HomeMy WebLinkAboutcoa.lu.pu.Aspen MtnExtensionSection M.A32-91Aspen Mountain Subdivision
Request for Extension -Section M
of PUD A32-91
El
CASELOAD SUMMARY SHEET
City of Aspen
DATE RECEIVED: PARCEL ID AND CASE NO.
DATE COMPLETE: A32-91
STAFF MEMBER: DM/AM
PROJECT NAME: Aspen Mountain Subdivision-Request for Extension-
Section M of PUD for The Ritz-Carlton
Project Address:
Legal Address:
.
APPLICANT: Savanah Limited Partnership
Applicant Address:
REPRESENTATIVE: Robert Hughes, Oates Hughes & Knezevich
Representative Address/Phone: 533 East Hopkins Avenue
Aspen, CO 81611 0-1700
AMOUNT Due: 780. 00 NO. OF COPIES RECEIVED
TYPE OF APPLICATION: 1 STEP: X 2 STEP:
P&Z Meeting Date PUBLIC HEARING: YES NO
JA VESTED RIGHTS: YES NO
CC Meeting Date PUBLIC HEARING: YES NO
VESTED RIGHTS: YES NO
Planning Director Approval: f� Paid:
Insubstantial Amendment or Exemption: 'a Date:
REFERRALS:
City Attorney Mtn Bell School District
-City Engineer Parks Dept. Rocky Mtn NatGas
Housing Dir. Holy Cross State HwyDept(GW)
Aspen Water Fire Marshall State HwyDept(GJ)
City Electric Building Inspector
Envir.Hlth. Roaring Fork Other
Aspen Con.S.D. Energy Center
DATE REFERRED: INITIALS:
FINAL ROUTING: DATE ROUTED: INITIAL:
City Atty City Engineer Zoning Env. Health
Housing Other:
FILE STATUS AND LOCATION:
ASPEN DAILY NEWS, Tuesday, September 17,1"1, Pap 11
Chronology Of* Abdul Aziz al-Ibrahim's Involvement In Aspen R
id
Saudi investor Abdul Aziz al-
Ibrahim's tenure in Aspen, like the
building he has financed, has had its
share of stormy moments. The following
is a brief chronology of the Ibrahim
legacy in Aspen over the past two years.
■ November 1989: Local newspap-
ers reveal Ibrahim's involvement in the
Ritz project by tracing a $70 million
construction loan to a Cayman Islands
company linked to Ibrahim's Los
Angeles firm, Newfield Enterprises
International. In exchange for the
financing, then -developer Mohamed
Hadid assigns all his interests in his
Aspen commercial properties including
the Ritz land to the Cayman firm, Aspen
Financing Limited.
■ February 13, 1990: After months
of bitter campaigning by supporters and
opponents, Aspen voters overwhelm-
ingly approve 14adid's plans to build the
292-room Ritz project, rejecting a City
Council proposal calling for a hotel
about a third smaller.
■ June 1990: Ibrahim submits plans
for two Starwood homes totalling nearly
70,000 square feet. The proposal shocks
Pitkin County commissioners, who
immediately impose a countywide
moratorium on homes larger than
15,000 square feet_ The moratorium is
still in place and plans forthe two homes
have gone nowhere.
■ December 1990: Internal disputes
between Hadid and Ibrahim become
public when the two men sue each other
in a Washington court over control of the
hotel. Ibrahim charges Hadid with a
litany of financial improprieties and tries
to have him removed as managing
general partner of the hotel project.
Hadid returns fire with a suit asking for
$6.6 million in allegedly unpaid fees
from Ibrahim.
■ March 1991: Ibrahim cuts off
construction financing for the half -
finished hotel, slowing work to a virtual
halt and fueling speculation the hotel
might never be finished.
■ April & May 1991: In a series of
tense meetings with the Aspen City
Council, representatives of Ibrahim and
Hadid strike a deal extending the dead-
line for completion of the hotel a year to
October 1992. In exchange for that
extension, Ibrahim agrees to post a $4
million bond by Sept. I that the city may
use to tear down the hotel if he doesn't
meet the 1992 deadline.
■ June 1991: Ibrahim's camp
announces that the Saudi investor has
ousted Hadid as the project's managing
partner, giving Ibrahim full control of
the hotel's fate.
august 1, 1991 Local papers
the story that Ibrahim is linked in
reports to $132 million in ques-
)le loans from the Bank of Credit
ommerce International, which less
a month before had become the
of international investigations
into charges of money laundering,
dealing and influence peddling.
■ August 28, 1991: After monl
speculation, Ibrahim deputy Abdul
al-Shehail calls a press conferen
announce his boss plans to complei
hotel. Revised plans call for slim
the hotel to 261 rooms and condom
mizing part of an adjoining wing. I
press conference and in a subset
personal interview, Shehail catego
ly denies the Ibrahim family ever
BCCI loans.
■ September 1991: Ibrahim
the $4 million bond to the city.
BCCI loan allegations widen.
reports cite a Price Waterhouse
that appears to show Ibrahim 4
outstanding BCCI loans of $13,7
million at the end of 1989 as well as kft
balances of $210.8 million at the end+
1988 and $125.2 million at the end 6f
1987. Later in the month, the
Angeles Times reports the FediM
Bureau of Investigation is probing Ib&-
him's alleged BCCI ties in the context of
his involvement in development . #S
Marina del Rey.
12, ASPEN DAILY NEWS, Tuesday, September 17,1991
rVI 1
Thomas Nomination Fight Brings The Realization The Baffle's Over
BOSTON —It is the sixth confirmation
hearing in five years and so the Senate
scene is familiar by now. An entire cast of
characters struggling to be camera -friendly
but serious. Well -rehearsed lawyers on both
sides of the room creating sound -bites meant
to be intelligent and intelligible.
But when the Senate Judiciary Commit-
tee welcomed Clarence Thomas onto its
turf, something had changed. The atmo-
sphere in the country is different. Or perhaps
diffident.
The leaders of advocacy groups still
offer up their endorsements and criticisms.
Curiosity about Thomas, public awareness
of the importance of race, consciousness of
the split within the civil rights community,
add drama to the event.
BUT WHAT HAS shifted since the
Robert Bork hearings is anxiety about the
direction of the Supreme Court itself. There
is simply less suspense, less intensity, less
emotion —choose one of the above —
about what this nominee will mean to the
country if he becomes, as Sen. Joseph B iden
put it, the first justice to write more opinions
in the 21 st century than in the 20th.
Ellen Goodman
The same people who sat on the ed
their chairs through the Bork hearin,
longer hold their breath. Indeed, they
turned their sights and their hopes
from the court.
those who support abortion rights. Abor-
lion and affirmative action, gender and race,
privacy and equality, are hot buttons at the
hearings. With each new justice we are
warned the court is one case and one vote
away from overturning Roe v. Wade. Even
now, the "one case" is wending its way to
the court from Pennsylvania or Guam or
Louisiana, any of which could trash the
constitutional protectionof awoman'sright
to decide.
But pro -choice advocates have already
read the handwriting on the Supreme Court's
conservative wall. They read it in the
Webster case two years ago, when a
changing court allowed states to legislate
greater restrictions. They read it in the Rust
case last spring, when the justices allowed
the government to gag doctors.
THOSE WHO once counted on the
courts for protection have shifted their at-
tention to the legislatures. They've shifted
Those who once counted on
the courts for protection
have shifted their attention
to the legislatures. They've
shifted their work from the
law to politics.
The renewed threat to abortion rights has
brought thousands of young women into
their first political action. The same threat
gave birth to the new Republicans for Choice
this year.
But this drifting -to -the -right Supreme
15% of Savanah's Aspen funds from BCCI
Developer ot Ritz seeking
to clear name from scandal
By PAUL ANDERSEN
Times Daily Staff Writer
According to representatives of
Ritz -Carlton Hotel developer Sheik
Abdul Aziz al -Ibrahim, 15 percent of the
cumulative funds from the Savanah Lim-
ited Partnership used for Aspen proper-
ties and developments was siphoned
from the sheik's accounts with the crime -
ridden Bank of Credit and Commerce
International (BCCI).
Five of the sheik's representatives met
with a Times Daily reporter in a Little
Nell Hotel suite Saturday to divulge
financial information concerning the
BCCI investigation in an effort to extri-
cate the sheik's enterprises from the
taint of scandal.
John Sarpa, an al -Ibrahim spokesman
and former lieutenant under Mohamed
Hadid, admitted that his new boss, who
ousted Hadid from the Savanah partner-
ship in the spring, has done business
with BCCI.
"He is considered a high net worth
individual and has maintained good
deposits with BCCI in various curren-
cies," concurs a Task Force Report con-
ducted by BCCI in support of a Price
Waterhouse audit.
The Task Force Report states al -
Ibrahim had deposits with the bank tot-
aling $133 million on Dec 12, 1989 and
that members of the al -Ibrahim family
had deposits totalling $19.29 million, a
total of more than $152 million.
The sheik's representatives maintain
that al -Ibrahim has never borrowed
money from BCCI but has only taken
withdrawals on his deposits.
"Deposits in the name of Sheik Abdul
Aziz al -Ibrahim fully cover the borrow-
ings," reads the Task Force Report.
`They were loans'
But according to a staffer in Sen John
Kerry's Washington, DC, office (Kerry
and Sen Hank Brown, R-Colo, are con-
ducting BCCI investigations), wording in
a document released by the Senate Com-
mittee on Foreign Relations Subcommit-
tee on Terrorism, Narcotics and Interna-
tional Operations indicates the sheik
borrowed $467.7 million from BCCI from
1987 through 1989, as noted.
In that document, under al-Ibrahim's
name, an entry reports "gross exposure"
of $125.2 million in December 1987,
$210.8 million in December 1988 and
$131 million in December 1989.
The sheik's representatives said they
were baffled by the term. But Kerry's
staffer said it represents exposure to the
bank on loans it administered.
Did the sheik borrow money from
BCCI or only withdraw from his own
deposits?
His representatives claim the latter,
■ see Aspen Ritz on page 19
2 Times Daily Tuesday, September 17. 1991
Assessor appeals commercial values
By TERRI BARTELSTEIN
Times Daily Staff Writer
The Pitkin County Assessor's Office
has something in common with hun-
dreds of local taxpayers who have pro-
tested and appealed their appraised
property values.
Last month, assessor Tom Isaac
made a formal protest of the state
determination that Pitkin County's
commercial properties are undervalued
by about 20 percent.
On Monday, that protest was
rejected, according to Isaac.
Isaac said he will probably appeal
the determination to the state Board of
Equalization.
State auditors recently recom-
mended that the county revalue all
commercial properties next year to
bring them in compliance with values
set by the state.
But Isaac thinks statistical methods
used by the state were flawed, and that
commercial properties should not be
revalued until 1993, he said.
"We're saying that we did not agree
with their methodology," Isaac said. "It
was flawed in some ways and we would
like them to take another look at it."
If the state's conclusions are not
reversed by the Board of Equalization,
Isaac says he will need to hire another
appraiser to revalue the county's 600
commercial properties next year.
A determination last year that resi-
dential properties were undervalued
resulted in reappraisals that boosted
the values of those properties by an
average of 40 percent.
State examiners this year approved
the increased residential values,
though thousands of county residents
protested the valuations.
Now the assessor's office is doing
some protesting of its own, trying to
convince the state that its commercial
values are accurate.
Isaac believes the state auditors
erred in judging Pitkin County's com-
mercial property values by lumping
together properties in different parts of
the county and applying the same sta-
tistical adjustments to them.
"The problems were that they mixed
the analysis with properties from
Aspen, Snowmass, Airport Business
Center and Redstone all together even
though they had appreciated at differ-
ent rates," Isaac said, explaining that
the result was to apply time -adjusted
increases to Redstone at Aspen's higher
rate of appreciation.
The state's conclusions were based
on a sample of about 40 commercial
property sales, including sales between
1986 and 1990.
The properties sampled were as var-
ied as a 32,000 square foot warehouse
building at ABC, a 1,000 square foot
store in a Victorian house in Aspen and
a small laundromat in Redstone. They
included condominium units along with
offices, stores and restaurants.
Isaac and consultants hired by the
local assessor's office to value commer-
cial properties complain that the state
should have used sales of similar prop-
erties to calculate values.
"I agree ... that there were few sales
in any one class of property. But I do not
agree this is reason to lump all sales
together just to be able to do a statisti-
cal analysis," county consultant Ray
LeDuke noted. "Some unusual areas of
appraisal such as Pitkin County cannot
be appraised based on statistics."
Isaac and LeDuke advocate an
income approach to valuing Pitkin
County properties rather than an
analysis based strictly on sales.
"It is a known fact by those of us who
have spent many years valuing proper-
ty in Pitkin County that properties are
sometimes purchased in Aspen and
Snowmass, on a whim, at prices a pru-
dent investor would not deem reason-
able," LaDuke stated. "These few
whimsical sales do not make a market."
A county appeal to the state Board of
Equalization is expected to be heard in
early October.
MWOn the Record
Note payment wanted Wildcat wages she 91S270.would not be renting the premises, in
James A Philpott III claims Timothy R Steve Hopkins claims Leslie Thomas,
Case and Lori K Case owe $16,700 plus manager of Wildcat Ranch, owes $800 for Divorce court
interest, costs and fees as payment on a wages, in 91S268.
promissory note that was due in 1985, in Allison Kae Best and Rodney E Best
91 promissory
Rent & electric Jr filed for divorce after two years of mar-
Tavern trouble
draws lawsuit
By TERRI BARTELSTEIN
Times Daily SW Writer
A dirty fight is on between the Woody
Creek Tavern and its landlords, Michael
and Mary Jane Underwood, involving
claims of bad-mouthing and threats to
the business.
According to a complaint filed in court
Monday by the corporation that leases
the tavern space, the Underwoods have
threatened to discontinue sewer service
to the popular bar and restaurant unless
additional utility payments are made.
They also want the tavern to vacate its
patio and parking areas and to pay unau-
thorized rent increases, alleges Rocky
Fork Associates, the tavern lessee.
Rocky Fork is a corporation whose
stock is held by Patty Stranahan, accord-
ing to attorney Dwight Shellman, who
represents the company.
Along with the court complaint, Rocky
Fork filed motions to stop the Under -
woods from carrying out their immediate
threats to disconnect the tavern from the
Underwoods' sewer system.
But the dispute goes deeper than sew-
age service and rent claims.
Plaintiff contends that when the
tavern refused to comply with demands
that allegedly violate the lease, the
Underwoods made false statements
designed to undermine its reputation.
"Defendants falsely represented to
third parties that the lease had been
defaulted by plaintiff, and plaintiff was
subject to termination of tenancy and/or
eviction," the complaint states.
As a result, the Tavern owner alleges
"damage to plaintiff's reputation on
account of defend
A.-spen Ritz
■ continued from page 1
but wording in documents generated by the
Senate subcommittee describes the transactions
as "loans."
"The loans are advanced against deposits
pledged to the extent of $152 million, but there is
no formal lien over the deposits," reads the sec-
tion of the report specifically targeting al -
Ibrahim.
The sheik was represented Saturday by Sarpa,
Aspen attorney Bob Hughes, Perry Harvey and
Joe Imbriani of the Ritz development team and
Margaret Graf, an attorney representing a] -
Ibrahim in an investigation of the sheik and
BCCI in Los Angeles.
They explained that through December 1989,
2.5 percent of the Aspen funds came through
BCCI. When the bank scandal broke, more money
was siphoned from the sheik's BCCI accounts in
an effort to reduce exposure.
The cumulative amount of Savanah funds to
Aspen from BCCI have reached 15 percent to
date.
No wrongdoing claimed
Al -Ibrahim is named in the BCCI investigation
because of the size of his business with the inter-
national bank, said his representatives. They
claim al -Ibrahim is innocent of wrongdoing and
was only a preferred customer of the bank whose
withdrawals never exceeded his deposits.
"We do not understand the rationale for main-
taining both loans and deposits of the same levels
concerned," said Price Waterhouse in the subcom-
mittee report.
"Interest is charged to the same level as deposit
interest is paid for loans to the value of 50 percent
of the deposits held ... Deposits are held in the
names of the various family members, not all in
the name of Sheik Abdul Aziz," the report
continues.
According to the sheik's representatives, inde-
pendent direct confirmation of dealings with
BCCI has been presented to investigators in Los
Angeles. And while al -Ibrahim is hoping to clear
his name of damaging complicity with BCCI, the
scent of scandal is souring his ability to do busi-
ness with real estate and banking interests.
