Real estate development at Canyons Village is just a bit over 50% complete. Development paused halfway through to allow for the construction of workforce housing.
Now the nearly 1,200-bed Slopeside Village has satisfied that requirement, and there’s an application before county planners that’s a harbinger of the coming buildout.
The primary landowner at Canyons Village, Canada-based TCFC Finance, is applying for vehicle access to the top of the mountain from the base area.
Currently, only emergency vehicles are allowed above High Mountain Road. TCFC’s request would allow private vehicles to travel up to the Red Pine Lodge area as well.
Summit County Community Development Director Pat Putt called the request a “significant” amendment to the development agreement. He wouldn’t speculate on the developer’s reasons.
“We’re being told—the explanation is—how would evacuations take place?” he said. “In the event that there was an emergency out there: fires, snow, avalanche, something of that nature.”
According to Putt, TCFC says the access would be gated. He expects the planning commission will ask the developer more about why vehicle access to the mountain is necessary.
A local representative of the developer TCFC has contracted Replay Resorts did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Replay has previously taken on residential projects at Whistler Blackcomb and Keystone. It built Lift Park City across from the Pendry too.
The request to amend the development agreement will require future hearings where the public can give input. Development agreement changes are ultimately approved or denied by the Summit County Council.
The first time the planning commission sees TCFC’s application will be a work session when no public comment is allowed.
Elsewhere in Canyons, the Waldorf Astoria plans to expand its size and services.
“We're being told that there may be a fairly substantial remodel of both uses and services within the existing hotel,” Putt said.
When real estate private equity firm Wolfgramm Capital bought the Waldorf last year, it said it planned to put $60 million toward improving the hotel.
The Snyderville Basin Planning Commission would have the final say on changing how the Waldorf is used.
The third upcoming project is Vail’s request to turn the Sunrise Lift into a 10-person gondola servicing the Red Pine area too.
The $27 million Sunrise Gondola would be a third lift to the top of the mountain from the base area, on top of the Red Pine Gondola and Orange Bubble Express. The new gondola would be about 1.25 miles long.
Putt himself would have the final say on whether Vail can build it; he’s soliciting a recommendation from Snyderville Basin planners first.
The only future Canyons project planning commissioners have seen so far is Columbus Pacific’s proposal to build six condominiums on Red Pine Road. Planners are debating whether the residences would comply with code and whether they should be accessed via Red Pine Road or not.
According to Putt, the rest of Canyons’ development will happen either at the existing base area or up the mountain in the direction of Red Pine Lodge.
