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New base area development set to spring up next year, but work has already begun.
The following is a summary of an article in the Summit Daily News reported by Duffy Hayes Wednesday, March 22, 2006.
Last week Vail Resorts announced the gondola, and this week they announced that the project is finally under way. Vail and Grand Timber Development Company are partners in the new project slated for the base of Peak 7. Vail will develop 44 new whole-ownership condos, and GTDC will develop 114 fractional-ownership units.
Work began last week clearing trees so that County Road 3 can be rerouted around the base of Peak 8 and past the Peaks Trail trailhead. Along with the road shift, the developers will be moving the relatively new Peak 7 Independence Superchair about 100 yards down from where it starts today. Vail will add a couple of new towers, and the new base area will spring up around the new lift site.
The work begun last week kicks off the project and sets in motion the infrastructure phase of the developoment project. This work will continue throughout the spring and summer. A long bridge, spanning some wetlands, will also be built this coming summer.
The condo development will not begin until the spring of 2007. Although each developer has its own general contractor, they will work together so that the village appears as one village, with a consistent theme.
Sales of the properties will follow different schedules, however Vail plans to market their units later this year, about the same time as the gondola is completed. The fractional-ownership units won't go on sale until the buildings are up, hopefully around Christmas, 2007.
Included in the development will be some commercial space: a 4,000 square foot restaurant, and a 4,000 square foot skier services facility. Grand Timber's commercial plans are more geared toward amenities for their guests -- and include a pool, hot tub area, and a "family funcenter".