The sheik's legal team is attempting to recon-
struct how newspaper headlines besmirching his
name were conceived by reporters and editors. A
special effort is amending public perception of the
sheik's role.
Given that the sheik's representatives met
with an Aspen reporter this week before talking
to the Los Angeles Times, where much of the
BCCl/al-Ibrahim link has been reported, the con-
cern for al-Ibrahim's reputation in Aspen appears
high.
But if al -Ibrahim is called in for testimony
before the Senate Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions, as one Washington staffer has suggested,
his low -profile image may see the spotlight of
scrutiny, a prospect that repels him.
Tuesday, September 17, 1991 Times Dady 19
Harvey denies loan' posture
By JOHN COLSON
Times Daily SlalT Wriier
A local official working for Saudi financier Abdul Aziz
al -Ibrahim Monday denied apparent conflicts over the use of loan
money from the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
(BCCI) to build the Ritz -Carlton Aspen Hotel.
A spokesman for al -Ibrahim, Abdul Aziz al-Shehail, said on Aug
28, "We haven't gotten any loans from BCCI, period."
But, according to a conversation between al -Ibrahim represen-
tatives and a Times Daily reporter last weekend (related story,
page 1), 15 percent of the money brought to Aspen by the Savanah
Limited partnership has come from BCCI.
And according to reports currently being reviewed by the Senate
subcommittee investigating BCCI, some of the money doled out to
al -Ibrahim by BCCI was in the form of loans.
"I don't see any conflict between the two statements," said Perry
Harvey, local point man for the Savanah Limited Partnership that
is building the Ritz.
Harvey said, "I'm in charge of the construction, I'm not in charge
of the financing."
But, he added, "My understanding of it was that there never
were any loans from BCCI, that we were just a depositor."
He maintained that, as it has been explained to him, al -Ibrahim
only took cash advances against a deposit of $152 million, and that
no actual loans were involved.
"It's not like going to a bank and filling out an application and
pledging collateral," he insisted. "It's just a banking policy that all
banks extend to a good customer."
Al-Ibrahim's representatives conceded in the interview this
week that the congressional report refers to hundreds of millions
of dollars linked to al -Ibrahim, but said they were stumped by the
meaning of a term applied to the figures — "gross exposure."
But a staffer in US Sen John Kerry's office, who is working on
the BCCI scandal, said "exposure" is simply a term that refers to
loans that a bank administers and could lose money on.
N.
"ACCORDING TO HOYLE" DAY
"If you don't want it printed, don't let it happen."
V 14
a u31:3
517 E. HOPKINS, ASPEN, COLORADO 81611
THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 1991
VOL 14 #51 FREE
•Ritz -Carlton 0 en B Oct 1992
It s Official. De
velo er Wants p yp
Al -
Ibrahim Will Post
_1Vlillion Demolition
Sept1 Deadline
Bond By
By MICHAEL BOURNE
Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
The Ritz -Carlton Hotel is back on track, project
officials say.
A long line of officials connected with the star-
crossed Ritz project confirmed Wednesday what most
of Aspen already knows: Saudi developer Abdul Aziz
al -Ibrahim plans to finish the massive hotel at the foot
of Aspen Mountain and open its doors by October
1992.
Renewed work on the hotel will begin as soon as
possible — before Aspen City Council approves
several changes to the project.
"WE'RE GOING TO start as quickly as we can on
the job," said Michael Candler, project manager for
Bechtel Corporation, which has been hired to oversee
the work contractor PCL Construction is doing on the
hotel.
The officials also confirmed al -Ibrahim will post a
$4 million demolition bond by Sept. I with the city to
insure he will finish the hotel on time. Al -Ibrahim still
intends to follow through on commitments to deed the
Aspen Meadows properties to local nonprofit groups
and to build a community ice rink next to the hotel, the
officials said.
Al-Ibrahim's company, Newfield Enterprises Inter-
national, took over control of the Ritz project from
developer Mohamed Hadid in June after months of
please see RITZ on page 17
,--
Aspen Daily News i Devon Mayers
THE NEW TEAM: Ritz project officials announce renewal of work on the troubled hotel building. From left they
are: John Sarpa, Abdul Aziz al-Shehail, Aziz Yahya, G. Nakshbendi, and Omar Benjamin.
Page 2,ASPEN1DAILN NEON ,Tlnur dg';'ALgi�s-� § ]9 -
New
The late
Ritz -Carlton hotel has come to the
community to ask for yet another
modification in plans and approvals. To
get them, he'll have to provide some
answers.
After more than a decade of hotel
shenanigans, Aspenites are getting wise.
And as the representatives of Abdul
Aziz al -Ibrahim promise "commitment
to the community," we can't help but
note that his predecessor and erstwhile
partner Mohamed Hadid made the same
speeches. Now, Hadid is nowhere to be
found and the Ritz -Carlton project has
been slowed by years.
AI -Ibrahim wants to sell something to
Aspen: the promise of a completed,
downsized hotel with stable ownership
and management. We've heard varia-
tions on this before. This time, Aspen
hoc rhP ri01 t^ some answers if it is
I? We have
en him. We
spen has. We
is been here.
his lieuten-
ig him. Accu-
iat al -Ibrahim
other things.
um what the
that being an
you won't be
Aspen has been duped
long enough by smooth-
talldng, well-heeled, secre-
tive developers.
accepted in Aspen. The Crown family,
which owns half the Aspen Skiing Co.,
also owns a substantial interest in Gener-
al Dynamics, one of this nation's largest
military contractors.)
Like it or not, al -Ibrahim owes Aspen
some face time. He may enjoy being
secretive and inaccessible, but that's not
the way things work in this town, that's
not the way you win trust or approval.
■ What is al-Ibrahim's connection
to BCCI? He has been named in a Price
Waterhouse audit as the recipient of a
$132 million "loan" by the scandal -
plagued Bank of Credit and Commerce
International. His staff says they know
nothing about it, that BCCI fabricated
records of the loan to cover other, shady
dealings. But they have conceded al -
Ibrahim did a great deal of business with
the bank, and had $152 million on depo-
sit when Price Waterhouse began its
audit. The international bank scandal is
slimy beyond belief, and includes accu-
sations of a mob -style extortion and
drug -running operation based within its
Early Bird Specials
Nightly 5:30 - 7:30
walls. They may not want to talk about
it, but al-Ibrahim's people must under-
stand that questions about BCCI are
questions about the future of the Ritz.
It strains credulity to believe BCCI
staff just used al-Ibrahim's name for a
loan that never happened because they
felt like it. You never get something for
nothing in this world, and we have to
know more about the details of al-
Ibrahim's dealings with BCCI if we are
to believe what his staff are saying about
his non-involvement in the scandal.
■ Where did the money come from
to build the Ritz? How does al -
Ibrahim raise the funds for a project
like this? Nobody likes to talk about his
or her finances, but given the BCCI
shadow hanging over this project, al -
Ibrahim must go the extra step and
ensure the community. thrnnah .....;r_
Another Uheeseball Letter
Editor:
Rappin' May Rose be headin' back to
chill in Brooklyn... hope all us White -
breads can survive the winter without
those righteous compositions. Peace.
Now you can add me to the litany of
dorks who keep penning cheesball
letters to the editor... the ranks of mental
masturbators, coin -operated psycholo-
gists. Pick an issue!
able information, that the money is
coming from legitimate sources.
Aspen City Council isn't alone in
demanding serious answers to these
questions as a condition of approving
changes to the Ritz plans. The Los
Angeles Board of County Supervisors is
convening an investigation of al -
Ibrahim, who is heavily invested there.
IF COUNCIL fails to get satisfactory
answers, it would be within its rights to
deny the request for changes. Aspen has
been duped long enough by smooth -
talking, well-heeled, secretive develop-
ers. So far, they've all failed on the Ritz
site. This developer doesn't have the
luxury of the benefit of our doubt — to
ensure it doesn't happen again, he has to
prove a few things first.
Like, why doesn't the local butcher
shop open up at three a.m. and charge a
cover so we can mix and mingle with
real meat instead of the brain -dead veni-
son version bumping and humping
about in the Tippler or Paradise? How
about an all night bowling alley with a
go-go bar?
Instead of yet another women's
Please see LETTERS on page 8
Look What's Up at Carl'si
101
Bed
rf► and Bath
t
Toothbrush Holders Blankets
Soap Dishes Pillows
Shower Curtains Towels
•Sheets
Bath Mats
Rr__Sath t
. luw imm rian (-;ans t,
RITZ from page i
legal battles between the two men. Those battles came
to a head last March when al -Ibrahim, then the
project's financier, cut off construction funding, slow-
ing work on the half -finished to a virtual crawl for
several months.
THAT PERIOD OF "transition" is now officially
over.
"This visit is to re -affirm our commitment to the
project and to the community," said Abdul Aziz al-
Shehail, who directs a] -Ibrahim Is worldwide enter-
prises. Those enterprises include 16 hotels, four of
them managed by the Ritz -Carlton company.
A]-Shehail and the other officials said new plans for
the hotel call for shedding 31 rooms from the original
292-room design. But they said the reductions will
come from converting hotel rooms in the Blue Spruce
Addition to condominiums and from changing sizes of
rooms around the rest of the two main buildings.
"There's no space changes to the (exterior of the)
or Less Hotel Rooms
hotel," said John Sarpa, an advisor to al -Ibrahim. "It's
not getting smaller."
Before he lost control of the project, Hadid often
contended that 292 rooms was a magic number the
developer needed to make the hotel profitable. Now,
several years later with Hadid nowhere in sight, Ritz -
Carlton company spokesman Ed Staros said the
project still works with 30 fewer rooms because the
meeting and conference areas are still there. The
reduction in rooms only robs the hotel of some of its
extra accommodations for non -conventioneers, leav-
ing the hotel's primary financial function intact.
Even so, al-Shehail said it could take years, even
two or three decades for the hotel to show significant
return on the original investment.
But he said the slow returns don't bother his
company because it plans to stick it out in Aspen for
the long haul.
"We are long-term investors," he said. "We are not 1 someone who looks for quick returns in a year or two."
Ritz Officials DenyBCCTAI-Ibrahim---------------------
Loan Connection
Aspen Daily News Statf Wnter
The new developer of the Aspen Ritz -Carlton Hotel
had huge deposits with the Bank of Credit and
Commerce International, but his representatives
continue to deny he took any loans from the scandal -
tom bank.
Saudi developer Abdul Aziz al -Ibrahim has been
linked by the Price Waterhouse auditing firm to $132
million in "questionable" loans from BCCI.
That's just not true, said Abdul Aziz al-Shehail,
who supervises al-Ibrahim's worldwide holdings.
"We haven't gotten any loans from BCCI, period,"
he told a press conference at the Ritz site Wednesday.
AT THE PRESS conference, al-Shehail led a team
Of project officals in confirming that construction on a
slimmed -down Ritz hotel will go forward as soon as
possible. (see main story)
BCCI is the target of numerous federal judicial and
Political investigations and has been charged with
operating a worldwide network specializing in extor-
tion, drug dealing and drug running Time magazine
has claimed that the bank had ties to several U.S. intel-
ligence agencies.
M-Shehail said the alleged loans linked to al -
Ibrahim were apparently invented to inflate the
amount of money BCCI had on paper. "They wanted
to inflate the worth of the bank," he said.
He didn't deny his boss did business with BCCI,
saying that in December 1989 when Price Waterhouse
began the audit that linked al -Ibrahim to BCCI the
Saudi investor held about $152 million in deposits
with the Luxembourg -based bank.
AL-IBRAHIM AIDES have conceded in past
interviews some of the money their boss deposited
with BCCI may have shown up in the Aspen Ritz
project.
The fact that al -Ibrahim was such a big customer at
BCCI may have lead to his inclusion to what is a very
short list of major recipients of the alleged loans detail-
ed in the auditor's report, said Aziz Yahya, president
of al -Ibrahim -owned Newfield Enterprises
International.
"They chose prominent people for those loans,"
Yahya said Wednesday.
T
Ltd.
CEPT
which are
idwide.. .
• 92r-r1893
Crack Vial Found At Subway Accident Scene
NEW PORK (AP) — An empty crack
cocaine vial was found in a subway
operator's compartment after the train
jumped its tracks and crashed into a f0
pillar early Wednesday, killing five U
people and injuring 172, authorities in
said.
The motorman disappeared for sever- n
al hours after the underground crash,
until investigators found him near his
home.
"I thought I was dead," said passen-
ger Gilbert Asante, 24, a tourist from
Ghana, who escaped with a minor leg
injury. in the
Some people were trapped
wreckage for hours.
"It looks like a jet airplane crashed
into the subway," said fire Lt. Michael c
Cogan.
The accident occurred at 12:10 a.m. as
the Brooklyn -bound No. 4 train was s
crossing from express to local tracks,
said TA spokeswoman Caren Gardner.
THE FIRST five cars derailed, and
the lead car slammed into a steel pillar.
The first and third cars were halved.
Others were twisted or overturned.
The front half of the lead car remained
on the local track. The a fback half i as
about 100 feet away:
heap of coiled springs and metal scraps,
tangled around Pocolumns. were aboard
Perhaps 200 passenger's
the 10-car, Lexington Avenue train
when it crashed about 100 feet short of
the Union Square-14th Street station, a
major transfer point, said Bob Previdi, a
Transit Authority spokesman.
Transit Authority Vice President
Thomas Prendergast said it was unclear
how fast the train was going, but didn't
rule out speed as a factor in the crash.
The cause of the derailment was under
investigation.
BEFORE THE derailment, the train
apparently had partially overshot two
stations, Transit Authority President
Alan Kiepper said. The conductor spoke
to the motorman, who "assured him he
was alright," Kiepper said.
The wreck closed the subway line that
The motorman disappeared
r several hours after the
nderground crash, until
vestigators found him
ear his home.
onnects Grand Central Terminal to the
Wail Street area and shut off subway
ervice north of Grand Central, causing
a ripple effect in surface transit that
disrupted millions.
Police Commissioner Lee P. Brown
said a vial found in the motorman's cab
tested positive for cocaine. The motor-
man was questioned and later underwent
a blood test, as is routine after transit
accidents, said Colleen Roche, a spokes-
man for the Manhattan district
asked the
AFTER THE crash, police
motorman, Robert Rayne 8, if he was
aped he
injured. When they
wasn't, they left him to help injured
passengers.
Then Ray disappeared until he was
found returning to his home in the Bronx
about 0/2 hours after the derailment.
Ray was hired in January 198tests: Kiep-
per
said. He passed two drug
he was promoted to motorman in June
I%8, and after he ran a signal on Jan. 15.
He was suspended for three days without
pay for running the signal.
In December, a tunnel fire between
Manhattan and Brooklyn spread smoke
through a crowded car, killing two and
injuring about 150 others. A subway
crash in Brooklyn in 1918 killed 97
people. In 1928, a Manhattan crash
killed 16.
great hours, great ambiance. great nr1rP-
By JOHN COLSON
Times Daily Staff Writer
No funds from the scandal -ridden
Bank of Credit and Commerce have been
or will be used to build the Ritz -Carlton
Hotel in Aspen, a spokesman for a Saudi
billionaire developer claimed
Wednesday.
But Abdul Aziz Al Shehail, speaking
for Sheik Abdul Aziz al -Ibrahim, con-
ceded that both of them had been deposi-
tors in the bank and had lost some money
Police / 2
People lined up Wednesday on both sides of
a debate over whether the Aspen Police
Department should continue a new policy of
curtailing the amount of information released
to local reporters. The issue is now in the
hands of Aspen Police Chief John Goodwin
for resolution. "This is not just a press issue,
it's a public issue," Goodwin said.
brahim di P s into fodune for Rit
rooms to 261 rooms, and deleting one of
three restaurants originally planned, as
a way to cut the cost of the hotel.
In a court battle with former Ritz
developer Mohamed Hadid, al -Ibrahim
alleged that Hadid's mismanagement of
the project had driven the construction
costs from $70 million up to $150 million.
"We're not discussing the total cost of
the project today," declared John Sarpa,
a former vice president for Hadid now
■ see Ritz cost-cutting on page 13
when the bank was closed over allega-
tions of fraud.
"I lost a couple of hundred thousand as
a depositor," A] Shehail said. AI -Ibrahim
lost considerably more, he added.
