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AGENDA
INFORMATION UPDATE
October 13, 2020
5:00 PM,
I.INFORMATION UPDATE
I.A.Lift One Corridor Project
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INFORMATION ONLY
MEMORANDUM
TO:Mayor Torre and City Council
FROM:Jen Phelan, Development Manager
THROUGH:Scott Miller, Public Works Director
MEMO DATE:September 24, 2020
PUBLISH DATE:October 13,2020
RE:Status update of Lift One Corridor project (2)
This is the second staff memo providing City Council with a status update of the Lift 1 Corridor project,
with the first having been provided in July. As mentioned in the initial memo, voter approval of the project
was granted in March 2019, allowing for a multi-stakeholder development project1 that stretches from
Dean Street to the southerly termination of S. Aspen Street.
Five stakeholders are involved in the project: Lift One Lodge (LOL), Gorsuch Haus (GH), the Aspen
Historical Society (AHS), Aspen Skiing Company (ASC), and the City of Aspen. Besides a land interest in the
corridor project, the city also has a financial interest.2
In December of 2019, LOL was granted a deadline extension to submit their final land use application for
the project from March 5, 2020 to September 1, 2020 (GH submitted their final land use application in
March). The amended deadline has been met,and as of September 21st, the application has been deemed
complete by the Community Development Department.
Associated with the application, ASC has led the effort to apply for and receive variances from the
Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board (Tramway Board) for both lodges. As of early September, both
variances have been approved (one for the Lift One lodge building and one for the Gorsuch Haus building).
1 The project includes two hotels (Lift One Lodge and Gorsuch Haus), installation of a new telemix lift that loads
closer to Dean Street and skier return, relocation of the historically designated Lift 1 bullwheel and associated
towers, development of a ski museum and ticketing/skier services, as well as the redevelopment of city parks,
Dean Street, and the termination (a new cul-de-sac)of S. Aspen Street.
2 The city has allocated $4.36 million dollars within an escrow account to help fund certain “public facing” elements
of the project such as improvements to Dean Street and relocation of the Skiers Chalet Lodge (home of a future ski
museum and ASC services)that will benefit the public. These funds are to be released to Lift One Lodge when overall
improvements are constructed and “once the new ski lift is in a working condition.”
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Although final land use applications are submitted, representatives of the stakeholder group continue to
meet as a whole and individually on a regular basis. Group meetings have been used for stakeholder
updatesand ensuring coordination between stakeholders. Individual stakeholder meetings are conducted
as needed to solve design and operations issues between different stakeholders. The current emphasis
has beenon draft legal agreements that will need to be finalized and recorded after successful completion
of the land use review process.
Next steps for the corridor project are the public hearing process before the required boards and
commissions. The anticipated dates are:
10/15 – Open Space Board (for a recommendation)
11/4 – Planning and Zoning Commission – Corridor Project introduction
11/11 – Historic Preservation Commission – Lift One Lodge application (historic aspects)
11/17 – Planning and Zoning Commission – Gorsuch Haus application
12/1 – Planning and Zoning Commission – Lift One Lodge application (non-historic aspects)
12/9 – Historic Preservation Commission – Lift One Lodge application (historic aspects)
12/15 - Planning and Zoning Commission – Lift One Lodge and Gorsuch Haus applications
The land use applications for Lift One Lodge and Gorsuch Haus are available for review at:
https://www.cityofaspen.com/1330/Gorsuch-Haus-and-Lift-One-Lodge
Once final land use approvals are granted, both applicants must submit final plats, development
agreements, easement agreements, etc. for recordation to perfect their entitlements and be able to
submit a building permit application. Construction sequencing will be important to this project as
construction cannot start until the end of a ski season to minimize the timeline the lift is offline. At this
point, it is anticipated that the earliest construction start date would be April 2022.
As the owner representative for the project, the Development Manager position is expected to oversee
successful execution of all phases in the development project: from initial concepts through final
construction. This entails both leading and supporting the stakeholder group (both externally and
internally) as well as monitoring coordination of the group to ensure that all technical studies, design, and
entitlement requirements are met in a timely fashion to successfully move the project to completion. I’m
happy to answer any additional questions Council may have with regard to this project. Feel free to
contact me at jennifer.phelan@cityofaspen.com or 319-9949.
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