“We here at the ski resort, and me personally, think we’re at a crossroads in the community. We think we’re in an acute housing shortage and it’s difficult to understand…In one scenario, we have more money coming into our government coffers and businesses than we [have] ever seen before, yet we can’t seem to get the housing situation figured out. We acknowledge that. We understand it, and we’re doing stuff about it.”-Chad Horning, Co-Owner of Telluride Ski Resort
Telluride is one of the gnarliest ski resorts in the country, and it is only going to get better. According to Telluride Daily Planet, the resort will be spending $102 million in the coming years to continue to add to the resort’s impressive product. On Wednesday, the resort held a community meeting, outlining their massive plans for the future. A large portion of the money will go towards new hotels and lifts. The other investments will go as follows:“$9.5 million for mountain operations equipment, $8.5 for avalanche mitigation, $7 million for new restaurants, $5 million for upgrading the ski school and potentially moving it to the top of Lift 10, $3 million for trail construction, $2 million for IT upgrades, and $1.5 million for summer activities.”
The first big changes will come in lift upgrades, with the resort planning to spend $35 million on improving its infrastructure. First up is a detachable quad chairlift replacement of the Plunge Lift (Lift Nine), which currently takes thirty minutes to get up. Detachable chairlifts/gondolas are in the works for Lifts Four and Ten. Lift Seven will be replaced by another fixed-grip lift.
Thank you to all who attended tonight’s presentation. We appreciated all of the questions that were asked and we look forward to continuing the discussion! pic.twitter.com/QVoyCv5wom
— Telluride Ski Resort (@Telluride) October 7, 2021
A big part of the conversation was about affordable and workforce housing. Currently, numerous workforce housing projects are being constructed “in Ilium and the Meadows area of Mountain Village, which would create 150 units.” One hundred and fifty housing units are currently being built. 308 affordable housing units, or 728 beds, will likely come online in the next twenty-four months in San Miguel County. Hotel rooms are lacking as well, as there are only 1100 bedrooms to 1700 at Crested Butte. The resort is working on bringing more hotels and motels into town. A hotel would be added at the base of Lift 4 to add more slopeside lodging to the resort.
A big discussion was about Ballot Initiatives 300 and 2D. Ballot Initiative 300 would narrow the number of short-term rentals in town to four hundred houses. Telluride resort officials say this would cut one thousand bedrooms from available housing and lodging in the winter. Ballot Initiative 2D features “a two-year pause in the issuance of new short-term rental licenses through November 2023 and aims to generate $200,000 annually through a 100-percent increase on short-term rental licensees.” Telluride Ski Resort didn’t state if they were for or against the plans, but if they were to be approved, the potential for reduced beds would potentially scale down their future plans.
You can view their 2017 master development plan here, which features many of the upcoming projects.
Click to access tsg_2017_master_development_plan.pdf
Image Credits: Telluride Ski Resort, Telluride Daily Planet