Al-Ibrahim's name was linked to $132
million in loans from the bank, which is
at the center of a whirlwind of charges
involving bank fraud, drug money laun-
dering and international weapons sales,
including possible shipments of nuclear
weapons components or technology to
Iraq.
Al Shehail, along with other represen-
tatives of Savanah Limited Partnership
and other corporate partners in the pro-
ject, spoke at a press conference Wednes-
day afternoon, confirming earlier reports
that al -Ibrahim is going ahead with con-
struction of the hotel.
Refusing to comment on reports that
the hotel will cost an estimated $150 mil-
lion to build, A' Shehail said the plan-
ners of the hotel are cutting it from 292
r,.
Thursday, August 29, 1991 Times Daily 13
Ibrahim cuts Ritz development casts
■ continued From page 1
working for al -Ibrahim.
Al Shehail said the sheik is
not borrowing any money to
complete the hotel, indicating
the construction bills will be
paid using al-Ibrahim's own per-
sonal financial resources.
Al Shehail said no money had
been borrowed from BCCI for
the Aspen Ritz project.
Al Shehail is listed as "the
worldwide director of all (a]-
Ibrahim's) business enterprises"
in a press release from Savanah.
Concerning changes to the
city approvals for the hotel pro-
ject, which are said to be cost-
cutting measures, Sarpa con-
firmed that condominiums will
replace hotel rooms in the struc-
ture being built next to the
Mountain Chalet on Durant
Avenue, but said a sky -bridge
between two wings of the hotel
will still be built.
Of the changes, Sarpa said,
"It's still in flux."
But Michael Candler, mana-
ger of projects for the Bechtel
Corporation, said work will
resume this fall even as Sava-
nah negotiates with the city over
the proposed changes. Bechtel is
to be the project manager, and
the PCL Construction Company
`Tens of thousands of
oom nights' had to be
cancelled when Hadid
announced last spring
that he would not be
able to finish the hotel
by Oct 1 of this year,
according to a
Ritz -Carlton Hotel
official.
will continue as general
contractor.
Ed Staros, regional manager
for the Ritz -Carlton Hotel Co,
said reservations are now being
taken for the 1992-93 ski season.
Staros said that "tens of thou-
sands of room nights" had to be
cancelled when Hadid
announced last spring that he
would not be able to finish the
hotel by Oct 1 of this year.
DETAIL MEN: John Sarpa (left) and Abdul Aziz Al Shehail, representatives of Saudi billionaire
Abdul Aziz bin Ibrahim al -Ibrahim, outline for reporters Wednesday what their boss plans to do with
the Ritz -Carlton Hotel project. Kim Foss photo.
"We've maintained a very people," Staros continued, 7,000 letters to interested con -
good rapport with all of those including a recent mailing of ference customers.
Shuttle, shuule, ShAle / 3
Marble miner to proceed / 4
Burnt Mountain traffic / 7
Royal pitches no-hitter / 16
Citys:Ibrahim wants smaller Ritz
By JOHN COLSON
Times Daily Staff Writer
The troubled Ritz -Carlton Hotel will
be built in Aspen, but somewhat reduced
in size and cost, according to an
announcement by the city.
Aspen city officials confirmed Monday
night that Saudi financier Sheikh Abdul
Aziz bin Ibrahim al Ibrahim has agreed
to post a $4 million demolition bond and
plans to go ahead with the hotel's con-
struction, and that the huge Bechtel con-
struction company has been hired to do
it.
Ibrahim's representative, John Sarpa,
refused to comment on the announce-
ment, but said there will be a press con-
ference to discuss the sheikh's plans on
A 1
Wednesday.
And, according to local citizen Phoebe
Ryerson, who claims to have talked with
Sarpa, Ibrahim also intends to go ahead
with plans to deed the Aspen Meadows
lands over to the non -profits that have
used its facilities for decades.
According to city officials, Ibrahim has
said he will seek changes in city approval
for the hotel project, asking to cut the
size of rooms from 292 to 261 and to build
condos instead of hotel rooms in one por-
tion of the overall development, among
other changes.
Confusion still exists, however, about
exactly when the demolition bond will be
posted.
The bond, which was made a condition
of renewed development approvals in
June, was to have been posted by Sept 1
in order for the approvals to remain
valid.
The renewed approvals were neces-
sary after then -developer Mohamed
Hadid revealed he would not meet his
fall 1991 construction completion dead-
line as required by the city.
Hadid has since been ousted from the
development management team as part
of a settlement in a court fight with
Ibrahim.
Ibrahim, who alleged that Hadid had
mismanaged the project and doubled the
total development cost, has been trying
all summer to decide whether the project
is worth the estimated $150 million it
will now take to build it.
According to Aspen Mayor John Ben-
nett, as well as city attorney Jed Caswall
and planning director Amy Margerum,
Ibrahim's representatives said in tele-
phone conversations that they will post
the bond and finish the hotel.
But, according to city officials, the
developer wants to change the Planned
Unit Development approvals for the
multi -phase project.
Among the changes, Bennett and
Margerum said, are the elimination of a
sky -bridge that would have connected
two wings of the hotel; elimination of one
of the three restaurants in the hotel; and
a change in use of the building now being
■ see Ritz on page 9
Ritz
■ continued from page I
constructed where the old Blue Spruce Lodge
once stood.
Ibrahim now proposes to build condominiums
in that building, Bennett said, adding that the
four to five condos would be subtracted from
already approved condos planned for the Top of
Mill and rebuilt Grand Aspen Hotel.
In addition, Margerum said Monday, the new
plans may call for the elimination of one floor in
"Building B," the wing along Mill Street that is
now under construction.
Bennett said his impression last Friday was
that the demolition bond would not be posted
until after the changes to the PUD were
approved.
But Caswall and Margerum both said Monday
they were told the bond would be posted by the
Sept I deadline. Caswall noted that if the dead-
line were missed, all city approvals would be void.
Caswall also said he was unsure when the
developers planned to come in and take out their
"number one building permit," which is required
for full-scale development to continue on the site.
The deadline for issuance of that permit, Cas-
wall said, also is Sept 1.
The hotel is now due to be completed by the fall
of 1992, according to agreements reached in June.
Fire wrecks makeshift home
times Daily staff report
Fire destroyed a makeshift
A -frame structure last night
that many transients have
called home while in town.
The Times Daily reported
Tuesday that the structure
was below Marolt pedestrian
bridge on the west bank of
Castle Creek. The shanty is a
testament to the trouble some
people have finding afford-
able housing in town.
The little but was con-
sumed by fire shortly after 6
pm Wednesday, according to
Aspen Volunteer Fire
Department spokesman Wil-
lard Clapper.
An investigator for the fire
department will explore
today whether the fire was
due to arson or carelessness
on the part of the inhabitant,
Clapper said.
No one was at the struc-
ture when the fire depart-
ment arrived. It didn't take
the firefighters long to douse
the flames, but the shanty
was totally destroyed.
AI -Ibrahim linked to BCCI scandal
Ritz investor allegedly
$100 million in shady
By PAUL ANDERSEN
Times Daily Staff Writer
They call it the bank of crooks
and criminals and it has left a
paper trail around the globe that
has investigators scurrying.
Scorched by the scandal sur-
rounding BCCI — the Bank of
Credit and Commerce Interna-
holds
loans
tional — are such noted figures
as British Prime Minister John
Major, CIA nominee Robert
Gates, Defense Secretary Clark
Clifford and Argentine Presi-
dent Carlos Saul Menem.
That the BCCI scandal has
reached Aspen is par for the
course in a complex controversy
that has jolted the world's finan-
cial institutions. And that it
touches the developer of the
stymied Ritz -Carlton Hotel pro-
ject bears still more intrigue.
The major financial partner
for the Ritz, Abdul Aziz al -
Ibrahim, was named Tuesday in
a National Public Radio report
as having a connection with
BCCI and outstanding question-
able loans of $100 million. (See
text of NPR story on page 9.)
Al -Ibrahim gained a stake in
the Ritz in 1989 — becoming the
money partner in the project
with Mohamed Hadid. Billion -
aire al -Ibrahim is a brother-in-
law of Saudi Arabian King
Fand.
AI -Ibrahim has since deposed
of Hadid as manager of the pro-
ject. Meanwhile, the 292-room
hotel's future remains in ques-
tion. Representatives of al -
Ibrahim have told the city coun-
cil they don't know if it will be
built.
Work continues on the site at
a snail's pace, primarily to meet
the city council's demands that
the developer clean up the con-
struction site.
Aspen Enterprises Interna-
tional (AEI), a Colorado Corpo-
ration with headquarters in Los
Angeles, represents al -Ibrahim
in the Savanah Ltd partnership
that is building — or not build-
ing — the Ritz hotel in Aspen.
Spokesmen there told the
Times Daily Wednesday that
the BCCI implications have
nothing to do with Aspen's Ritz
hotel project.
Phil Armstrong, an AEI rep-
resentative, said: "No monies
invested in Savanah Limited
partnership were borrowed from
■ see Scandal on page 9
■ continued from page 1
BGr--I."
Another AEI representative,
Omar Benjamin, used the word
"victim" in regards to al-
Ibrahim's role with BCCI. He
explained that decisions to
temporarily halt the Ritz -
Carlton Hotel were solely the
result of disagreements within
the partnership.
According to Time Magazine,
which has pried into many dark
corridors within the BCCI net-
work over the past several
weeks, the scandal was
unearthed in July 1986 when
US agents investigating drug
money laundering discovered
connections to BCCI.
Since then BCCI has been
enmeshed in sensational
charges that bank officials
laundered cocaine profits, that
the bank has financed the
smuggling of weapons, helped
pay off covert aid to Nicara-
guan Contras and, according to
Time's Aug 5, 1991, edition,
"used bribery, extortion, kid-
napping and possibly murder
to further the bank's aims."
The Bank of England, Bri-
tain's Central Bank, wants
BCCI to be closed because it
had been operating fraudulent-
ly and was insolvent. A British
court delayed liquidation
although depositors in that
country have lost more than
$72%: million dollars.
The bank's controlling share-
holders are in Abu Dhabi.
LateSports Scores only cne newspaper has 1hern
waft
Ritz Gets Extra Year; City To Get $4 Million Bond
By HCHAEL BOURNE
Aspen Daily Nevus staff writer
The builders of the Ritz -Carlton Hotel
have agreed to put up $4 million to
ensure the hotel gets built — but not
until the hotel partnership decides
whether to build it.
In an unanimous vote, the Aspen City
Council approved a construction exten-
sion for the massive 292-room hotel,
allowing developer Mohamed Hadid an
extra year to finish the half -built hotel.
He and his financial partner, Abdul Aziz
al -Ibrahim, will now have until October
1992 to put the final touches on the
hotel.
AS PART OF that approval, the
council negotiated a deal that calls for
Hadid and al -Ibrahim to put up a $4
million cash bond on Sept. 1. If the deve-
lopers pull out of the project after that
date, that money could be used to demol-
ish the hotel.
The deal also calls for the developers
to pay about $180,000 in building
department and planning fees to the city
by that date and apply to re -zone the Ice
Rink property for use as a park by July 1.
But if the troubled partnership splits
before September— or if the developers
fail to meet a series of construction dead-
lines before then — there will be no
bond assurances.
Al-Ibrahim's attorney Marc Hayutin
made it quite clear his boss plans to
make the decision of whether to spend
the millions of dollars it will take to
complete the hotel before September
rolls around. After a bitter break
between the hotel partners, al -Ibrahim
put the brakes on construction funding
for the hotel in March, slowing work
there to a virtual standstill.
BOTH SIDES of the partnership said
relations between the two men are on the
mend. As proof of the warmed relations,
Hadid official John Sarpa announced a
contract has been sealed with PCL
Construction, the primary Ritz contrac-
"in 20 years, nobody's
going to remember two
weeks."
Michael Gassman
City Councilman
tor, to speed construction on the building
beginning next week. But Hayutin
emphasized the decision to fund the
hotel project still has not been made.
The deal, the last sticking point in
more than a month of tense negotiations
over the fate of the hotel, had a difficult
birth. The developers, who had previ-
ously opposed any kind of bond,
compromised, but remained adamant
the bond shouldn't be posted before Oct,
Please see RITZ on page 9
Deal Ends Month Of Talks
RITZ from page 1
1.
That led to a five-minute huddle by
both sides. When the negotiators broke,
the two sides were only a month apart.
The developers wanted Sept. 1 while the
city wanted Aug. 1.
AFTER ANOTHER tense huddle,
the sides were two weeks apart — the
difference being between Aug. 15 and
Sept. 1. As offers fired back and forth
across the bargaining tables, the deve-
lopers stuck to their guns. AI-lbrahim
simply couldn't commit to putting up a
bond until he makes the decision on the
hotel's future and that decision couldn't
be made before Sept. 1, Hayutin said.
"We've already come back as far as
we can go," he said.
And the city blinked first. "In 20
years, nobody's going to remember two
weeks," Councilman Michael Gassman
remarked.
The city is aware of the risk it is
taking, Councilman Frank Peters said
after the meeting. "The risk (of a pull-
out) that's there now will be there until
Sept. 1," he said.
But, he noted, the flip side of demand-
ing a more immediate bond asked the
developers to perform an "impossible
task." The implicit threat was that, with-
out the time to make the decision, the
developers would make the decision by
walking out on a broken deal.
"I think essentially what we did
tonight is tell them to make up their
minds by September 1," added
Gassman.
p8n ryes 1VIdyq 1 Ritz extension granted; city
will wait for $4 milli
Dickering over dates and together " O n bond
numbers like old horse traders, council. "We really do come to "we will not be there '
, Sarpa told the city completion of the
the Aspen City Council and the project, and
developers of the Ritz -Carlton you tonight a r m - i n -arm He said the partnershi30 p days."
together." He noted that the until Oct 1 to make its decision
otel on Wednesday night a - P needs
reed to wait three months at the Partners lieutenants, who two on whether it is financially feasi-
mostfor afinal decision on what weeks ago sat far apart and did ble to build the hotel.
will be done with the troubled not speak to each other, last But, argued
project. night sat aide by side at a table ling, the t of tlhe deadlines iis
Ritz representatives also facing the council table.
announced work will resume on Mohamed Hadid and his ergs are ul able to t that fir1, and if the st
t
the hotel site next week, and financier, Saudi Abdul Aziz bin deadline it could leave the city
that $1.8 million in construction Ibrahim al Ibrahim, also will with a half -finished shell and no
is planned under a contract have to meet a series of dead- way to tear it down or finish it.
signed recently with the PCL lines staggered over the next "We need more assurance,"
construction company, year and a half in order to not Stirling said.
Representatives of the two lose their extended development After wrangling back and
warring partners in the massive Permits. Deadlines set in the forth over the dates, the two
Seoriginal development approval sides compromised on Sept 1 to
hotel project agreed that b
y Pt had expired this spring, and the come up with the money, but ag-
1, Savanah Partnership Ltd will developers had to ask for an reed to nail down w
Put up $4 million to tear the extension.
half -finished building down if hat the form
The two men have been bat- of the bond would be within 30
the hotel is not built on ache- tling in court over control of the As
duleJed Cas-
. Developers now plan to
open the hotel for the 1 an t 292-room hotel, and work at the wall, des describing the eAttorneal and he
ski season, not next season as this yearsite bad all but stopped earlier deadlines that
originally planned. keep the extensionstal be
ski
But, pledged Savanah reextensions
Negotiations over the project "It's kind of like somebody hav-
et to
resentative John Sarpa, inter- ext nthe sionscne council ilk insisted offense,gpl but you it
nal divisions in the partnershihe sen-
Pleaded guilty to this
P the $4 million demolition bond tencing. In this instanceefer , they're
are healing and the project is not be paid within 30 days.
In as much trouble as it was ear- Ibrahim's attorney,
tier this year. (the developers) on probation. If
"We really Hayutin,saidthepartnership �is they violate the terms of the
y are closer in no posit;_ Probation the
get to face
Fst,
n now tguarantee the judge�(the
o
uncil)."
26-A • The Aspen Times May 30, 1991
116
editori
delaying ritz bond a
nice gesture but
not a good idea
Two momentous and oddly coincidental
occurrences have transpired this week — the
near -simultaneous approvals of redevelop-
ment plans for the Aspen Meadows and the
extension of building permits for the Ritz -
Carlton Aspen hotel project.
