East West Partners, KSL Capital Partners And Aspen Skiing Company Close On Purchase Of Snowmass Base Village
ASPEN/SNOWMASS, Colo., (PRWEB) December 23, 2016 -- A joint venture of East West Partners (East West), Aspen Skiing Company (ASC), and an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners, LLC (KSL) announced today that it has closed on the acquisition of the Snowmass base village project.
The purchase includes all remaining development parcels and commercial spaces in base village, the Snowmass Hospitality property management company and the Viceroy Hotel, including the unsold condominium units within the Viceroy.
The joint venture, comprised entirely of Colorado-based companies, will move swiftly to commence construction on the partially complete base village core in Spring 2017, with East West responsible for all day-to-day operations. The joint venture has actually been advancing predevelopment work on the entire core of the project since the deal was announced in September, including pre-construction on the Limelight Hotel and public plaza/ice rink and advancement of design on the community building and on the two front door buildings currently known as buildings 7 and 8.
The joint venture’s plan is to begin construction on the Limelight Hotel this spring, with construction of the community building, the public plaza/ice rink and Building 4 commencing over the summer. Construction of Buildings 7 and 8 is projected to start in the latter part of 2017.
“After over a year of hard work by all parties involved, we are thrilled to have closed on this acquisition. East West has been pursuing this project for many years so it is extremely exciting for this opportunity to finally come to fruition with the help of our partners at Aspen Skiing Company and KSL Capital.” said Craig Ferraro, East West managing partner. “We believe the completion of base village will be a great addition to Snowmass, and we could not imagine a better group of dedicated and experienced partners to join forces with to make this happen.”
ASC will purchase from the joint venture and operate the Limelight Hotel and a Four Mountain Sports retail space from the joint venture once these components of the project are finished. ASC will operate both properties after it buys them from the joint venture. This will be the third Limelight hotel for ASC, with the new Limelight in Ketchum, ID scheduled to open shortly. The upscale casual concept has proven successful in Aspen.
“This is an exciting day for Aspen Skiing Company and the entire Snowmass community and we are happy to be moving forward,” said Mike Kaplan, president and CEO, Aspen Skiing Company. “We have remained committed to Snowmass as one of the best ski areas in the world and we are thrilled to be working with East West and KSL to complete the base village and bring our guests a world-class experience on and off the mountain.”
Andy Gunion from East West will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the joint venture. Gunion has been with East West for more than 12 years and has led the acquisition work on base village. He has a broad range of relevant experience from project management of East West’s Westin resort in Avon to his most recent role as CFO for the company. Gunion and his wife are relocating to the Roaring Fork Valley.
“This closing is the culmination of many months of extremely hard work by our joint venture. With the acquisition behind us, we can now turn our full attention to execution of the development plan,“ said Gunion.
“This is a complex and important project, so we are relocating and combining some of East West’s most experienced professionals from across the country with the excellent existing team at Snowmass Hospitality. We look forward to working with the Town and others in the community to continue our Snowmass education and to bring the full vision of base village to reality. With a new vibrant hotel, activated plaza, ice rink, Discovery Center, this next phase of development should prove to be an exciting, transformative period for Snowmass.”
Snowmass Mayor Markey Butler said there is renewed excitement around the base village project being handled by this local, Colorado-based team.
"With East West Partner’s track record in the ski industry and the commitment by KSL Partners and Aspen Skiing Company behind it all, we could not have envisioned a better more experienced partnership to move this forward and get base village finally finished,” Butler said.
About East West Partners
East West is a Colorado-based national real estate development and placemaking company, which was founded in 1986 with the purchase of land in the then emerging resort of Beaver Creek. Since that time East West has developed more than 60 projects comprising more than $3.0 billion of residential and commercial real estate in both resort and urban locations across the country and has been awarded the Urban Land Institutes Award for Excellence three times, most recently for its work on the Union Station neighborhood in Denver. http://ewpartners.com
About KSL Capital Partners, LLC
KSL is a private equity firm specializing in travel and leisure enterprises in five primary sectors: hospitality, recreation, clubs, real estate and travel services. KSL has offices in Denver, CO; Stamford, CT; and London. Since 2005, KSL has raised approximately $7.4 billion in equity capital commitments. KSL’s current portfolio includes some of the premier properties in travel and leisure. In the United States, affiliates of KSL own the Miraval Group, the owner and operator of luxury spa and wellness properties, and the Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, Calif. KSL affiliates also own premier recreation and travel businesses, including iFly Indoor Skydiving, the world’s leading operator of indoor skydiving facilities, Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, one of the leading ski resorts in North America, WellBiz Brands, one of the largest health and wellness franchise organizations in the United States, Ross Aviation, a leading owner and operator of Fixed Based Operations. In the United Kingdom, KSL affiliates own Cameron House on Loch Lomond, The Belfry in the West Midlands and Village – The Hotel Club, which owns and operates a portfolio of 28 hotels throughout the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit http://www.kslcapital.com.
About Aspen Skiing Company
Aspen Skiing Company owns and operates the four mountains of Aspen Snowmass – Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk – as well hospitality properties The Little Nell, Residences at The Little Nell, Limelight Aspen and Limelight Ketchum in Ketchum, Idaho, In addition, Aspen Skiing Company owns and operates numerous retail and rental locations through the resort and the Roaring Fork Valley. http://www.aspensnowmass.com
Sheryl Barto, East West Partners, http://www.ocommunications.net, 9707041112, [email protected]
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