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Hunt eyes boutique hotel at old Crystal Palace space

Rick Carroll
The Aspen Times

Developer Mark Hunt’s intentions to convert the old Crystal Palace building in downtown Aspen to a boutique lodge are starting to take form.

Hunt, through the Aspen firm Haas Land Planning LLC, this week submitted an application with the city of Aspen’s Community Development department detailing his plans for the structure, located on the 300 block of East Hyman Avenue.

Hunt’s application seeks to increase the height of a portion of the Crystal Palace building from 29 feet, 6 inches to 38 feet, with the possibility of 40 feet through a commercial-design review.



Among Hunt’s plans for the space are 16 rooms on the upper floors, and a 4,950-square-foot restaurant and kitchen on the ground-floor level. The lower level calls for a fitness center, rest rooms and locker areas and a guest lounge.

Fourteen of the guest rooms would be on the building’s second floor, averaging nearly 500 square feet, with two suites proposed for a proposed third floor that also would include an outdoor pool, cabana and service bar.




“This renovation, redevelopment and adaptive reuse will involve undertaking significant efforts to preserve and restore the historic integrity of the Crystal Palace structure and revive its glory,” the application says.

The application applies to both the two-level Crystal Palace building, built in 1886 and located at 300 E. Hyman Ave., and the one-story building next door at 312 E. Hyman Ave. Both structures are connected and combine for 13,361 square feet of net leasable space.

“The adjacent one-story building at 312 East Hyman was an is not itself historically significant, but now that the property has merged with the Crystal Palace property, the entire 9,000-square-foot lot is designated to the City of Aspen Inventory of Historic Sites and Structures,” the application says.

rcarroll@aspentimes.com