Both events are supposed to see that the
fabric of this town is not marred by gaping
holes, although the holes are of quite divergent
varieties.
We applaud the Meadows approval, and
hope things can go smoothly from here in the
effort to give a permanent home to the non-
profits that have used the Meadows for
decades — the Aspen Institute, the Music
Associates of Aspen and the Aspen Center for
Physics — as well as staging space for the
International Design Conference at Aspen and
a new riverside park for the city.
The threats of development and eviction by
a series of fiscally adventurous Meadows own-
ers has been unsettling, to say the least. While
not everyone is happy with the details of the
plans, we feel the town and the non -profits are
immeasurably better off than before.
While the Meadows deal is closely tied to the
Ritz -Carlton project, it would seem that there
would be little to gain by the Ritz developers
should they decide not to let the Meadows go.
Between zoning changes and the stratospheric
level of community feeling about the Meadows
and its place in Aspen's cultural life, about the
only option available is to see the deal through.
The Ritz, however, is still a highly unstable
commodity, and we urge the city to keep a close
eye on developments there at the base of Aspen
Mountain.
The city council has generously allowed the
Savanah Partnership an extra couple of
months to make up its mind whether or not to
build this super -expensive luxury hotel, by not
insisting that a $4 million demolition bond be
posted within a month. We hope that generosi-
ty does not prove disastrous.
The per -room cost is approaching the half
million dollar mark, according to the develop-
ers' claims, and therein lies the dilemma for
the Saudi financier whose money is fueling the
construction. Should he throw away the mil-
lions he already has in the project, or should he
finish it and gamble on its success?
As things now stand, if the developers aban-
don the Ritz, the city has no way to fix the mess
they will leave behind. The bonds in place
appear woefully inadequate, and the legisla-
tive safeguards would probably do little more
than keep an army of lawyers busy for a
quarter -century.
The ragged -looking, half -finished building,
however, would remain as a long-term remin-
der of the need for close supervision of
development.
We feel the city council has erred on the side
of generosity in putting off the posting of the
demolition bond, and that the city stands a
good chance of being the ultimate victim of
mismanagement and internal strife among the
Ritz developing partners.
All that remains is to hope the partners can
patch up their differences, or one of them can
be forced out to leave the other to finish a pro-
ject that has been a veritable nightmare for all
concerned.
Page 12, HIGH COUNTRY REAL ESTATE, Week of May 29-June 4, 1991
Delays
. �That For Ritz
Ci
Council
Rules
Not At
By WhOM Bwffw
The Aspen City Council ruled
recently that construction delays
on the Ritz -Carlton hotel aren't
the developers' fault, clearing the
way for granting the developers
more time to finish the half -built
hotel.
In a unanimous vote, council -
members agreed that the Persian
Gulf war and the national reces-
sion made completion of the
hotel by October impossible. The
ruling represents the first step
toward granting developer
Mohamed Hadid another year to
finish work on the 292-room
hotel.
Councilmembers will formally
decide whether to grant the
extension — and what terms to
put on it — at a hearing May
29.
The decision came despite the
fact that Hadid's financier, Abdul
Aziz al -Ibrahim, remains unsure
whether building the hotel makes
economic sense.
AS WE SIT here, we don't
know — we really don't know —
whether the hotel will be built,"
said Marc Hayutin, an attorney
for al -Ibrahim.
Hayutin said al -Ibrahim and his
people are still trying to figure
out whether construction of the Exactly what form the —ten-
massive hotel project is financial- sion will take is still up in the
ly viable in the face of a down- air. Most discussion focused on a
turn in the hotel business plan that would give the develop -
nationwide. ers an extra year — until Octob-
For his part, Hadid expressed er 1992 — in two six month
no doubt that the hotel would be phases. If they complete work
built. they say they can do within the
A clash between Hadid and aI- first six months, the city would
Ibrahim earlier this year over let them go ahead on the next
control of the Ritz project led to six months worth of work.
the Saudi financier cutting off Councilwoman Margot Pendle-
construction funding for the hotel ton liked the idea, saying it puts
— slowing work on the half- pressure on Hadid to keep to
finished hotel to a trickle in mid- construction schedules.
March. "This kind of keeps the gun
But both sides of the partner- loaded," she said.
ship argued the recession at THE NEXT THORNY issue
least partially caused that split. involves money the city wants
The brief Gulf war worsened the set aside to make sure the hotel
situation by making it harder to will be built. City staffers
bring Saudi currency out of the
Middle East, they said.
COUNCILMEMBERS agreed,
albeit a trifle shakily. Councilman
Frank Peters first called on the
council to deny the claims, only
to have his motion die for lack of
a second. when the vote to give
creedence to the claim came up,
Councilman Michael Gassman
looked skyward and muttered, "I
don't know." However, both men
decided to vote to accept the
developers' claims.
suggested the council require the
developers to set aside a $4
million bond that would cover the
cost of ripping down the hotel if
"This kind of keeps the
gun loaded: '
Margot Pendleton
City Councilwoman
it never gets finished.
Representatives of the two
partners argued for a similar
bond, pledged against land the
partners own, to cover the costs
of "buttoning up" the hotel so
that it would look finished, even
if- the interior wasn't livable. This
arrangement, they said, would
make the site more attractive to
some future developer who would
be able to finish construction
rather than having to start from
scratch.
Monday, June 3, 1991 Times Daily 3
Private -public fight closes Little Annie Road
OTHER ROAD DISPUTE: This sign appeared Saturday, warning people who
it to drive up Little Annie Road that access is blocked 1.4 miles from Castle
Igk Road. Roy Willey photo.
on thin ice, but s
By JOHN COLSON
Times Daily Staff Writer
The Aspen City Council won't
demand a $1 million perfor-
mance bond to guarantee that a
planned ice skating rink along
Durant Avenue will be built as
required.
But the developers of the Ritz
Carlton Aspen, who must build
the rink as a condition of
approval for the Ritz, promised
that it will be done, though a
year later than expected.
The rink, which is to be
located across Durant from the
Rubey Park Transit Center, is to
be on half of the block. The other
half is to be a park. As part of the
negotiated agreement for the
rink, the land must be rezoned
from commercial to park desig-
nation, a process city staffers
say is two years behind
schedule.
Although the developers
wanted to include a restaurant
and possibly other commercial
operations as part of the rink
complex, the city council had
earlier concluded it wanted the
block to be more of a park and
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$1-million
less of a retail center.
Official worries
The ice rink was to have been
finished and open for business
by Oct 1, the same time that the
Ritz was supposed to open its
doors.
Officials are worried that the
rink my never be built if the Ritz
is abandoned for financial or
other reasons, a possibility that
is being admitted by at least one
side of the Savanah Partnership
Ltd, the consortium that is
building the hotel.
Work at the hotel has all but
stopped because of a variety of
factors, ranging from an overall
slowdown in the hotel and lodg-
ing industry to a court battle
between the two partners deve-
loping the Ritz, have prompted
delays in the whole range of
scheduling deadlines agreed
when the Ritz received its final
approval.
The city earlier this year dec-
lared the Ritz to be in violation
of its permitting schedules, and
at a hearing on deadline exten-
sion the city council agreed that
the delays were caused by rea-
By SCOTT CONDON
Times Daily StafWriler
Public access on Little Annie has
become a pawn in another dispute
between a private landowner seeking
development approval and Pitkin
County.
A sign was posted Saturday at the bot-
tom of Little Annie Road warning it was
blocked about 1%2 miles ahead. Boulders
impeded travel on the road, but it was
passable for bikes and some vehicles.
Little Annie Road is a popular recrea-
tional route to the back of Aspen Moun-
tain. It starts along Castle Creek Road.
Buzz Cooper, who owns land along the
road on the backside of Aspen Mountain,
told the Times Daily, Sunday, he wasn't
denying putting up the sign, but said he
didn't want to detail his activities.
"I will say this, 1 reserve the right to
work on it since the county won't, and it
might include blockage," Cooper said.
He doesn't intend to keep mountain
bikers off the route, he said.
The Times Daily reported on April 30
that Cooper had warned Pitkin County
that he would close the road June 1 if it
didn't declare ownership of the whole
road.
The county claims it owns only the
first mile of Little Annie Road. The rest
of the backcountry route is considered a
k bo
vay
nd
sons beyond the developers'
control.
Ritz tar -baby
But, according to council
member Frank Peters, "The
time for excuses and the time for
delays is past."
Peters, who called the Ritz
project "something of a tar -
baby" that has "stuck to me, and
stuck to other members of coun-
cil," demanded that the develop-
ers begin processing the rezon-
ing for the rink land immediate-
ly, and that they put up a $1
million performance bond to
guarantee that it be done.
John Sarpa, representing Ritz
co -developer Mohamed Hadid,
said the developers "realistical-
ly" can't begin the rezoning pro-
cess until Aug 1, not July 1 as
the city recommended.
Also, Sarpa said, performance
bonds are costly financial
devices, indicating that the cost
itself could lead to further
delays in work on the Ritz. He
also claimed the developers have
been wrestling with design and
other "difficult" questions about
the rink project itself.
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"public access," although it isn't county
owned or maintained.
"That's nonsense," said Cooper
Sunday.
He said the county is playing "dirty
pool" and "game -playing" with the labels
for the road. They are doing that to limit
development on the back of Aspen Moun-
tain, he said.
County offices were closed Sunday so
it wasn't believed any action was taken
to open the road. However, when Cooper
warned in April that the road would be
closed, the county said it would act to
open it.
"I'd see us going up there and unblock-
ing it as soon as possible," Tom Newland,
assistant to the county manager, said in
April.
This isn't the first time access on a
popular recreation route has been shut
in dispute between landowners and Pit -
kin County. Disputes have also affected
Smuggler Mountain Road, the Hunter
Creek Cutoff Road from SmugglerMoun-
tain, Midnight Mine Road and the north
trail into Hunter Creek.
All of those roads have remained open
with the exception of the north trail into
Hunter Creek. That route is in limbo,
with some people claiming it is open and
others saying it is closed, while a federal
court judge in Denver ponders the case.
ROUGH SKATING: This is the promised spot for the ice rink
that Ritz developer Mohamed Hadid will build.
But, Sarpa stressed, "We have
a genuine commitment to the
rink and the park."
A gift ice rink
Peters, adamant about the
immediacy of both the rezoning
and the bond, noted that the
Ritz rink was "trumpeted to the
community" as a gift from the
developers, and may have
swayed voters to support the
Ritz project at the polling place.
No one said anything at the
time about how difficult it would
be to build, "and now what we're
hearing is that it is very difficult
to make it work," continued a
still -skeptical Peters.
Perry Harvey, also represent-
ing Hadid, noted that the deve-
lopers originally wanted until
Sept 25 to start the rezoning
process.
Harvey also argued that the
bond is unnecessary if the coun-
cil is going to stick with the July
1 date, adding that "extra costs
aren't warranted."
No bond required
And attorney Bob Hughes,
representing Savanah Partner-
ships Ltd, noted that the Ritz
could not open unless the rink is
finished, regardless of any
bonds.
The council finally agreed not
to impose the bond.
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4 Times Daily Monday, June 3, 1991
What's M4&
Kuwait vote set 16 months away
KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait's emir on Sun-
day set a date of October 1992 for parliamentary
elections, but the opposition said 16 months was
too long to wait, and demanded earlier balloting.
In his decree, the emir, Sheik Jaber al -Ahmed
al -Sabah, also announced the reconvening next
month of the National Council, a body the opposi-
tion says is unconstitutional.
The White House had no immediate comment
on the emir's decree, spokesman John Herrick
said Sunday. The United States had pressed the
Kuwaiti government to hold elections early next
year.
Foot -dragging on democratic reforms by the
Kuwaiti government could prove embarrassing to
the Bush administration, in light of critics' com-
plaints that the US military and other allied for-
ces were deployed to restore what is essentially a
feudal system.
The opposition, which had already announced
plans for a protest this week — its first — quickly
objected to the election date.
"The al-Sabahs don't want democracy, they
want a facade of democracy with a docile parlia-
ment that will act as a rubber stamp," said Abdul-
lah Nibari, a leader of the Kuwaiti Democratic
Forum, one of seven opposition groups.
At least one opposition leader said ruling al -
Sabah family wanted time to alter election laws.
"They want to change the election law to make
a parliament they like," said Ahmed Bakr, a lead-
er of the Islamic Caucus and a deputy from the
parliament that was dissolved by the emir in
1986.
The parliament and the free press were sus-
pended after both accused royal family members
of financial mismanagement and inefficiency.
The decree, as translated by the official
Kuwaiti News Agency, said the timing of the elec-
tions was in response to "conditions after the
brutal Iraqi aggression."
Iraq seized the emirate on Aug. 2, and allied
forces drove Iraqi troops out in late February.
During the occupation, the Iraqis plundered and
terrorized Kuwait.
The government had said earlier it would hold
the parliamentary vote sometime in 1992, but it
did not want to risk a divisive election while the
country was rebuilding.
The opposition, however, says the government
does not want anyone else overseeing the grant-
ing of an estimated $14 billion in reconstruction
contracts. It also says the royal family does not
want to answer questions about its performance
during the crisis.
Sullivan: Racism alive in health care
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The nation's health
care system is still subject to discrimination and
racism nearly 20 years after a federal study
exploited black men infected with syphilis,
Health Secretary Louis Sullivan says.
"I am afraid that we have lost our frustration
Fat City Ritz
"The al-Sabahs don't want
democracy, they want a facade of
democracy with a docile
parliament that will act as a
rubber stamp."
Kuwa�i opposeion leader
and anger, our natural aversion to racism," said
Sullivan, secretary of the Department of Health
and Human Services. "Many of us no longer feel
disdain or revulsion when we read of racism or
see the results of discrimination."
Sullivan spoke Saturday at a symposium that
used the Tuskegee Syphilis Study as a starting
point to explore issues of race, prejudice and
health care. The study of about 400 black men in
Alabama between 1932 and 1972 documented
how the disease spreads and kills. Participants
were not told they had the disease, nor were they
given penicillin after it was discovered as a
treatment.
The ongoing research made headlines in 1972
and was abruptly stopped.
"I am determined that this kind of study is nev-
er repeated, ever," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said infant mortality and life expec-
tancy in blacks are just two modern-day examples
of "clear, demonstrable, undeniable evidence of
discrimination and racism in our health care
system."
He said the infant mortality rate for blacks is
double that for whites and life expectancy for
blacks is six years less than for whites. He cited a
1990 report by his department, which found that
blacks wait twice as long as whites for a first kid-
ney transplant.
Hong Kongers mark Tiananmen
HONG KONG (AP) — About 10,000 people in
this British colony staged a rally and march Sun-
day to mark the second anniversary of the mili-
tary crackdown on the democracy movement in
China.
The crackdown triggered fears in Hong Kong
because the territory reverts to Chinese rule in
1997.
The demonstrators gathered at a downtown
park before marching three miles to the Xinhua
News Agency, China's de facto embassy in the
territory. The protesters carried placards calling
for the release of dissidents, sang songs and
chanted slogans such as "Don't Forget June V
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were killed
when the Chinese army was called in to suppress
the democracy movement on June 3-4, 1989.
■ continued from page I
workers and on and on and on
ernment officials in stone cham-
things down.
until it would have ruined that
bers, not unless it's out in the
And imagine if the Great Pyr-
project just the way the Ritz has
county, where the rules are a bit
amid had been built under a
been ruined.
more lenient.
PUD and had the city of Aspen
Luckily, ancient Egypt either
Oh, and by the way, just in
eyeing every move. Think they
had no town councils, or their
case it's slipped your mind since
could have finished it as quickly
town councils were inadvertant-
you last looked it up, the Great
as they did?
ly sealed in stone chambers dur-
Pyramid covers 13 acres and
Fat chance. City officials
ing early phases of pyramid
stands 482 feet tall, which is
would have been whining about
construction.
really big.
the plans and the schedule and
But in today's overbureaucra-
Almost big enough to fit in at
parking and disposal of dead
tized society you can't seal gov-
Beaver Creek.
Ferris wheel sets 10 couples
8
spinning into holy matrimony
LAFAYETTE, La (AP) — Neon lights shone
over the carnival midway, teen-agers screamed
on the zipper ride and 10 couples in formal wed-
ding garb stepped onto the Ferris wheel.
"Fix your skirt! Your slip is showing!" yelled
the anxious mother of one of the brides during
Friday night's group ceremony at Cajun Heart-
land State Fair.
