The Vail Town Council approved Peter Knobel’s controversial redevelopment of the 38-year-old Crossroads complex in Vail Village on Tuesday night.
Called Solaris, the project will feature 69 wholly-owned condos ranging in size from two to six bedrooms that are designed to be used as rentals with full hotel amenities.
The project will include a three-screen movie theater, a 10-lane bowling alley and a public plaza with a skating rink. Plans also call for 55,000 square feet of retail space, $1.1 million in public art and 333 underground parking spaces.
“You could never build in Vail today, as standalones, the movie theater, the bowling alley or the retail,” Knobel said. “The residential has to subsidize the construction costs.”
Knobel first introduced the project 19 months ago, but pulled it after the Town Council voted it down last summer. He submitted a scaled-down version in December.
Vail Mayor Rod Slifer voted against the project because he still considered it too large, he said, but he is pleased the property will be redone.
“It’s a very important site in the heart of Vail,” Slifer said. “And it will now offer a lot of great amenities for families.”
Construction could begin as early as next spring and take two years to complete.
Opponents have 30 days to gather signatures from at least 10 percent of registered Vail voters – 380 people – if they want to put the project on the ballot in a special June election.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
