For the week of August 21 - 27, 2002

Elkhorn owners seek demolition OK

Five-phase plan would raze 
resort before snow flies

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"We didn’t buy this to make the resort work. We bought it to tear it down and redevelop."

—GREG DeSTEFANO, senior vice-president of design and development, Greenfield Partners

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Although it still does not have an approved master plan to redevelop Elkhorn Village, the new Elkhorn Resort partnership has officially requested permission from Sun Valley city planners to demolish parts of the village core starting in September.

Chesapeake-Greenfield LLC, a partnership between the Maryland-based Chesapeake Hotel Group and the Connecticut-based Greenfield Partners LLC real estate investment firm, filed a five-phase demolition plan last week with Community Development Director Jack Cloud that proposes to raze the Elkhorn Hotel and several other buildings over the next year.

Lisen Connery, communications manager for the CG Elkhorn Group, displays a design of a new amenities building and recreational complex proposed for Elkhorn Village. Express photo by Willy Cook

The first phase of the plan proposes to tear down the River Rock Steak House and Treat Haus buildings starting Sept. 15. The second phase of the plan calls for demolition of the buildings that house Elkhorn Realty and Tequila Joe’s restaurant starting Oct. 1. The third and fourth phases would start Oct. 15, and include the demolition of the entire Elkhorn Hotel and the resort’s golf shop.

Greg DeStefano, senior vice-president of design and development for Greenfield Partners, said Friday that the developers—calling themselves CG Elkhorn—are firmly committed to tearing down the 132-unit hotel and redeveloping most of the village, whether or not a current proposal to build 56 fractional-ownership units and 38 single-deed townhouses on the site is approved by the City of Sun Valley.

"The demolition is unrelated to the master plan," he said. "We’ve determined that the hotel does not work."

DeStefano said CG Elkhorn had a vision of redeveloping Elkhorn Resort—which has suffered financially under several previous ownership groups—since the time the company purchased the property last year. "We didn’t buy this to make the resort work," he said. "We bought it to tear it down and redevelop."

However, several obstacles must be overcome by CG Elkhorn before the demolition and redevelopment projects can begin.

Cloud this week said that while most of the demolition work does not require formal approval by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, the first phase of the work as proposed by the developers do require P&Z review because the buildings at issue are attached to existing residential structures.

Cloud explained that P&Z commissioners will hold a public hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, to consider the plan to demolish the River Rock Steak House and the Treat Haus buildings to install a parking lot included in the developers’ master plan.

The remainder of the demolition plan requires only a permit from the Community Development office, but Cloud said that no permit would be issued until the future of Phase One is determined by the P&Z.

If issued, the permit will require that the demolition projects adhere to all city ordinances governing the times and overall management of the work.

The future of the project also depends largely on the completion of a land swap proposed by CG Elkhorn to acquire control of a parcel of land owned by the Sun Valley Elkhorn Association. The developers have asked the homeowners’ group to give CG Elkhorn rights to the land on which the Elkhorn swimming pool and tennis courts sit, in exchange for the rights for all association members to use a proposed amenities building, plus a relocated pool and tennis-court complex.

As part of the deal, the homeowners would own the new swimming pool and tennis courts developed by CG Elkhorn.

Lisen Connery, communications manager for CG Elkhorn, said Monday that a vote by association members on whether to approve the trade of land for future facilities set for Labor Day weekend has been postponed so detailed discussions about the proposal can be continued. However, she said a vote on the deal will likely take place before the end of September.

"We think the swap offers them a nice set of facilities with no extra dues," she said. "The amenities building should make Elkhorn a little more viable overall."

The result of the land-swap vote will likely determine whether the redevelopment project as proposed will go before the Sun Valley P&Z for approval. (The P&Z reviewed the master plan last April, yet made no binding determinations about the proposal.)

If the land-swap vote were not to occur in the developers’ favor, the master plan would likely be reconfigured, Connery said.

"The hotel is being demolished regardless," she said. "We do plan on building a complex here one way or another."

Connery said that although the demolition of the hotel will contribute to a trend of lodging losses in the area, CG Elkhorn sees the redevelopment as the best means to turn the property into a viable and attractive business endeavor.

She noted that deeded fractional-ownership in the so-called "residence club" units in the village core—which would be similar to those at Les Saisons in Ketchum—will sell for roughly $195,000 and up for a minimum of seven weeks of use per year.

Coinciding with the redevelopment plan are two other proposals that will influence the future of the Elkhorn area.

Connery confirmed that the CG Elkhorn group is still working to complete a deal to sell the Elkhorn Golf Course to the Sun Valley Co. Wallace Huffman, general manager of Sun Valley Co., said in a letter earlier this year to Cloud that the deal could lead to a new clubhouse and ski lodge building near the base of Dollar Mountain, as well as improvements to the course facilities.

In addition, Connery confirmed that Sun Valley Co. will remove the ski lift from Elkhorn Village up Dollar Mountain, and consent has been provided by CG Elkhorn.

DeStefano said that if the owners can gain approval to move forward with their plans, they would like to start the first phase of construction next spring.

As proposed, the entire project would be built in phases over the next five years.

 

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