"Can't run now!" another bride's father
shouted to a tuxedo -clad groom.
District Judge Herman Clause, who
remained on the ground, began once all the
brides crammed their full white gowns into the
ride's tiny seats and all the grooms joined them.
Families and friends strained against velvet
cord around Clause's patch of outdoor carpet,
yelling catcalls over his homily. Then the Ferris
wheel turned, and the first couple stepped down
to say their vows. They returned to their seat
and a second couple was brought down to earth.
After all 10 sets of vows were said, Clause
pronounced them husband and wife, and the
kissing commenced.
The couples enjoyed several rides around the
wheel before they had to get off.
The Ferris wheel wedding was a promotion by
radio station KSMB, which provided the best
man and maid of honor. Station sponsors pro-
vided the gowns, tuxedos, flowers, wedding
cakes, reception and honeymoon suites.
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517 E. HOPKINS, ASPEN, COLORADO 81611
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1991
Ritz Extension Favored
Council Blames Delays On War And Ecomomy
By HCHAEL BOURNE
Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
The Aspen City Council ruled Tues-
day that construction delays on the Ritz -
Carlton Hotel aren't the developers'
fault, clearing the way for granting the
developers more time to finish the half -
built hotel.
In a unanimous vote, councilmembers
agreed that the Persian Gulf War and the
national recession made completion of
the hotel by October impossible. The
ruling represents the first step toward
granting developer Mohamed Hadid an
extra year to finish work on the
292-room hotel.
Councilmembers will formally
decide whether to grant the extension —
and what ten-ns to put on it — at a hear-
ing May 29.
THE DECISION came despite the
fact that Hadid's financier, Abdul Aziz
al -Ibrahim, remains unsure whether
building the hotel makes economic
"This kind of keeps the
gun loaded."
Margot Pendleton
City Councilwoman
sense.
"As we sit here, we don't know — we
really don't know — whether the hotel
will be built," said Marc Hayutin, an
attorney for al -Ibrahim.
Hayutin said al -Ibrahim and his
people are still trying to figure out
whether construction of the massive
hotel project is financially viable in the
face of a downturn in the hotel business
nationwide.
For his part, Hadid expressed no
doubt that the hotel would be built.
Please see RITZ on page 12
Exact Form Of Extension Stu v ncerunn
th hasps
RITZ from page 1
A clash between Hadid and al -
Ibrahim earlier this year over control of
the Ritz projectled to the Saudi financier
cutting off construction funding for the
hotel — slowing work on the half -
finished hotel to a trickle in mid -March.
BUT BOTH SIDES of the partner-
ship argued the recession at least partial-
ly caused that split. The brief Gulf
War
`
worsened the situation by making
harder to bring Saudi currency out of the
Middle East, they said.
Councilmembers agreed, albeit a
trifle shakily. Councilman Frank Peters
first called on the council to deny the
claims, only to have his motion die for
lack of a second. When the vote to give
creedence to the claim came up, Coun-
cilman Michael Gassman looked
skyward and muttered, "I don't know. ,
However, both men decided to vote to
accept the developers' claims.
Exactly what form the extension will
take is still up in the air. Most discussion the
focused on a plan that would g
ive developers an extra year — until Octob-
If
er 1992 — in two six on P
they complete work they say they cando
within the first o ax months, the city
would let them ghpad on the next six
months worth of work.
COUNCILWOMAN Margot Pend-
leton liked the idea, saying it puts pres-
sure on Hadid to keep to construction
schedules.
"This kind of keeps the gun loaded,"
she said.
The next thorny issue involves money
the city wants set aside to make sure the
hotel will be built. City staffers
suggested the council require the deve-
lopers to set aside a $4 million d bond that
t
would cover the cost of ripping
wn the
hotel if it never gets finished.
rtners
Representatives of the two P
argued for a similar bond, pledged
against land the partners own, to cover
the costs of ,buttoning up" the hotel so
that it would look finished, even if the
interior wasn't livable. This arrange-
ment, they said, would make the site
more attractive to some future developer
who would be able to finish construction
rather than having to start from scratch.
Key Staffer She'd,g n
By_44CHAEL BOURNE
Aspen Daily News Statf Writer
You won't see a news photo o Aspen
seen
Ritz -Carlton developer Abdul Aziz al -
Ibrahim.
Associates of the phenomenally
wealthy Saudi Arabian investor cite
fears of physical attacks on his family by
Middle Eastern extremists as one reason
for keeping al-lbrahim's face out of the public eye.
But, they admit, there's a more
Personal reason: the developer whose
worldwide holdings have been esti-
mated by Fortune Magazine at $1.2
billion is a very shy guy.
— "He's a very private man," said Abdul
Aziz al-Sheh a
ery Priv�jt�ea�l�
ai , who supervises al_
Ibrahim's worldwide enterprises,
including 16 major hotels.
BCCI Taint
See Page 10
AL-SHEHAIL MET with re
Thursday to Shed some light onrtthe
intensely secretive man behind the new
administration that plans to finish the
troubled Ritz project in time to open its
doors by October 1992.
A]-lbrahim's dealings in Aspen thus
far have been tinged with public
controversy. Last year, his plans to build
two homes in Starwood with a combined
size of 70,000 square feet stunned coup_
ty commissioners, who immediately
imposed a moratorium on homes larger
than 15,000 square feet.
In March, the sheik cut off construc-
tion funding for the Ritz after months of
battling with then -developer Mohamed
Hadid over control of the project. The
financial squeeze slowed work on the
half -finished hotel to a virtual crawl for
several months.
Just Wednesday, al-Shehail and other
hotel officials announced they will go
forward with plans to finish a slightly
scaled back version of the hotel,
committing to post a $4 million bond
Please see RITZ on page
ASPEN DAILY NEWS, Friday, August 30, 1"1, Page 11
Al-lbrahim's Business Relationship With Hadid Appeared Stormy
RRZ from page 1
with the city to insure its completion.
Revised plans call for slimming room
counts in the massive hotel at the foot of
Aspen Mountain from 292 to 261 and
converting hotel rooms in the Blue
Spruce addition to condominium units.
ACCORDING TO al-Shehail, al -
Ibrahim, who is now a 44-year-old sheik
and a brother-in-law to the Saudi king,
spent his college years in the United
States. He left the states in the early
1970s with an MBA from the University
of Oregon to head the family real estate
business.
His return to his native Saudi Arabia
coincided with a great Middle Eastern
economic boom, sparked largely by
surging oil prices in the wake of the 1973
energy crisis. Under the direction of al -
Ibrahim and his brother, Khaled, the real
estate holdings skyrocketed in worth and
the brothers diversified their holdings.
That diversification led the family
into petrochemicals and hotels in several
continents. There are al -Ibrahim proper-
ties in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi
Arabia, the U.S. and Europe. In the
United States, al -Ibrahim is invested in
four Ritz -Carlton projects, including
Aspen's. The hotel here is far from the
largest property — one of al-Ibrahim's
three Egyptian hotels is a 1,250-room
Meridien project in Cairo.
It was during this time in the 1970s
that the al -Ibrahim family entered into
an enterprise that has caused it much
"He's a very private
man."
Abdul Aziz al-Shehail
AI -Ibrahim Deputy
public grief. Investing in Rolls Royce's
airplane engine division — and eventu-
ally owning a majority share of the
company's Saudi arm, Retsa — the
family manufactured engines for Saudi
commercial planes and for the Saudi
Royal Air Force.
THAT, SAID AL-SHEHAIL, is the
sole basis for printed claims that al -
Ibrahim is an arms dealer. Even so, the
family divested itself of its interest in the
Rolls Royce subsidiary about two years
ago, al-Shehail said.
The al -Ibrahim family's investments
in the U.S. began in the early 1980s, a
few years after Saudi Crown Prince
Fand signed an agreement with Presi-
dent Jimmy Carter to re -invest $60
billion in Saudi petro-dollars in Ameri-
ca. The al -Ibrahim investments began
with land in Oregon and five high-rise
buildings (the Woodfield Corporate
Center) in the Chicago suburbs.
Al-Ibrahim's holdings in the U.S.
today amount to at least $600 million, al-
Shehail said.
The family's association with then -
Ritz developer Mohamed Hadid began
in the summer of 1989, as the family was
beginning its investments into Ritz
hotels around the nation. The Dailv
News has traced a November 1989 $76
million construction loan for the Ritz
project that appeared to come from al -
Ibrahim.
THAT LOAN was formally made by
a company in the Cayman Islands, an
area now known as a center of opera-
tions for many international financiers,
including the scandal -torn Bank of
Credit and Commerce International. AI -
Ibrahim has been linked in published
reports to an alleged $132 million in
loans from BCCI — a link al-Shehail
and other al -Ibrahim officials vehement-
ly deny. (See related story for details.)
Even before the BCCI claims
surfaced, a]-Ibrahim's business relation-
ship with Hadid quickly turned stormy.
Last December, both men traded
lawsuits in Washington courts in a bitter
battle for control of the Aspen Ritz
project.
Al -Ibrahim evidently won. In June,
al-Ibrahim's staff announced a settle-
ment of the court cases calling for the
Saudi financier to oust Hadid as manag-
ing partner of Savanah Limited Partner-
ship, which is building the Aspen Ritz.
Al-Shehail won't talk about the settle-
ment, except to say it robs Hadid of any
control or ownership in the Ritz project,
leaving him with no equity and an
unspecified "future interest" in the hotel.
Pap 10, ASPEN DAII.Y NEWS, Friday, August 30, M
Ritz Developer Frustrated By
By 1ACMEL BOURNE
Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Even the developer who has been
linked to millions in loans from the Bank
of Credit and Commerce International
doesn't know how his name appeared on
a short list of alleged major debtors to
the scandal -tom financial institution,
according to his staff.
Aspen Ritz -Carlton Hotel developer
Abdul Aziz al -Ibrahim is linked in a
Price Waterhouse audit to $132 million
in questionable loans from BCCI.
Al-Ibrahim's top deputy, Abdul Aziz
al-Shehail, categorically denies his boss
was involved with those loans from
BCCI. Al-Shehail says his organization
remains baffled about where the Price
Waterhouse allegations came from in
the first place.
"For some reason, we've been singled
out," he said. "It's a witchhunt."
Al-Shehail said the sheik's organiza-
tion has been prevented in getting to the
bottom of what actually happened by the
same problems facing political and law
enforcement investigators: no one at
BCCI or Price Waterhouse is talking.
Now that BCCI is the target of
massive political and legal investiga-
tion, ordinary route., :,ubpoena are
closed to them, he said. We can't even
sue BCCI because they are under inves-
tigation in the courts," he said.
The Luxembourg -based BCCI is
caught in a net of numerous federal
investigations and is charged with oper-
ating a global criminal network specia-
lizing in extortion, drug dealing and
arms running.
Al-Shehail freely admits his boss kept
huge sums on deposit at BCCI — as
much as $152 million in December 1989
— because the bank provided personal -
To Clear BCCI Taint
ized service and favorable interest
terms. Some of that money may have
found its way to the Aspen Ritz to
finance relatively small "operational
funds", but he denies al -Ibrahim ever
took out loans to finance the Ritz or any
other American project.
Price Waterhouse's allegations make
no sense on their face, al-Shehail
believes. How, he asked, could a $132
million loan to someone with $152
million in deposits possibly be called
questionable?
Al-Shehail said his organization is
working to clear its boss's name, volun-
tarily cooperating with a formal investi-
gation in Los Angeles County where al -
Ibrahim has significant holdings in
Marina Del Rey. AI-Shehail and John
Sarpa, another al -Ibrahim staffer,
insisted they don't expect to be
"For some reason, we've
been singled out. It's a
witchhunt."
Abdul Aziz al-Shehail
AI -Ibrahim Deputy
contacted by federal authorities as part
of the larger investigations into BCCI.
"Slowly but surely, we will be
cleared," al-Shehail said.
11
MONDAY, JUNE 24, 1991
VOL 13 #298 FREE
Hadlod Otister CWled
G
ood Sig
City
A mor Says MY Boost
M�ABeRitz-Carlton EL BOURNE Ne
Aspen Dady News Staff Writer
Developer Mohamed Hadid's ouster
as managing partner of the Ritz -Carlton
Hotel project may be just the boost the
troubled project needed to reach
completion next year, according to
Aspen City Attorney Jed Caswall.
"It's a good sign,,,
Friday. Caswall said
Earlier Friday the Maryland develop-
er's partner in the Ritz project, the Saudi
Abdul Aziz a] -Ibrahim, announced he'd
wrested control of the massive
292-room hotel from Hadid as part of a
settlement deal.
The settlement deal allows Hadid to
keepunspecified financial interest in
the hotel project, but stipulates that he
won't "have any voice in the nlann—
"The situation
changed other
situation with
ment or operations" of the construction
Partnership, according to a statement
from al-lbrahim's forces.
THE STAR-CROSSED hotel
project has been stalled since March
when construction funding from al
Ibrahim got caught in the cross -fire of
bitter litigation betwppn the ..—
The legal battles broke out in Decem-
ber. In court filings in Washington D.C.,
al -Ibrahim charged Hadid with a litany
financial improprieties and asked a
judge to remove Hadid as managing
partner of the hotel project. At the same
time, Hadid filed suit asking for $6.6
million in allegedly unpaid fees from his
partner.
Following the construction slow-
down, the developers agreed to stick to a
construction schedule that would
complete the hotel by October 1992 — a
year after the hotel's original completion
date. They also agreed to
Post a $4
P{e"see R1TZ on nano ,n
Hopefully Changes WM Put Ritz On Track
RITZ from page f
million bond in September that could be
used to demolish the hotel if the deve-
lopment remains stalled after that date.
FRIDAY'S SETTLEMENT
announcement appears to end the legal
skirmishing. If that's the case, then the
largest single "stumbling block" in the
way of completing the hotel on time may
be gone, Caswall said.
In recent hearings on the extension,
al-Ibrahim's attorney Marc Hayutin said
repeatedly that his boss wasn't ready to
commit to building the hotel because he
feared it might not be financially viable
— in developer's parlance, it might not
"pencil."
But Caswall believes the fears about
financial viability may well have arisen
from worries over shaky partnership. "I
think that was shorthand for saying it
will pencil if the money partner (al -
Ibrahim) gets control of the project," he
said.
For his part, Abdul Aziz Yahya, presi-
dent of al-Ibrahim's Los Angeles -based
Newfield Enterprises International,
committed to working toward moving
full steam ahead on the Ritz.
"OVER THE COMING weeks and
months, we will be working hard to find
acceptable resolutions to those ques-
tions that have delayed full progress on
the Ritz," Yahya said in a prepared
statement.
That hasn't happened yet, according
to Ritz Project Manager Joe Imbriani.
Renewed work on the hotel began about
two weeks ago but the developer is still
in the process of analyzing the merits of
"Over the coming weeks
and months, we will be
working hard to find
acceptable resolutions to
those questions that
have delayed full prog-
ress on the Ritz."
Abdul Aziz Yahya
the project. "The situation hasn't
changed other than the situation with the
partners," Imbriani said Friday.
Neither Hadid nor any of his aides
could be reached for comment Friday.
City councilmembers reached Friday
said they hope the situation will change
sooner than later. Councilwoman
Margot Pendleton said she hopes the
changing of the guard at the Ritz will
translate to a fast -tracking of the
construction of the hotel. "That would
be my wish," she said.
AUGIE RENO, a newcomer to the
council, said al-Ibrahim's ascendency
will reduce the confusion of having to
deal with two fighting partners. But he
added he fears the Saudi investor may
not be as aware of the wear and tear of
Aspen's long battles over the Ritz.
"My concern is that they may not be
up to speed on the needs and wants of the
Aspen community," Reno said.
FREE Pre Raney Test & Consultation
DATE RECEIVED:
DATE COMPLETE:
CASELOAD SUMMARY SHEET
City of Aspen
PARCEL ID AND CASE NO.
A32-91
STAFF MEMBER: DM/AM
PROJECT NAME: Aspen Mountain Subdivision -Request for Extension -
Section M of PUD for The Ritz -Carlton
Project Address:
Legal Address:
.
