The Peaks Resort & Golden Door Spa in Telluride’s Mountain Village has announced plans to spend $60 million to convert the property into a condominium hotel.
The hotel will transform its 174 guest rooms into 140 studios and one- and two- bedroom suites.
“This property needs a serious renovation and rebirth,” said Russell Flicker, president of development for LXR Luxury Resorts, the hotel’s management company. “It’s a phenomenal location, but it really needs the kind of upgrade that is dramatic. And this is a pretty typical financing vehicle now for hotels.”
Private-equity firm The Blackstone Group purchased the hotel in 2004.
The wholly owned condos, which went on sale two weeks ago, range in price from $500,000 to about $2.2 million. When not in use by their owners, the units will be entered into a rental pool.
George Harvey, a broker associate at Telluride Properties, said he expects demand for the condos to be high.
“We’re thrilled,” he said. “The hotel needs a makeover, and Blackstone is a very capable and well-financed entity.”
The renovations will be done in phases and are scheduled to be complete by December. The Peaks, which first opened in 1992 and was previously a Wyndham hotel, will probably be closed this summer.
Upgrades include adding gas fireplaces and air conditioners to all units, along with new furniture and bathrooms.
Several other luxury-hotel projects are on the books for Mountain Village, which is located above the historic Colorado town.
Lumière, a $25 million condo hotel, is scheduled to open there in early 2008. Construction is slated to begin this spring on a $200 million, five-star Rosewood Telluride Resort.
And RAL Cos. and Capella Hotels and Resorts announced in November that they plan to build a high-end hotel with 100 rooms and 48 residential units in Mountain Village by the end of 2008.
“I think it’s great that people are finally investing a lot of capital in the Telluride market,” said Aaron B. Honigman, president of the Honigman Group, which is developing the Rosewood Telluride. “It has been undervalued and underutilized for a long time.”
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-954-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
