Breckenridge, Colorado — While a new Breckenridge hotel received a critical approval last week, the battle over it appears to be far from over.
In January 2020, the East Peak 8 hotel was approved by the Breckenridge Planning Commission. However, construction never moved forward, and the permits expired in 2023. Then, Breckenridge Grand Vacations took over the development. Their original proposal was rejected by locals. They’ve come up with an updated proposal, which seems more likely to become reality.
Breckenridge Grand Vacations’ 400,000-square-foot development plan is to build a facility with a mix of condominium and hotel rooms. For guests/condo owners, there will be amenities like dining/drinking spaces, aquatic facilities, and an arcade. There will also be an administrative office for workers at Breckenridge Resort (a/k/a Vail Resorts) and a space for the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center. A three-deck underground parking garage is also planned. As part of this proposal, separate parcels will be developed into employee and workforce housing.
Summit Daily reports that the Imperial Hotel & Private Residences got approved by the Planning Commission on May 6th. This followed a contentious meeting where neighbors spoke out against the plans.
However, their potential future neighbors, One Ski Hill Place Homeowners Association, aren’t happy about the plans. Their main concern is the potential noise from a doggy day care, which they thought had been removed from the plans. The two sides met numerous times to try to hash out the differences, but couldn’t resolve the issues. This resulted in a letter from a lawyer representing the HOA, listing their concerns with the current proposal.
During the Planning Commission meeting, representatives from Breckenridge Grand Vacations defended themselves, saying that their meetings with the HOA made them think that they were behind the plan.
Alex Dorotik, the lawyer who’s representing the HOA, criticized the developer’s response:
“What we were told as One Ski Hill Place HOA was there would be no outdoor dog park, no outdoor play area. It’s bewildering to hear about permeable surfaces when that was something we were told would never happen.”
Other concerns brought up by local residents include an increase in traffic and a decrease in existing views from their properties that would be created by the new development. The creation of this development could result in a reduction of the values of nearby properties. Talk about first-world problems.
The developers hope to begin going through the permitting process this fall. If the project goes forward, construction is expected to take 36-40 months. The developers are aiming to reach an agreement over the dog park with the HOA. However, the situation seems like it could result in a lawsuit, meaning that a resolution for the “final” piece of Peak 8’s development may not be coming anytime soon.
Image/Video Credits: Breckenridge Grand Vacations, Town of Breckenridge
