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Snowmass Base Village goes fractional?

Charles Agar
Aspen, CO Colorado

SNOWMASS ” Related WestPac CEO Pat Smith wants to sell Snowmass Village officials on a plan for fractional-ownership units at Base Village.

Smith, whose firm is developing the $1-billion Base Village project, said Tuesday he plans to introduce an amendment to the 1 million-square-foot development, which would call for 41 fractional units on two separate sites.

The new plan would convert 73 units at the proposed Viceroy Condo-Hotel (building 13B) and 52 condominium units in the proposed Little Nell Condo-Hotel (building 5) into fewer, but larger fractional units designed for families.



Most of the three- and four-bedroom fractional units can be divided as “lock-off” rooms and rented separately.

Smith said the new scheme would not only put more “heads in beds” and promote vitality in the commercial area now under construction, but would mean crews could finish the project ahead of schedule.




“We want to finish this thing two years early,” Smith said. And the low-entry cost of a one-eighth ownership would lower the barrier for potential buyers and encourage a diverse, steady flow of guests, Smith said. Fractional units are sold in fractions to multiple buyers who each get a certain amount of time to use the unit.

“The reality is that the highest occupancy is with fractional,” Smith said, adding that guests paying less for accommodation can spend more freely in local shops and restaurants.

“It’s going to get used,” Smith said. And while the number of actual units would decrease from the original plan, the number of owners would increase.

He is not asking for any additional square footage, and said the plan is in line with the town’s goals of bringing more people to Snowmass Village.

Smith hopes to bring an amendment to his planned unit development to the Snowmass Town Council meeting on Dec. 17.

“This should be cut and dry,” Smith said.

The fractional plan would save Smith “holding time” in staged construction. But while fractional units sell at a slightly higher rate, much of that increase is gobbled up in sales and marketing fees, he said.

Smith is in a rush to earn approval and break ground as soon as July 2008.

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