APPLICANT: Savanah Limited Partnership
Applicant Address:
REPRESENTATIVE: Robert Hughes, Oates Hughes & Knezevich
Representative Address/Phone: 533 East Hopkins Avenue
Aspen, CO 81611 0-1700
AMOUNT Due: 780.00 NO. OF COPIES RECEIVED
TYPE OF APPLICATION: 1 STEP: X 2 STEP:
P&Z Meeting Date
PUBLIC HEARING: YES NO
VESTED RIGHTS: YES NO
CC Meeting Date ")ITI-111 PUBLIC HEARING: YES NO
VESTED RIGHTS: YES NO
Planning Director Approval: Paid:
Insubstantial Amendment or Exemption: Date:
REFERRALS:
City Attorney
-City Engineer
Housing Dir.
Aspen Water
City Electric
Envir.Hlth.
Aspen Con.S.D.
DATE REFERRED:
-------------------
-------------------
FINAL ROUTING:
City Atty
Housing
Mtn Bell
Parks Dept.
Holy Cross
Fire Marshall
i, Building Inspector
Roaring Fork
Energy Center
School District
Rocky Mtn NatGas
State HwyDept(GW)
State HwyDept(GJ)
Other
INITIALS:
DATE ROUTED: INITIAL:
City Engineer Zoning Env. Health
Other:
FILE STATUS AND LOCATION:
130 S. Galena, BUILDING PERMIT APPLICO?N General
Aspen,•CO 81611 Construction ;
ASP4PlTKIN REGIONAL BUILDING OE TMENT Permit
303/920-5440 PITKIN COUNTY ❑ CITY OF ASPEN
%%%�����` V -/
Applicant to complete numbered spaces only. No.
JOBADDRESS
1. AIOR-rq LEA 5T co/Ln/r�L oP w�r�c St. � g,,..,7 T
LEGAL
LOT NO.
BLOCK
TRACTOR SUBDIVISION (❑ SEE ATTACHED SHEET)
2. DESC.
OWNER MAIL ADDRESS ZIP PHONE
3. .AVsti A9 L tM I'f e o Pf12-rn/E25H,P 609 t, (LS i S r6 z uo i4sR�n/ t5•f Z
CONTRACTOR MAILADDRESS PHONE LICENSE NO.
tJ1 rp •Z 3
►"
4. �r2Tl{.N(�RKS CJNST(L.ActwA1 ',-k , �P`,, 1(49 `f(o-S-L7- � 74/
ARCHITECT OR DESIGNER MAIL ADDRESS PHONE LICENSE NO.
5. IV%i
ENGINEER MAIL ADDRESS PHONE LICENSE NO,
Aj /1+
6.
CLASS OF WORK:
❑ ALTERATION ❑ REPAIR ❑ MOVE ) WRECK
NSUS CO E,,
7
TOTAL FEE
% ❑ NEW ❑ ADDITION
USE OF BUILDING S�/�• r � or -
PLAN CHECK FEE
PER IT FEE
3 % USE TAX DER.
8• VAd-ATE-b CJNtJ0 wt,>JI M s
(�
VALUATION OF WORK
�
Type of Construction
Occupancy Group
Lot Area
9. $ DOO
Size of Building
No. of Stories
Occ. Load
10. Remarks
(Total Square Ft.)
NO. OF BEDROOMS
Use Zone
Fire Sprinklers Required:
A-3p it- I'. .S A�ir� R.r Jam. .� AL.-
OYes EI No
EXISTING
ADDED
/k- �S L �^'C Tj C7►Jc OT �c LO..-�
No. of Dwelling Units
OFFSTREET PARKING SPACES:
Covered
Uncovered
(.� rT- H 64 M A C-'fa'D D , (LT• •Ta P 5 0 � �- <'.� �'"'� �
SPECIAL APPROVALS
REOUIRED
AUTHORIZE Y
ATE
F c (P e D 4A cr „F V AT-,,, E Co IZo. S 5
ZONING I
OW
AX-Ir m G PG110 S ctiT
N )
�,eur�xs it Y Ce ry bF fls pe.,
PARK DEDICATION
11. Fixture Count:
HEALTH DEPARTMENT
y I
9P
FIREPLACE
PR
APPLK:ATION ACCEPTED
PLAN RECKED
APPR ED FOR ISSUANCE
FIRE MARSHAL
e C-Aa-
— �(! f C
y
— 1 a
B Vy / \--'
���-�/F/��-�/
SPRINKLER
�(I �
�'�
------
By _
By
By
DATE _
DATEl
DATE
Y`
WATER TAP %yO
G44cZ/
NOTICE
E�(/ �,
-� OK
fl_ t
! IB y/
SEPARATE PERMITS ARE R UIRED FOR ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING,
HEATING, VENTILATING OR AIR CONDITIONING.
SELECTION OF METHOD FOR PAYMENT OF USE TAX
THIS PERMIT BECOMES NULL AND VOID IF WORK OR CONSTRUCTION
❑ MONTHLY USE OF QUARTERLY RETURNS WILL BE SUBMITTED.
AUTHORIZED IS NOT COMMENCED WITHIN 120 DAYS, OR IF CON-
STRUCTION OR WORK IS SUSPENDED OR ABANDONED FOR A PERIOD
❑ DEPOSIT METHOD: 3% OF 25% OF PERMIT VALUATION PAID NOW
OF 120 DAYS AT ANY TIME AFTER WORK IS COMMENCED.
AT ISSUANCE. FINAL REPORT ON TOTAL ACTUAL MATERIALS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT I HAVE READ AND EXAMINED THIS APPLICATION AND
COST MUST BE FILED WITHIN 90 DAYS AFTER COMPLETION OF
KNOW THE SAME TO BE TRUE AND CORRECT. ALL PROVISIONS OF LAWS AND
WORK. GENERAL CONTRACTORS CHOOSING THIS METHOD
ORDINANCES GOVERNING THIS TYPE OF WORK WILL BE COMPLIED WITH
WHETHER SPECIFIED HEREIN OR NOT. THE GRANTING OF A PERMIT DOES NOT
MUST REPORT AND REMIT TAX FOR ALL SUBCONTRACTORS
PRESUME TO GIVE AUTHORITY TO VIOLATE OR CANCEL THE PROVISIONS OF
THAT DO NOT OBTAIN THEIR OWN PERMIT.
ANY OTHER STATE OR LOCAL LAW REGULATING CONSTRUCTION OR THE PER-
FORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTION.
❑ EXEMPT: STATE & PITKIN COUNTY RESALE NO.
/) / t 91
EXEMPT ORGANIZATION
THIS FORM IS A PERMIT ONLY WHEN VALIDATED.
NATUR•E/OFF CCOONNTTRACTTOORR OR AUTHORIZED AGENT TE)
WORK STARTED WITHOUT PERMIT WILL BE DOUBLE FEE
SIGNATURE OF Q4NER IIF ONNER BUILDER) (OATE)
Plan Check Validation Permit Validation 3 % Use Tax Deposit Validation
WHITE —FILE COPY GREEN —FINANCE DEPT PINK —BUILDING DEPARTMENT YELLOW —ASSESSOR ` GOLD —CUSTOMER
U
P. 0. BOX 1149
GHRBONDBLE
GOLO., 81GZ3
303.953-ZZ95
Re: Building Permit .'
•
July 17, 1991
Demolition Summit Place Structure
Earth Works Construction, Inc. is requesting a demolition permit for the
Summit Place Building which located on the cornor of Summit and Mill
Street. Earth Works Construction agrees to the following conditions
requested by the City of Aspen.
Asbestos: EWC will make a visual inspection of the structure and if
obvious asbestos is encountered will contact Tom Dunlop for proper
disposal and procedures.
Dust Control: EWC will maintain a water truck or other necessary
methods to abate dust.
Mud Tracking: EWC will lay down gravel in all areas of the demolition
project in which vehicular traffic is moving to prevent tracking of mud on
the City of Aspen streets.
Empty Haul Route: EWC will entry a d advance to summit Street and
en from Highway 82 to Main
Street, make a right turn on Monarch
turn left on Summit Street. EWC has acquired permission from Jack Reid
of the City of Aspen to close Summit Street to through traffic during
demolition activities.
Loaded Haul Route: EWC will exit Summit Street
left onto advance ill Street
to Durant Street. Left on Durant, right on Mona
rch Street. Left on Main Street and exit Aspen on Highway 82.
�7 A V'>-
•
City of Aspen
Demolition Permit Summit Place
July 17, 1991
Page 2
•
Work Hours and Noise Ordinance: EWC will not start work before 7 am
and will stop operations by 10 pm. EWC will be considerate of the
residences of the area and any complaints will be handled promptly.
Cover Trucks: EWC will load trucks appropriately to prevent any spillage
or dusting as the vehicles are driven.
Basements Filled: EWC will backfill the open holes as appropriate to
meet the intent for the future use of the property.
Schedule: Anticipated completion of the demolition is August 1, 1991.
Spillage on Streets: In case of a spill on the City of Aspen street, EWC
will take immediate action to clean up the spillage and contact the Street
Department immediately.
Utility Lines: EWC will double check and ensure that all utilities are
properly capped off, valved of or closed to meet individual utility
requirements. Notification will be given to the following utility
departments:
Rocky Mountain Natural Gas
Aspen Sanitation Department
Aspen Water Department
Aspen Streets Department
Aspen Engineering Department
Aspen Environmental Health
Fire Department
Building Department
U.S. West Telephone
Aspen Electric
Transformer: EWC will take proper procedures to protect any
transformer vaults belonging to the City of Aspen.
Barricades: EWC will maintain safety barriers in the parking lanes along
the project.
ff
City of Aspen
Demolition Permit
7�;
July 17, 1991 � >
Page 3 Z �
Fencing: A protective fencing will be constructed around the demolition
area to protect the safety of the project site.
Pedestrian Safety: EWC will post appropriate signage to keep
pedestrians away from the construction demolition area and moving
vehicles. Signage will be supplemented with verbal warnings of flag
persons.
Insurance Certificates: Valid Workman's Compensation and liability
insurance certificates are on file with the Building Department.
Earth Works Construction, Inc. will cooperate on this demolition with the
City of Aspen to ensure a postive impact on the neighborhood, citizens of
Aspen and the local government. Please give me a call if you have any
further questions.
Sincerely,
Wi 11 i am M. Roberts
President
•
Dtf G , r <O c.f
Oc of o,sc e.LT-T
Tay 7, 1-7-:1-< Le,T -Vle-
Pewc r 4P Pc. c c,4--cOr4
7"b}�T�f Gt1s E
2, u (1 ci roc S S fC / 7`�6 0,9 4
�o US *X
Con F/A�-Pl
3, ?,-,ew e r
l{ Lwr /f
S 1� 7— ccJc w 4-z� c✓ 0 S C 6 G 7—K�
,57-64� 6i -S�'- c 'Of7i/O �'ZP c� ��lu sir Spa -"� e
jW
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/ Seveked
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e- A�T
Sty A y G-/ ep r
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T�sT" �S/�i�GeS
•
INSPECTION WILL NOT BE MADE UNLESS
THIS CARD IS POSTED ON THE JOB
BUILDING INSPECTION RECORD
PITKIN COUNTY/ASPEN REGIONAL BUILDING DEPARTMENT
Date Issued (— Lic. #
AGREEMENT
Permit No.
In consideration of the issuance of the permit, the undersigned hereby agrees to comply with all such laws
and regulations related to the zoning, location, construction and erection of the proposed structure for
which the permit is granted, and further agrees that if the above said regulations are not fully complied
with in the zoning, location, erection and construction of the above described structure, the permit may
then be revoked by notice from the Building Official and THEN AND THERE IT SHALL BECOME NULL
AND VOID.
Use C(n) r) CS 0 -- V-V'` 11�� V, � =�N kV1� \
Address
Owner -1 1'Y)1 qC lactor E-,f A\1-1:��0 I \`fl
This card must be posted so it is plainly visible from the street until final inspection.
INSPECTION
RECORD
Footing
Roof Covering
Foundation
(Concrete, wood, Block, etc.)
Electric —Final
Construction Service
Heating Ventilation
Plumbing —Underground
Insulation
Gas Piping
Drywall
Frame
Other
Plumbing —Rough
Electric —Rough
Final
ALL LISTED ITEMS MUST BE INSPECTED AND APPROVED BEFORE COVERING —
WHETHER INTERIOR OR EXTERIOR, UNDERGROUND OR ABOVE GROUND.
PHONE:
INSPECTIONS: 920-5448
OFFICE: 920-5440
THE PERMIT IS NOT TRANSFERABLE
130 S. GALENA, ASPEN, CO 81611
2,so
City, :council meetin 5 PM,
■ �-;.d. :�� '. ,fir•
' i�.. .+Its,. `' "r: Ma'hr►+-•a, . ..
J:tz- a nnalme
s f
By JOHN COLSON
11
anif scafioldmg from the gub I w, a;
jVj`d1eYv:1o�We'rs3f`
sanup the constructiot;°er}txy'to' theBl
theAspenRitz-Carlton` �'�:.,•," Spru'ce�projecf.>_area9k(atDurantsa�
are `asking for an extra year. to finish the Monarch), includingnot u in that en f
292-room facility ,. r * -construction activi ties. r �`
In addition, the developers are not plan- The develOper$l aI$O plan, '+4
- ' Moores. memo -also alludes.-to,,41an f
ring to hear 'dowp ;the Grand Aspen Hotel' take. ar extra year. to bulled a the city and Savanah to. share pFthe r
(formerly they Continegtal Inn) until 1995 . T . ... working of Durantbetween] and Gales
tend of �994. � Y: public Ice rink and park`On ` streets:'All work the city is doing in th
to developers also'plan to take an'extra land at the corner of Durant stretch of Durantfwill bet paid"foi.ouf of
Performane'e bond
• ear to build a public ice`rinkand park on � posted -by Savana;
tlandyat the .comer of Durant Avenue and -Avenue and Galena StreAt, Moore said Monday. x
Paiena Street, accordini to a letter from, Savanah also has requested a year
developers' attorney Bob Hughes to Aspen's--- to a letter.. from delay, in the demolition of the Grand As�c
+F� R4 h�' J.. JY W .
ti sty attorney..: K _' Hol4 i;:,which is to be replaced by g mix ,
i X& 0 perS attorney hotel rooms and resider) tal units in comb
,These and other changes'in the construN.+b . ?r o.. u,
tion.schedule for the Ritz will be disc u¢sed R $p �1$ Clty,ittOrney` gafiaon.with another part of the develoj
at a city council meeting at 5 pm today ink # ram-i ,,� anent further up`.spem Mountain; accort
the city cotincil's downstairs chambers ating=to .city approvals. The exact number, r
LAspen .City Hall. 14, ; " i' • - x yam, `those units will be alloted in an amendmer
Ltd the co .0 ;� to the+Ae enNMountain Lp'd ei PU:
corporate identity of the d elo P
Among- other recommendations a city P- g
' y went: c :r k a x> o r ` ,1Planned Unit Development) approvals fc Manner has suggested the council consider _ 1 Spokesmen' Ibrahim earlier the Ritz. y
requiring a'minimum $4 million perfor- :. t • i .
an ce bond from the developers of the Ritz. had indicated the hotel project may be eco $ut,'according'to Moore's memo, 'some <
Jplanner Diane Moore, in a memo to coun- ' nomically unfeasible as things, now stand, + the upper units were torn down in -1985, an
said this is the estimated cost of tearing ' but Savanah.has:.consistently matr}tauted if the: Grand Aspen=Yeconetrtiction` i
g the hotel will:be completed. ' del' ed roq
sdown the half -finished building and return=.' � e T � y until 1997as nested that wool
ng the entire development site to the status` At various meetings and In other forums, . mean 'Savanah .will 'have had. 12 years• t
ofa vacant lot. city council members have indicate their . 1complete that pik'of the project:instead'.c
'.Construction at the hotel site has virtual- main concern. is that the public's interests the five years e.4owed in city codes.'
ijy stopped because of a fight between deve-- .2-are protected, no matter, who finish®a -the Mc�ore's memo maintains that Savana;
doper Mohamed Hadid and his financial ^ h°tel.; � "� m `- , : '�8 i' has:notgiven sufficient reason for'the dela3
,backer, Saudi Shiekh Abdul Aziz bin Ibra Somme of file issues involved are the exis- and -,suggests the city should examine .thi
him al Ibrahim. _ fence of dangerous conditions on the site,request closely.
v
But, according to. documents submitted the appearance of an unfinished constrtic Concerning the financing, Moorw1notet
r . g lion project and its impact on the am> iance - Savan$h so'far has' ut'v
ointly by representatives of the two 1'q of down and'the fate of. rom ti.P p just under $1.!
