Winter Park – It takes a village to raise a skier … or at least to draw a powderhound to your resort.
That’s the thinking behind a multimillion-dollar plan to build a full-fledged village at the base of the mountain.
A groundbreaking ceremony Monday inaugurated the creation of the new village, which begins with the construction of two residential buildings, Fraser Crossing and Founders Point.
The four-story residential buildings will have 194 units, ranging from studios to three-bedroom condominiums with prices from $250,000 to $1 million or higher, said Winter Park spokesman Matt Sugar.
More than $50 million worth of the units have been sold, he said. The lodges are expected to open by the 2007-08 ski season.
Tracy Seaman of Denver stood by a miniature mock-up of the village Monday and pointed out her condo in one of the buildings. She paid $400,000 for the one-bedroom unit with a full kitchen.
“I love the mountains,” she said. “I saw the plans and bought the next day. I think it’s a great price for living in the mountains.”
The first phase of the expansion is expected to cost more than $70 million and will include about 20,000 square feet of retail space and an open-air gondola to move visitors from parking lots to the village and highlight the Fraser River, which runs through the resort’s center.
Resort officials hope a large pond surrounded by restaurants and shops will be the focal point of the refashioned village, to be completed by the 2008-09 season.
The mission of a Winter Park village is to give visitors more to do than just ski, said Gary DeFrange, general manager of Winter Park.
More than 1 million skiers visited the resort last season, DeFrange said, but Winter Park officials are worried that they’re losing market share to other resorts with more amenities.
“The market has changed for what people are looking for in a ski vacation,” DeFrange said. “People … want to ski right to their units. At the end of the ski day, they want to do more.”
The 68-year-old ski resort, 70 miles from Denver, is owned by the city and county of Denver. In 2002, Intrawest took over management of the resort and presented a plan to redevelop the village. Ultimately, the company wants to add a total of 1,500 residential units and 40,000 square feet of retail.
Intrawest has committed $50 million toward on-mountain improvements by 2012.
William Dean Singleton, ap chief executive and Denver Post publisher, is a board member of the Winter Park Recreational Association. He has been hoping for the creation of a Winter Park village for 15 years.
“We spent all of the ’90s trying to figure out how to do this ourselves,” he said. “Now this day is a very important day because it’s a realization of that dream to build a village.”
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
