Aspen Skiing Co. and Intrawest Corp. announced plans Tuesday to sell the $400 million redevelopment of the Snowmass Base Village to WestPac Investments, a California developer with ties to the Roaring Fork Valley.
The announcement comes just days after Intrawest announced that New York private investment firm Fortress Investment Group will acquire it for $2.8 billion.
The timing is purely coincidental, said Intrawest.
“I wouldn’t connect it to Intrawest’s announcement as any kind of prelude to what may or may not happen,” said spokesman Dan Gagnier. “It was an independent activity.”
Aspen Skiing and Intrawest have been working in partnership since 2001 to redevelop Snowmass’ aging base. The two have signed a letter of intent with WestPac to purchase and develop both the commercial and residential aspects of the village. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The project will bring 1 million square feet of new development to Snowmass, including more than 600 hotel rooms and condominiums and 65,000 square feet of commercial space.
Currently under construction, the new village is scheduled to be completed by 2011.
Vancouver, British Columbia-based Intrawest, which owns Copper Mountain and manages Winter Park Resort in Colorado, is also in the process of a multimillion-dollar base development at Winter Park.
Chris Woronka, an industry analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities, said he expects Fortress to also divest pieces of Intrawest if the sale closes as expected in October.
“They’ve been known to split things up,” he said. “I think we’ll see additional sales.”
Other upgrades are also underway in Snowmass. The 29 existing lodging properties there have invested a total of more than $35 million in upgrades; Snowmass Village is working on a $21 million entryway project.
Aspen Skiing – which also owns Aspen, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk – is spending $50 million for on-mountain improvements at Snowmass. The privately held company said its involvement in the operation and management of the new base village would not change.
San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based WestPac is a co-developer of the Residences at the Little Nell at the base of Aspen Mountain.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