-:..tPeIIi P million $650 000 of which wasre`turne�
f.ners; construction will+continue at the'p ised public amenities stick as the i `` rink '
'after the excavation' work :and fouridatioi
battlesite
over regardless
t ron he ongoing court and the park,:along Dur' it Avenue _. ,: z�y verb finished. Tile current bond ds a
P J t _City planner Moore, in a memo to council, r approxunately $12.ptillton '..:
�A-tour of the incomplete_ building last suggested the.developerpe required; , meet `�' "
week revealed the foundation and initial a variety of conditions before be' ntz9o�e suggested,�ha� a deaioIitign bony
structural work on the mammoth buildinggranted gappears to be'more.feasible and1�Xhaps
continued development approval,le'Yondw.sinoreruseful than some sort�f `Fompletioi
is nearly complete, and hat a large amount ,,�t1he original oons ` tion deadline of Oct 1,^T ,assurance, and recdmingnds icounci
of finishing materials- are being store.
a• �. ' r ., Savanah;to put up;enough money V
inside the hotel building. Among her recomme aft A haidthe. ti in ua
= u
:Windows, bricks, bathtubs and a variet the develo r should be+tri'a'de tos rlii ,_ owr
3' per P P and he and'�re's to -Io ad l th'e`,"hot�
of construction materials were displayed by the fencing'surrou ' ing the hotel construe= 2s`project' is "abandoned for oneVfeason of
representatives' pf Savanah Partnership .' tions site, conceal construction materials,F ` 'another. ,' = ?`+c. sl �..,
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11
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 28, 1991
From: Savanah Limited Partnership
Contact: R.J. Gallagher
303-925-4272
SAVANAH LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
ANNOUNCES PLANS TO COMPLETE RITZ PROJECT
Aspen -- Representatives of Aspen Enterprises International
(AEI) announced today that construction to complete the Ritz
Carlton hotel will resume and that Savanah Limited Partnership
will proceed as planned with all related development projects,
including the construction of employee housing units. Savanah
also reaffirmed its commitment to transfer the Aspen Meadows
property as a permanent home for the community's non-profit
residents.
Savanah will post a $4 million bond with the city by
September 1 to demonstrate its commitment to finish the hotel.
At a news conference on the Ritz construction site in Aspen,
Abdul Aziz Al Shehail, the worldwide director of all Sheik Abdul
Aziz A1-Ibrahim's business enterprises, was joined by Ed Staros,
regional vice president of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company and
Michael Candler manager of projects with the Bechtel Corporation,
to announce the decision to move forward with construction on the
hotel.
"After many weeks of discussion and careful evaluation, we
are delighted to give the green light to this project," said Aziz
Al Shehail. "With a few slight modifications to the internal
design of the hotel, we can move ahead and build the distinctive
five-star property the people of Aspen have been awaiting."
"We have worked closely with the Ritz designers and with our
new project management staff from Bechtel to come up with a
revised design that improves the economic viability of the hotel
and does not detract at all from the property itself," said Aziz
Al Shehail. "We will be discussing these modifications with the
city and the community in the coming weeks."
Savanah said the design changes in the hotel relate to the
internal composition, and include converting a number of guest
rooms on the top two floors of the Blue Spruce building to
residential units and converting one of the three planned
restaurants for other uses. These changes will reduce to
approximately 261 the total number of guest rooms in the hotel.
-more-
•
C]
Ritz Completion
add one
Joe Imbriani, project manager for Savanah, said construction
crews would be gearing up in the next several weeks and would be
fully underway by mid -fall. PCL Construction will continue as the
general contractor on the development, and Bechtel will assume
responsibility as project manager, overseeing quality control,
building schedules and design modification. The current staff of
Savanah Limited Partnership will remain in place.
"Bechtel is one of the best engineering and construction
companies in the world, and these people have vast experience
working on similar projects under tight conditions and time
constraints," Imbriani said. "We are confident we will get this
project underway in short order."
"We are delighted that we were able to work out these basic
modifications to the hotel design to make this project work, and
we are looking forward to the opening of what we believe will be
the premier luxury ski resort hotel in America," said Staros, a
regional vice president with the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company.
Aziz Al Shehail said other Aspen projects related to the
hotel development would be completed as planned, including the
construction of the Ute City Place for employee housing and the
construction of a community ice rink and park in downtown Aspen.
Al Shehail also confirmed Savanah will transfer the Aspen
Meadows property to the Aspen Institute and the other non-profit
residents of the city.
"There still are a couple of minor issues to be resolved
with the city and with other outside parties, but we are certain
these matters will be settled quickly and we can proceed with the
plans for the Meadows," said Al Shehail. "We are determined to
honor our commitments to the non-profit community and transfer
this property as quickly as possible."
"The people of Aspen voted nearly two years ago to build a
luxury resort hotel in this community, and unfortunately a number
of unexpected obstacles delayed construction progress, which has
understandably caused some concern among community members," said
Aziz Yayha, president of Newfield Enterprises, asset manager for
AEI. "But all those things are past us now, and in partnership
with Ritz Carlton, we are looking forward to becoming a permanent
contributor to the economic, social and cultural fabric of
Aspen."
Ritz -Carlton, Aspen
Fact Sheet
Ownership: Savanah Limited Partnership
Operator: Ritz -Carlton Hotel Company
Project Management: Bechtel Corporation
General Contractor: PCL Construction Services
* Reconfiguration of rooms from 292 to approximately 261
* No reduction or increase in the overall size of the building
* 4 - E residential u.-uts to replace hotel rooms in the Blue Spruce building
* Reduction in the number of restaurants in The Ritz -Carlton, Aspen from 3 to 2
•
'EN
y
MEMORANDUM
DATE: June 5, 1991
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Jed Caswall, City Attorney V
RE: Ritz -Carlton Section M Amendment
Attached for your review and final approval are three documents
(with attachments) relevant to the Section M PUD agreement
amendments for the Aspen Mountain Subdivision.
The first document constitutes Council's written findings,
conclusions and approvals resulting from the quasi-judicial
hearings on Savanah's petition for a Section M amendment and
authorizes the PUD amendments as sought by Savanah subject to the
terms and conditions specified therein. I have modified the
earlier draft of this document to reflect the changes approved at
Council's meeting on May 29th. These modifications can be found
at:
Page
Paragraph
Line
4 1
6, 10
4 2
3-4
4 3
3
5 10
3-6
5 11
1-2
5 14
All
5 15
2-3
6 17
2-3
The second document is the formal document that amends the PUD
agreement and reflects those approvals as granted by Council. It
will need to be executed by both the City and Savanah and then
recorded in the Clerk and Recorder's office.
The last document is a proposed ordinance ratifying the PUD
agreement amendments. While the ordinance is not legally
recycledpaper
•
E
Memorandum to Mayor and City Council
June 5, 1991
Page 2
required in my view, Savanah wishes to have the Council adopt
same as a precaution against a potential challenge to the PUD
amendments as authorized in the previous documents noted above.
EMC/mc
Attachments
BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO
IN RE THE MATTER OF SAVANAH LIMITED PARTNERSHIP'S REQUEST FOR A
SECTION M AMENDMENT TO THE FIRST AMENDED AND RESTATED PLANNED
UNIT DEVELOPMENT/SUBDIVISION AGREEMENT FOR THE ASPEN MOUNTAIN
SUBDIVISION.
This matter is before the City Council upon the petition of
Savanah Limited Partnership ("Savanah") pursuant to Section M of
the First Amended and Restated Planned Unit Development/Subdivi-
sion Agreement for the Aspen Mountain Subdivision ("PUD Agree-
ment"), seeking certain extensions in the construction scheduling
for subdivision development. Pursuant to Savanah's petition, a
public hearing was convened upon notice on April 17, 1991, which
was continued for further proceedings to May 21st and 29th, 1991.
Savanah appeared, with legal counsel, and produced testimony and
other evidence in support of its petition. Additional testimony
and evidence on the matter was submitted by the City staff and
members of the public. Having heard all of the offered testimony
and argument and having reviewed the documentary evidence as
submitted and made part of the record herein, the City Council
finds as follows:
1. On March 15, 1991, Savanah submitted a written petition
to the City pursuant to Section M of the PUD Agreement seeking an
extension in the present construction schedule deadlines govern-
ing construction and development within the Aspen Mountain
Subdivision.
2. Section M of the PUD Agreement provides as follows in
its relevant part as pertinent hereto:
"... the Owner or its successors or assigns may, on its
own initiative; petition the City Council for a vari-
ance, an amendment to this Agreement, or an extension
of one or more of the time periods required for perfor-
mance under the Construction Schedules or otherwise.
The City Council may grant such variances, amendments
to this Agreement, or extensions of time as it may deem
appropriate under the circumstances. The parties
expressly acknowledge and agree that the City Council
shall not unreasonably refuse to extend the time peri-
ods for performance indicated in one or more of the
Construction Schedules if Owner demonstrates by a
preponderance of the evidence that the reasons for the
delay(s) which necessitate such extension(s) are beyond
7
•
the control of the Owner, despite good faith efforts on
its part to perform in a timely manner."
3. Savanah seeks extensions in the current construction
schedule deadlines as follows:
From
To
(i)
Certificate of Occupancy
Ice Rink/Park
10/1/91
10/1/92
(ii)
Certificate ofiOccupancy
Ritz -Carlton Hotel
10/1/91
10/1/92
(iii)
Building Permit Issuances
Ute City Place
10/1/91
4/1/92
(iv)
Certificate of Occupancy
Summit Place
8/1/92
8/1/93
(v)
Demolition Permit
Grand Aspen Hotel
10/1/94
10/1/95
4. Savanah has alleged that the following facts and/or
circumstances have caused delays in the progress of construction
of the Ritz -Carlton Hotel component of the subdivision develop-
ment and that such facts and circumstances were beyond its
control:
(i) The Persian Gulf War and resulting adverse impact
on Savanah's principal financing resources situat-
ed in Saudi Arabia, including the non -liquidity
and non -transferability of Saudi Arabian currency.
(ii) The general economic slow down and recession im-
pacting the economy of the United States and,
particularly, the hotel and resort segment of
same.
5. City Council finds that Savanah has been able to
demonstrate by a preponderance of the testimony and evidence as
established in the record that the Persian Gulf War and its
resulting impact on the Saudi Arabian currency (riyal) has
adversely affected Savanah's ability to finance its construction
activities associated with the Aspen Mountain Subdivision and
that such factors have caused delays in the progress of construc-
tion that were beyond the control of Savanah despite its good
faith efforts to perform.
2
6. City Council further finds that Savanah has not been
able to demonstrate by a preponderance of the testimony and other
evidence presented that general economic or recessionary condi-
tions existing in the United States economy have caused delays in
its construction activities or schedules associated with the
development of the subdivision, or that alleged adverse economic
conditions as may be affecting the project were the result of
facts or circumstances beyond Savanah's control.
7. City Council further finds that the testimony and other
evidence as reflected in the record before it establishes by a
preponderance that internal legal disputes and management dis-
agreements between the partners have exacerbated and contributed
to the delays in the project's construction schedules and that
such factors were within the control of Savanah.
8. The delays;in the construction schedules for the Ritz -
Carlton Hotel have and will cause significant disruption in the
City's downtown core area by extending construction activities
and the adverse traffic, dust, noise and visual impacts associat-
ed therewith.
9. The preponderance of the evidence presented by Savanah
does not demonstrate that Savanah will complete the construction
of the Ritz -Carlton Hotel, thus, warranting the imposition of
additional financial assurances upon Savanah to protect the City
and the citizens of Aspen from the adverse impacts of an unfin-
ished construction project.
NOW, THEREFORE, BASED UPON THE ABOVE AND FOREGOING, City
Council does hereby grant to Savanah Limited Partnership the
following extensions to the construction schedule deadlines for
the Aspen Mountain Subdivision, which extensions shall be incor-
porated into a written amendment to the PUD Agreement pursuant to
Sections M and 0(6), subject to those terms and conditions as set
forth below:
EXTENSIONS
FROM TO
1. Certificate of Occupancy
Ice Rink/Park 10/1/91 10/1/92
2. Certificate of Occupancy
Ritz -Carlton Hotel 10/1/91 10/1/92
3. Building Permit Issuance
Ute City Place 10/1/91 4/1/92
3
4. Certificate of Occupancy
Summit Place 8/1/92 8/1/93
5. Demolition Permit for Lot 5
Grand Aspen Hotel 10/1/94 10/1/95
CONDITIONS
1. Savanah shall upgrade the entire exterior fence (with
screening) adjacent to the Ritz -Carlton Hotel construction site
and Ice Rink/Park site. With regard to the visual appearance of
the Ice Rink/Park parcel, the fence will be moved approximately
twenty feet to the South off of the Durant Street curb, and all
areas exterior to the fence, except for the parking lot, shall be
seeded. A gravel path shall also be installed in this area.
Fugitive mud and dust prevention measures will be utilized on
these sites. All construction materials stored on the Ice
Rink/Park site shall be removed from public view at street level.
All of these items shall be completed by August 1, 1991, and to
the satisfaction of the Public Works Director.
2. The construction entry to the Blue Spruce off of Durant
Street shall be cleaned up and not utilized for construction
activities and the site shall continue to be fenced (with screen-
ing). This shall be completed by September 1, 1991, and to the
satisfaction of the Public Works Director.
3. The Blue Spruce structure shall be cleared of construc-
tion materials and scaffolding shall be concealed from public
view at street level. These items shall be completed by Septem-
ber 1, 1991, and to the satisfaction of the Public Works Direc-
tor.
4. A safe pedestrian path shall be installed on the East
side of Mill Street between the Ritz -Carlton Hotel construction
site and the Grand Aspen Hotel. This shall be completed by July
1, 1991, and to the satisfaction of the Public Works Director.
5. Temporary patch work shall be installed on Mill Street
between the Grand Aspen Hotel and Ritz -Carlton construction site.
This work shall be completed by August 15, 1991, and to the
satisfaction of the Public Works Director.
6. Patch work on Dean Street shall be installed in front
of the Grand Aspen Hotel and shall be completed by July 1, 1991,
and to the satisfaction of the Public Works Director.
7. Bank stabilization on both the South and West sides of
the Ritz -Carlton Hotel construction site shall be completed by
4
0 (. rAP . ,
•
September 1, 1991, and to the satisfaction of the Public Works
Director.
8. Savanah shall apply for rezoning of the Ice Rink/Park
parcel to a "Park" zoning designation by July 1, 1991. If
Savanah does not apply for such rezoning, the City shall initiate
rezoning with all fees to be paid by Savanah.
9. Savanah shall submit a final development plan for the
Ice Rink/Park parcel to the City by September 25, 1991.
10. Savanah shall -complete submission of all necessary
information for a "Number 1" building permit for the Ritz -Carlton
Hotel to the Building Department by July 8, 1991. A list of the
outstanding documents and/or information Savanah has yet to
provide the Building Department pursuant to its building permit
application is attached hereto as Attachment 1.
11. Savanah shall obtain and City shall issue the "Number
1" building permit by September 1, 1991, and all necessary fees
and applicable taxes shall be paid by Savanah at that time.
12... Savanah shall secure and fence Summit Place and remove
all debris from the site. The West wall shall also be repaired.
These items shall be completed by August 1, 1991, and to the
satisfaction of the Public Works Director. Alternatively,
Savanah may elect to demolish the Summit Place structures provid-
ed that said demolition is completed by August 1, 1991.
13. The construction schedule submitted by Savanah (Attach-
ment 2) shall be substantially adhered to as determined by City
staff.
14. Savanah shall post a cash bond or similar liquid
financial assurance in an amount no less than Four Million
Dollars ($4,000,000.00) to secure the demolition of the Ritz -
Carlton Hotel site. Savanah shall have thirty (30) days from the
date of this decision to reach agreement with the City Attorney
as to the form of such financial assurance. The financial
assurance, in a form satisfactory to the City Attorney, shall be
posted by Savanah no later than September 1, 1991. '
15. All fees owed to the City for the processing of any
land use application, including fees associated with Savanah's
petition for a Section M amendment, shall be paid by September 1,
1991.
16. Savanah shall have one (1) year from the date of
issuance of the demolition permit for the Grand Aspen Hotel to
5
reconstruct the eighteen (18) residential units previously
demolished pursuant to the subdivision development. This condi-
tion shall constitute and be incorporated as a formal amendment
to Section L of the PUD'Agreement.
