual and cultural background and importance to people all over the country and world, and I had no clue about any of it,\u201d said Sarpa, reflecting on his introduction to the Aspen Idea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It\u2019s the concept of integration of body, mind and spirit \u2014 the nurturing of the whole person first envisioned by Chicago industrialist Walter Paepcke, who is responsible for the town\u2019s renaissance in the 1940s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The new <a id=\"N0x21d3600N0x21f8eb0:N0x21d3600N0x2116f90\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/w-hotel-work-gets-underway-in-aspen\/\">W Aspen<\/a> hotel and The Sky Residences at W Aspen, set to open Thursday, pays homage to the Aspen Idea and Paepcke.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sarpa, co-developer of the W Aspen and investor in Washington, D.C.,-based Northridge Capital, received approval to build the new 88-room hotel and 11 free-market fractional condos at the foot of Aspen Mountain in 2015.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Bumps along the road<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The public hearing and approval process in front of Aspen City Council to replace what was the Sky Hotel was a cakewalk compared to some of the other projects Sarpa and his partners floated to the community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">And no matter how many millions of dollars or years of work spent on failed and successful projects, Sarpa remained calm and collected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cListening to people was a skill I was taught early on. \u2026 You can either sit in that hot seat or not, and not lose your temper,\u201d Sarpa said. \u201cIt was easy to listen even though I was screaming at someone in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That was likely happening Jan. 14, 2009, when then-mayor Ireland, who was part of a 27-member citizen task force called a COWOP, otherwise known as a \u201cConvenience and Welfare of the Public\u201d committee, <a id=\"N0x21d3600N0x21f90f0:N0x21d3600N0x21173c8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/lift-one-decision-draws-ire-of-aspen-chamber\/\">ultimately voted against Sarpa<\/a> and his partners\u2019 Lodge at Aspen Mountain proposal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For 30 weeks, committee members hammered out details of the Lift One Master Plan along South Aspen Street. The committee unanimously voted to recommend it to City Council for approval.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ireland, who was up for re-election that May, was the swing vote and voted \u201cno\u201d because of concerns of parking and traffic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Much like this year\u2019s <a id=\"N0x21d3600N0x21f91b0:N0x21d3600N0x2117608\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/lift-one-plan-in-aspen-parallels-1990-vote-on-ritz-carlton\/\">voter-approved<\/a> but developer-abandoned <a id=\"N0x21d3600N0x21f9210:N0x21d3600N0x2117698\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-mountains-base-development-plan-blows-up\/\">Lift One plan<\/a>, Centurion Partners\u2019 2009 proposal had nearly 300,000 square feet of residential and commercial space along South Aspen Street.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sarpa, a partner in Centurion Partners, and <a id=\"N0x21d3600N0x21f9270:N0x21d3600N0x21177b8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/2008-newsmakers-bob-daniel-and-john-sarpa-the-developing-duo\/\">Bob Daniel<\/a>, representing Roaring Fork Mountain Lodge-Aspen LLC, were the two developers individually proposing two hotels, affordable housing, restaurants, retail space and public amenities on an 8-acre site in what\u2019s known as the Lift One neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sarpa said his biggest lesson learned thus far came from that project and that process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhen you have something that has gone that wrong, you can learn from it and I did,\u201d he said. \u201cI learned to be even more cautious on process and be more cautious about people who say one thing and do another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Aspen politics 101<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sarpa\u2019s first real foray into Aspen politics was in the mid-1980s. The Ritz Carlton hotel project went through a controversial City Council vote, only to be overruled by a district court judge and then approved by voters in 1990.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sarpa and Hadid were viewed as outside developers who were here to make a buck and leave.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt takes a long time for folks to get to know you, to test you,\u201d Sarpa said. \u201cAre you a person of your word? Are going to do what you say? I was certainly tested on that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBut I also think me and my partners understood the broader community interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Well, maybe not at first, at least architecturally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Alan Richman had just been named planning director when detailed plans were submitted for the Ritz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">They were less than ideal \u2014 Richman put it mildly \u2014 and told Sarpa and his team it would never fly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cTo his credit, he significantly reworked the plan and came in with something completely different,\u201d Richman said. \u201cIt\u2019s virtually exactly what we are looking at today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">The art of relationships<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Chris Bendon, who worked in the city\u2019s planning office during the COWOP and W Aspen processes, said Sarpa was easy to work with because he understood the score even if he didn\u2019t like what he was hearing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBeing at the city for 19 years, I saw a lot of strategies (from developers) including steamrolling staff,\u201d Bendon said. \u201cBut with John it\u2019s very comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sarpa, who moved to Aspen in 1995, said that is a necessity if you are going to be a developer and live here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIf you are in a small community doing major impactful things you really do have to listen,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause the kind of projects I\u2019ve been involved with were huge \u2014 more so than New York, Chicago or LA. It\u2019s because of that difference, and you can\u2019t be here for very long without caring about the place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI want it to be better and more interesting and environmentally healthier and all the things you need for a sustainable community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">R.J. Gallagher is a longtime friend, business associate and partner of Sarpa\u2019s and has collaborated on some of the most iconic property developments in Aspen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">They include the <a id=\"N0x21d3600N0x21e7ac0:N0x21d3600N0x217d9f0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/triple-threat-centurion-partners\/\">Residences at The Little Nell<\/a>, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, The Grand Hyatt Aspen, the Aspen Meadows, W Aspen and the <a id=\"N0x21d3600N0x21e7b20:N0x21d3600N0x217da80\" href=\"http:\/\/waspenskyresidences.com\/\">Sky Residences at W Aspen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe have literally seen it and been through it all together \u2026 the good, the bad and the ugly,\u201d said Gallagher, who is the founder of the marketing and sales firm Forte. \u201cIt\u2019s been luck, timing, the passion and the commitment to the backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sarpa said it\u2019s been key to go to the neighbors to get their buy-in before getting too far down the road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">His resilency was tested, former mayor Stirling said, during the Ritz controversy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe worked him over pretty hard,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to hand it to Sarpa for his staying power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:csackariason@aspentimes.com\">csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspen-developer-looks-back-at-successes-challenges-as-w-aspen-hotel-opens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An image ot the WET Deck on top of the new W Aspen hotel. The 8,000-square-foot rootop will be open to the public.Courtesy photo John Sarrpa, co-developer of the W Aspen hotel and the Sky Residences at the W Aspen, in front of the new property, which is slated to open on Thursday.Carolyn Sackariason\/The Aspen [&hellip;]<\/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-2447952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 16:18:14","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&#039;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\/2447952","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=2447952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2447982,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447952\/revisions\/2447982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}