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Thu 03/01/2007 11:00PM MST
Snowmass Base Village, the Snowmass Center and most of the Snowmass Mall are now all in the hands of Related WestPac, a real estate development partnership fronted locally by Pat Smith.
The private transaction closed Thursday, but negotiations have been ongoing for months, with a bevy of lawyers hammering out the final details in Denver over the last week. The complex deal eliminated all previous partners in the Snowmass developments besides Related and WestPac.
The price was not disclosed, but approximately $175 million is changing hands for the Base Village land and development costs alone.
The sale allows the SkiCo to pay off some $78 million in on-mountain improvements sooner than anticipated, said SkiCo CEO Mike Kaplan.
The three sites will be developed cohesively as an 80-acre master planned development, according to press release by Related.
Now that the transaction is done, the next step for Related WestPac is "to build it as quickly and as efficiently and as community-minded as possible," said Smith.
The SkiCo is not losing any employees as a result of the sale, said Kaplan. Staffers who have been working on Base Village will still be working on planning for the portions the ski company is retaining, some 40,000 square feet in the village core and on-mountain improvements like the new Sam's Knob and Elk Camp restaurants.
The process started in October when Smith signed a deal with the Intrawest and Aspen Skiing Co. partnership that owned Base Village to take over the commercial portion. The residential portion went under contract in late December, shortly after Smith announced his company WestPac Investments LLC was partnering with Manhattan-based Related, one of the largest real estate development companies in the country with some $15 billion in real estate assets.
Smith and WestPac had previously bought the Snowmass Center and two-thirds of the Snowmass Mall, but Thursday's sale consolidates the ownership of those two pieces, plus Base Village, in the hands of the Related WestPac partnership. All other partners have been bought out, creating a monopoly of all of Snowmass' commercial space, and much of its undeveloped residential.
"Well it could be a problem," said Snowmass Town Councilman Arnie Mordkin. "Monopolies have always been a concern in this country and have a history of not working out really well. We'll just have to see how it goes."
Mordkin said there wasn't much the town could do about the monopoly, aside from limiting growth and development through land-use approvals -- which is not something he thinks should be done. He also pointed out that approvals don't change no matter who owns the property.
"Clearly, Related is as financially strong if not stronger than Intrawest," he added. "Maybe it's a good thing we have an organization with the financial wherewithal to do this."
Snowmass Village Mayor Doug Mercatoris believes there are advantages to dealing with "one master developer" in terms of coordinating and phasing construction, but that it's up to the town to keep a close eye on things and make sure the relationship stays positive.
Smith said the loans were structured in such a way that Related WestPac has the capability of development any piece at any time. "It's kind of a rolling loan," he said.
Intrawest -- which was the managing partner on Base Village and as such has been working on the construction -- will now relinquish all plans and documents to Related WestPac. Intrawest has 14 employees working on the Base Village project in Snowmass and Denver, and all have been offered jobs with the new partnership, said Smith.
"Intrawest is very proud of the master planned village that it has created, along with the Town of Snowmass Village, and the positive public response that it has generated from all aspects of the community," said Mike O'Connor, who has been heading the project locally for Intrawest.
The SkiCo's Kaplan stressed that despite the transaction that is dissolving one partnership, there will be an ongoing relationship between SkiCo and Related WestPac, since SkiCo will be the largest tenant in Base Village, will be doing the property management and will still be running the mountain.
"We've gotten to know the buyers well over the last couple months, and they've instilled a lot of confidence, in their ability to embrace our mutual vision for Snowmass," said Kaplan.
The first phase of Base Village -- a 1-million-square-foot development -- will debut next ski season with 90 whole ownership condominiums, a children's center and a portion of the retail center, including five new restaurants. Base Village is scheduled for completion in 2011.
The Snowmass Center redevelopment proposal, which if approved will begin construction in spring 2008, comprises 50 luxury fractional ownership residences, expanded retail and affordable housing.