17. Savanah shall comply with all representations and
conditions as contained in its letter dated May 1, 1991, exclud-
ing the construction schedule attached thereto, submitted by F.
Belz and J. Imbriani, and addressed to the City Attorney (Attach-
ment 3 hereto).
18. The effectiveness of the extensions as granted herein
shall be contingent upon Savanah's compliance, as determined by
the City Staff, with all of those conditions as set forth above.
In the event that any condition as set forth above is not sub-
stantially complied with, then all extensions as granted herein
shall automatically be rendered invalid and such failure(s) to
comply shall constitute non-compliance with the First Amended and
Restated PUD/Subdivision Agreement. Savanah shall thereafter be
entitled to a hearing before City Council to determine sanctions
or penalties for its non-compliance, which may include the
revocation or termination of any or all approvals contained in
the PUD Agreement. `
ATTEST:
City Clerk
Done this . day of
1991.
City Council of the City of Aspen
By:
R
Mayor
• Attachment 1
"NUMBER 1" BUILDING PERMIT
COMPLIANCE LIST
1. Hazardous material storage documentation in laundry and
maintenance areas.
2. Fire -resistive requirements and occupancy separation
documentation complying with Table 5-B, Table 17-A and Chapter 18
of the Uniform Building Code (1988 Edition).
3. U.L. roof assembly design complying with Table 17-A and
Section 1806 of the Uniform Building Code (1988 Edition).
4. U.L. Fire Resistive Directory, January 1984 Edition.
5. One -hour fire -resistive door assembly documentation
complying with Section 503(c)4 of the Uniform Building Code (1988
Edition).
6. Entry level corridor construction and protected opening
documentation complying with Section 3305 of the Uniform Building
Code (1988 Edition).
7. Entry level door assembly documentation complying with
Section 3305(h) of the Uniform Building Code (1988 Edition) for
doors 149, 150, 143A and 143B.
8. Handicapped accessible design documentation for the
grille/bar area and lower level as depicted on Sheet A2.14, and
for water closets in the guest room and turning radius for the
employee locker rooms, complying with Colorado Revised Statute,
Title 9, Article 5 and ANSI A117.1.
9. Design documentation for the elevator lobby at the club
lounge complying with Section 1807(h) of the Uniform Building
Code (1988 Edition).; .
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Attachment. 3 •
I]ADiD
Aspen
Holdings,
Inc.
May 1, 1991
Mr. Edward M. Caswall
City Attorney
City of Aspen
130 S. Galena
Aspen, CO 81611
Subject: The Ritz -Carlton, Aspen
Section M Amendment Request
Edward M. Caswall letter of April 10, 1991
Dear Mr. Caswall,
Based upon discussions at the City Council Meeting of April 17, 1991, on the referenced subject and
- a meeting with the City staff on April 22, 1991, on the referenced subject, the following are our
comments on your letter of April 10, 1991.
In the City Council Meeting, the Owner of the Ritz Carlton site, Savanah Limited Partnership,
presented their request for a one year extension of the completion date in the PUD for the Ritz -Carlton
Hotel. * Savanah also stated that it is not, at this time, abarldordng the project and is continuing
construction, albeit at a slower pace. Work on the site has not ceased, but has been adjusted pursuant
to this slower pace. The Partnership, at this time, does not envision a suspension of construction
activity. Therefore, in accord with our meeting, the following are our comments on each individual
item.
1. As part of continuing construction on the project, work on the shell of the hotel will occur.
(See attached Construction Schedule for the exact work and timing thereof.)
2. Most of the building materials at this time are stored inside of the hotel structure. The
remainder will be hidden from public view in their present location behind fencing with
screening. Some of these materials are not within the hotel structure.
3. The lower sump pumps -%kU not require automatic activation as the construction workers will
monitor the level of the sump and pump it as required. This is the process that has been going
on throughout the construction of the hotel.
600 East Cooper Street Suite 200 Aspen Colorado 81611 (303) 925-4272 FAX: (303) 925-43S7
1 ]
ia,U Caswell
Section M Amendment Request
Page two
5/1191
4. See attached Construction Schedule for this work.
5.
Openings will be protected during the continuing construction, according to OSHA requirements.
In addition, concrete work will be done on the "garage roof." This work will eliminate a lot of
the open, unsafe conditions on the hotel plaza area. The construction cranes have been
removed.
6.
The contractor will continue their temporary utility services as required for construction. Since
construction is continuing, a diagram illustrating utility systems on site at this interim stage
is not appropriate. As -built, underground utility drawings in public right of ways, have been
provided to Bob Gish. There is one outstanding as -built that needs to be provided, and that
will be provided within the next 30 days.
7.
Temporary buildings, trailers and stored materials AU still be required since we are continuing
construction. This includes those items on the Top of Mill Street and the Ice Rink parcel.
With regard to the visual appearance of the Ice Rink parcel, we propose moving the fence
approximately twenty feet to the South off the Durant street curb, provide seeding and a gravel
sidewalk in this area. In addition, the fence parallel to Durant street will be upgraded visually.
Fugitive mud and dust prevention measures have always been required of our contractor and
vi-ill be aggressively enforced.
-' 8.
Since we are continuing construction, there will be some temporary construction welding,
shoring and bracing in place, but only as part of the construction work. It will not be left as
a permanent situation. Most of this temporary work will be eliminated by the construction that
is to take place over the next four months.
9.
The items indicated under this request are not required since we are continuing construction.
10.
Three of the four fire hydrants required by the PUD are installed and activated. For the fourth
one, see the attached Construction Schedule.
11.
We intend to clean up and straighten up the security fence that is currently in place.
12.
This work will take place Aith the normal sequence of construction. See the attached
Construction Schedule. It -does not make sense to install curbs, gutters and sidewalks at this
time, as they AU just be torn up by the continuing construction.
13.
Jersey barriers will need to be maintained for public safety.
14.
The Blue Spruce second level slab vdll be poured within the next three months. This will
eliminate most of the debris, temporary scaffolding and form work. See the attached
Construction Schedule.
11 �
.lea Caswell
Section M Amendment Request
Page three
5/1/91
15. The Grand Aspen Hotel will need to continue as a construction headquarters and housing
facility for the construction workers.
16. Summit Place will be properly secured and part of it will be fenced to prevent any access. In
addition, all of the site will be cleaned up. Also, the west wall will be repaired and cleaned
up. Security persons from the Ritz -Carlton site will monitor the property to make sure that
unauthorized entry does not take place.
17. The Barbee parcel is currently fairly clean. Any minor clean up will be taken care of. The
parcel currently has vegetation and ground cover.
18. The contractor will maintain the construction signage, as required.
19. Dean Street in front of the Grand Aspen Hotel will be patched.
20. A set of sepia as-builts at this interim stage is not appropriate.
21. We know of no outstanding fees or bills due to the City at this time. We are researching one
bill for the Ice Rink that Amy Margerum pointed out in our meeting of April 22, 1991.
In addition, we are meeting with Tim Clarke of the Dolomites and Ralph Melville of the Mountain
- Chalet to address some of their concerns. Other than the above items, we are not aware of any other
City requests with regard to construction work on the job site as part of our Section M Amendment
request. If there are others, please notify us immediately.
We understand the City's concern about the impact the project has had on the town of Aspen. In part,
that is why we have decided to continue construction, hopeful that we«ill proceed to complete the
project. Obtaining a one year extension for completion will facilitate our analysis• and the opportunity
for completion of the project. Let us know if there is further information with which we supply you.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
/.7 ,� }
�Ferduiand'L. Belz,i�II Joe bri=' '
cc: 1001 Inc. / HDC distribution AEI// NEI distribution
Bob Hughes, Esq. M rc Hayutin, Esq.
AMENDMENT TO THE FIRST AMENDED AND RESTATED
PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT/SUBDIVISION
AGREEMENT FOR THE ASPEN MOUNTAIN SUBDIVISION
THIS AMENDMENT to the First Amended and Restated Planned
Unit Development/Subdivision Agreement for the Aspen Mountain
Subdivision ("PUD Agreement"), being entered into between the
City of Aspen, Colorado ("City") and Savanah Limited Partnership
("Savanah" or "Owner!') on this day of ,
1991, provides as follows:
R E C I T A L S
WHEREAS, on March 15, 1991, Savanah submitted a written
petition to the City pursuant to Section M of the PUD Agreement
seeking certain extensions in the construction schedule deadlines
governing construction and development within the Aspen Mountain
Subdivision; and
WHEREAS, hearings were conducted before the City Council on
April 17th, May 21st and 29th, 1991, during which Savanah suc-
cessfully demonstrated that the reasons necessitating extensions
in the existing construction schedule deadlines were beyond its
control; and
WHEREAS, Section M of the PUD Agreement authorizes exten-
sions of the time periods for construction schedules upon a
proper showing; and
WHEREAS, Section 0(6) of the PUD agreement authorizes
amendments to the Agreement by written instrument executed by the
parties thereto.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants and
conditions as contained herein, it is agreed that the provisions
hereinbelow shall amend the PUD Agreement as follows:
1. Savanah's construction schedule
in Section A2 of the PUD Agreement, and as
that Section M amendment executed on June
Book 627 at Page 457 in the records of the
er), are amended to provide as follows:
From
Certificate of occupancy
Ice Rink/Park 10/1/91
Certificate of occupancy
Ritz -Carlton Hotel 10/1/91
deadlines as set forth
previously amended by
11, 1990 (recorded in
Pitkin County Record -
To
10/1/92
10/1/92
Building permit issuance
Ute City Place 10/1/91 4/1/92
Certificate of occupancy
Summit Place 8/1/92 8/1/93
Certificate of occupancy
Ute City Place 6/1/93 same
Demolition permit for Lot 5
Grand Aspen Hotel 10/1/94 10/1/95
Building permit issuance
Top of Mill 10/1/95 same
Building permit issuance
Hotel Phase II 10/1/96 same
Certificate of occupancy
Top of Mill 6/1/97 same
Certificate of occupancy
Hotel Phase II, Lot 5 6/l/98 same
2. Section L of the PUD agreement is amended to provide as
follows:
"It is mutually acknowledged and verified between City and
Owner that pursuant to Municipal Code Section 24-11.2(a),
Owner has the right, following their demolition, to recon-
struct within the Aspen Mountain PUD a total of 275 hotel
units and a total of 42 residential units. The original
location (source) of these reconstruction units is identi-
fied on the Schedule 9 update attached hereto and made apart
hereof by this reference. Furthermore, the City hereby
agrees and confirms that for the 18 previously demolished
residential units as identified on the Schedule 9 update
attached hereto, Owner shall have one (1) year from the date
of issuance of the demolition permit for the Grand Aspen
Hotel to reconstruct same."
(The Schedule 9 update is attached hereto and incorporated
herein as part of this Amendment.)
3. The amended construction schedule deadlines as provided
for in paragraph 1 above shall be and remain in force and effect
only insofar as Savanah'complies with all of those terms and
conditions as set forth in that written decision of the City
Council of the City of Aspen attached hereto as Exhibit 'fill and
incorporated herein, that was issued upon and in response to
Savanah's petition of March 15, 1991, seeking a Section M amend-
ment.
4. All other terms and conditions of the PUD Agreement and
the previous Section M amendment dated June 11, 1990, not incon-
sistent or superseded by this amendment, shall remain in full
force and effect.
5. This amendment document shall be promptly recorded in
the records of the Pitkin County Clerk and Recorder's office.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have hereunto set their
signatures on the day and year as first written above.
THE CITY OF ASPEN
By
Mayor
ATTEST:
Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
City Attorney
STATE OF COLORADO )
) ss.
County of Pitkin )
The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before me this
day of , 1991, by
as Mayor and Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk, of the City of Aspen,
Colorado.
WITNESS MY HAND AND OFFICIAL SEAL.
My commission expires:
Notary Public
Address
3
SAVANAH LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
By: 1001, Inc., a District of
Columbia Corporation and Man-
aging General Partner
By:
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Attorney of Savanah Limited
Partnership
STATE OF
ss.
County of
The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before me this
day of , 1991, by
WITNESS MY HAND AND OFFICIAL SEAL.
My commission expires:
Notary Public
Address
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•
ORDINANCE NO.
(Series of 1991)
AN ORDINANCE RATIFYING AND APPROVING AMENDMENTS TO THE FIRST
AMENDED AND RESTATED PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT/SUBDIVISION AGREE-
MENT FOR THE ASPEN MOUNTAIN SUBDIVISION.
WHEREAS, on March 15, 1991, Savanah Limited Partnership
("Savanah") submitted a written petition to the City Council
pursuant to Section M of the First Amended and Restated Planned
Unit Development/Subdivision Agreement ("PUD Agreement") for the
Aspen Mountain Subdivision seeking an extension in construction
schedule deadlines governing construction and development within
the Aspen Mountain Subdivision; and
WHEREAS, hearings were conducted before City Council on
April 17th and May 21st and 29th, 1991, during which Savanah
successfully demonstrated that the reasons necessitating exten-
sions in various construction schedule deadlines were beyond its
control; and
WHEREAS, Section M of the PUD agreement authorizes amend-
ments to construction schedule deadlines under circumstances as
demonstrated by Savanah.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, THAT:
Section 1
The following amendments to the First Amended and Restated
Planned Unit Development/Subdivision Agreement for the Aspen
Mountain Subdivision, as amended, are hereby ratified and ap-
proved:
•
•
1. Savanah's construction schedule deadlines as set forth
in Section A2 of the PUD agreement, and as previously amended by
that Section M amendment executed on June 11, 1990 (recorded in
Book 627 at Page 457 in the records of the Pitkin County Record-
er) are amended to provide as follows:
From To
Certificate of occupancy
Ice Rink/Park
10/1/91
10/1/92
Certificate of occupancy
Ritz -Carlton Hotel
10/1/91
10/1/92
Building permit issuance
Ute City Place
10/1/91
4/1/92
Certificate of occupancy
Summit Place
8/l/92
8/l/93
Certificate of occupancy
Ute City Place
6/1/93
same
Demolition permit for Lot
5
Grand Aspen Hotel
10/1/94
10/1/95
Building permit issuance
Top of Mill
10/1/95
same
Building permit issuance
Hotel Phase II
10/1/96
same
Certificate of occupancy
Top of Mill
6/1/97
same
Certificate of occupancy
Hotel Phase II, Lot 5
6/1/98
same
2. Section L of the PUD
agreement is
amended to provide as
follows:
2
"It is mutually acknowledged and verified between City and
Owner that pursuant to Municipal Code Section 24-11.2(a),
Owner has the right, following their demolition, to recon-
struct within the Aspen Mountain PUD a total of 275 hotel
units and a total of 42 residential units. The original
location (source) of these reconstruction units is identi-
fied on the Schedule 9 update attached hereto and made apart
hereof by this reference. Furthermore, the City hereby
agrees and confirms that for the 18 previously demolished
residential units as identified on the Schedule 9 update
attached hereto, Owner shall have one (1) year from the date
of issuance of the demolition permit for the Grand Aspen
Hotel to reconstruct same."
(The Schedule 9 update is attached hereto and incorporated
herein as part of the Amendment.)
Section 2
The amendments as provided for herein are subject to all the
terms and conditions as set forth in that written decision issued
by City Council pursuant to Savanah's petition dated March 15,
1991, requesting extensions in the above -described construction
schedule deadlines, a copy of which is and attached hereto as
Exhibit 1.
Section 3
Furthermore, the amendments as provided for herein are to be
reflected in that written amendment document attached hereto as
Exhibit 2 which shall be executed and filed in the records of the
Pitkin County Clerk and Recorder's Office.
Section 3
This ordinance shall not have any effect on existing litiga-
tion and shall not operate as an abatement of any action or
proceeding now pending under or by virtue of the ordinances
3
•
repealed or amended as herein provided, and the same shall be
construed and concluded under such prior ordinances.
Section 4
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or
portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or
unconstitutional in a court of competent jurisdiction, such
portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent
provision and shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions thereof.
Section 5
A public hearing on the ordinance shall be held on the
day of
, 1991, in the City Council
Chambers, Aspen City Hall, Aspen, Colorado.
INTRODUCED, READ AND ORDERED PUBLISHED as provided by law by
the City Council of the City of Aspen on the day of
, 1991.
William L. Stirling, Mayor
ATTEST:
Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk
FINALLY adopted, passed and approved this day of
1991.
John S. Bennett, Mayor
ATTEST:
Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk
4