Snowmass hones in on single-building option for Draw Site

Snowmass council is closer than ever to consensus about a workforce housing design that would provide the working community with 95 new beds. 

The latest sketch — a five-floor structure with 63 units to be located uphill and adjacent to Snowmass Town Hall — was the second attempt at a single-building design. The first attempt was presented to council in late February and came as a drastic shift from the numerous iterations of two-building designs previously presented. Council decided to move forward with the one-building option presented, though total units decreased from its original 79-unit concept.

“After our last meeting about the Draw Site, I couldn’t sleep because I was concerned that we were decreasing units,” said Council member Susan Marolt. “So now I feel better that we have some extra bedrooms, so I think I can sleep tonight, hopefully.”

From February’s single-building sketch, designers Site Architects added 10 additional bedrooms on the leg extending off of the northwest side of the building, or the “L,” accounting for some of the lost capacity from the 79-unit version.

At $64.6 million, the projected project cost would be about $500,000 less than the single-building design presented in late-February. 

Housing Director Besty Crum said they might charge different amounts for rent based on tenants’ income, which could lower the town’s financial gap to fund the building from $11 million to $8 million. In the 79-unit design iterations, council discussed charging $1,400 for one-bedroom units, $2,000 for two-bedroom units, and $2,500 for three-bedroom units. 

Crum said they’re also working on obtaining $5 million from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority’s Middle-Income Housing Tax Credit program.

“So we’re really chipping away at it,” Crum said of the financial gap, “approaching it from an income standpoint, an equity standpoint, and a cost standpoint.” 

The revision also decreased the height of the front of the building from six stories to five stories, and featured 11 additional parking spaces to bring its total to 103. Eighty-three of the spaces would be located in a parking garage beginning under the front of the building and extending to the southeast. Twenty would be outside along the building’s entry plaza. 

The design would include 35 one-bedroom, 16 two-bedroom, and eight three-bedroom units, as well as four studio apartments. 

The first floor containing apartments could contain a community gathering space on the “L” extending northwest of the front, according to the designers. The two legs of the “L” will be separated by an outdoor courtyard. 

Though overall pleased with the design, some council members were concerned about the building’s imposing verticality and the roof’s modern edges. They suggested pursuing a roof design with more of an “alpine feel.”

“That undulating could be done on the roofline to break what feels like a stark, harsh angle, and maybe soften it,” said council member Britta Gustafson.

Mayor Alyssa Shenk suggested architects study Hayden Lodge and Capitol Peak Lodge to get a sense for a design council may find more fitting. 

“The biggest thing is just the vertical massing, and to see what could be done to continue to bring that down,” she said. “And make it feel more in line with alpine versus the modern.”

Site Architects and town staff will return to council on April 7 with a landscape design and another revised single-building plan, as directed by council.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.