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 New York private investment firm Fortress Investment Group would acquire it for $2.8 billion. The timing is purely coincidental, said Michael O’Connor, vice president of development for Intrawest, in a statement.
“Although the timing may seem more than coincidental, this potential transaction is not related in any way to the recently announced pending sale of Intrawest,” he said.
Aspen Skiing and Intrawest have been working in partnership since 2001 to redevelop Snowmass’ aging base area. The two have signed a letter of intent with WestPac for it to purchase and develop both the commercial and resident aspects of the project.
Vancouver-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.
The Intrawest sale is expected to close in October.
Privately held Aspen Skiing, which also owns Aspen, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk, is spending $50 million in on-mountain improvements at Snowmass.
San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based WestPac is a co-developer of The Residences at The Little Nell at the base of Aspen Mountain. WestPac head Patrick Smith also owns commercial space in Snowmass.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-820-1592 or at jdunn@denverpost.com.
