YOUR AD HERE »

Mall owners disappoint on Base Village

Aspen Times writer

Dear Editor:

Several of the Snowmass Village Mall owners, namely John Francis, Jeff Server and Perry Snyderman, have been very quick and vocal to cast personal criticism at every opportunity towards the Snowmass Village Town Council concerning its review of the Base Village development application. It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that they have taken such a stand, since they are facing the difficult, if not impossible, challenge of trying to save their property investments without making any of the much-needed improvements to their Mall properties.

For many years, they have gotten away with not doing what is obvious to most residents and guests; that is looking to the future and attempting to revitalize their dying commercial core. They have done a disservice to their tenant business owners, the community and in the process they have taken advantage of all of us.



Base Village is the promise of the future. It will revitalize Snowmass Village as a residential community and premiere destination resort. Without it, and the on-mountain improvements and amenities that it will bring, we face a very scary and uncertain future. All of our competitors have already addressed the competitive aspects of their destination resorts. If we intend to remain a viable community, from both an economic and lifestyle standpoint, we need to encourage and support the Town Council in its efforts to achieve a Base Village that is just big enough; that is as small as it can be and still be vital and viable.

It is now time for these Mall owners to stop the negative rhetoric and name-calling. Join the process in a positive way. Work together with the Town and the Base Village developers to achieve a bi-nodal commercial core, whereby both nodes will contribute to the revitalization and success of the entire village, well into the future.




Mel D. Blumenthal

Snowmass Village