The Snowmass Mall is planned to be redeveloped too, with a new hotel and residences, retail and restaurants.
lutz@aspendailynews.com
http://www.aspendail...m/article_18412
Snowmass Base Village, the Snowmass Center and most of the Snowmass Mall are now all in the hands of Related WestPac, a real estate development partnership fronted locally by Pat Smith.
The private transaction closed Thursday, but negotiations have been ongoing for months, with a bevy of lawyers hammering out the final details in Denver over the last week. The complex deal eliminated all previous partners in the Snowmass developments besides Related and WestPac.
The price was not disclosed, but approximately $175 million is changing hands for the Base Village land and development costs alone.
The sale allows the SkiCo to pay off some $78 million in on-mountain improvements sooner than anticipated, said SkiCo CEO Mike Kaplan.
The three sites will be developed cohesively as an 80-acre master planned development, according to press release by Related.
Now that the transaction is done, the next step for Related WestPac is "to build it as quickly and as efficiently and as community-minded as possible," said Smith.
The SkiCo is not losing any employees as a result of the sale, said Kaplan. Staffers who have been working on Base Village will still be working on planning for the portions the ski company is retaining, some 40,000 square feet in the village core and on-mountain improvements like the new Sam's Knob and Elk Camp restaurants.
The process started in October when Smith signed a deal with the Intrawest and Aspen Skiing Co. partnership that owned Base Village to take over the commercial portion. The residential portion went under contract in late December, shortly after Smith announced his company WestPac Investments LLC was partnering with Manhattan-based Related, one of the largest real estate development companies in the country with some $15 billion in real estate assets.
Smith and WestPac had previously bought the Snowmass Center and two-thirds of the Snowmass Mall, but Thursday's sale consolidates the ownership of those two pieces, plus Base Village, in the hands of the Related WestPac partnership. All other partners have been bought out, creating a monopoly of all of Snowmass' commercial space, and much of its undeveloped residential.
"Well it could be a problem," said Snowmass Town Councilman Arnie Mordkin. "Monopolies have always been a concern in this country and have a history of not working out really well. We'll just have to see how it goes."
Mordkin said there wasn't much the town could do about the monopoly, aside from limiting growth and development through land-use approvals -- which is not something he thinks should be done. He also pointed out that approvals don't change no matter who owns the property.
"Clearly, Related is as financially strong if not stronger than Intrawest," he added. "Maybe it's a good thing we have an organization with the financial wherewithal to do this."
Snowmass Village Mayor Doug Mercatoris believes there are advantages to dealing with "one master developer" in terms of coordinating and phasing construction, but that it's up to the town to keep a close eye on things and make sure the relationship stays positive.
Smith said the loans were structured in such a way that Related WestPac has the capability of development any piece at any time. "It's kind of a rolling loan," he said.
Intrawest -- which was the managing partner on Base Village and as such has been working on the construction -- will now relinquish all plans and documents to Related WestPac. Intrawest has 14 employees working on the Base Village project in Snowmass and Denver, and all have been offered jobs with the new partnership, said Smith.
"Intrawest is very proud of the master planned village that it has created, along with the Town of Snowmass Village, and the positive public response that it has generated from all aspects of the community," said Mike O'Connor, who has been heading the project locally for Intrawest.
The SkiCo's Kaplan stressed that despite the transaction that is dissolving one partnership, there will be an ongoing relationship between SkiCo and Related WestPac, since SkiCo will be the largest tenant in Base Village, will be doing the property management and will still be running the mountain.
"We've gotten to know the buyers well over the last couple months, and they've instilled a lot of confidence, in their ability to embrace our mutual vision for Snowmass," said Kaplan.
The first phase of Base Village -- a 1-million-square-foot development -- will debut next ski season with 90 whole ownership condominiums, a children's center and a portion of the retail center, including five new restaurants. Base Village is scheduled for completion in 2011.
The Snowmass Center redevelopment proposal, which if approved will begin construction in spring 2008, comprises 50 luxury fractional ownership residences, expanded retail and affordable housing.
The Snowmass Mall is planned to be redeveloped too, with a new hotel and residences, retail and restaurants.
lutz@aspendailynews.com
http://www.aspendail...m/article_18412
