Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Simplot plan gets praise from P&Z

Ketchum Lodge draws no major red flags


By ANDY STINY
Express Staff Writer

Rendering courtesy of Centurion Partners Preliminary drawings of the Ketchum Lodge, an approximately 100-room hotel and residential building that would be built on the Simplot property in Ketchum, show a sizeable central plaza surrounded by buildings.

It takes up two city blocks, but developers want to give it an artsy, European plaza feel. "Bravo—molto bene," said the neighbors and the deciders. "Prego," we'll be back, said the developers. And so they will.

Praise was lavish from all sides after a one hour and twenty-five minute presentation by Centurion Partners, the latest entrant in the Ketchum hotel sweepstakes. Centurion gave a pre-application design review pitch to the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday morning.

Centurion's roll of the dice has the added benefit of having two city blocks' worth of land across from the post office, and the group's Ketchum Lodge would be neighbors with a new Sun Valley Center for the Arts building in the same block.

Just to make sure the dice aren't loaded, City Attorney Ben Worst played the part of pit boss at the special meeting. At this and before all future P&Z hotel-related meetings Worst said he will ask elected officials to disclose if they have had any meetings or discussions with developers so that the public is more "comfortable about decisions."

On Monday all P&Z commissioners said they had not met with developers.

No official action was taken at the meeting but now the design team of hotel developers and city planners will re-work the planned unit development, called a PUD in planning lingo, for the property. The developers will have to amend their current PUD, approved in 2006, because the scope of the plan for the large property has changed, said Lisa Horowitz, land-use contract planner for the city.

All of the current hotel applicants are asking for more height and bulk than the current 35-foot maximum allowed in the Tourist zone. Commissioners said they saw no red flags in moving ahead with the process.

John Sarpa, a savvy Aspen veteran of hotel development and a partner in the Newport, Calif.-based Centurion Partners, was giddy about the ample building site and that the proposed arts center building would anchor the complex.

"Wow," he said.

Sarpa's group has developed several luxury hotels in Aspen and elsewhere.

"Very rarely do you get the opportunity to work with this much space," he said. "We have a whole (two) block(s)."

The Simplot parcel is located on Second Avenue between Fourth and Sixth Streets.

Ketchum Realtor Dick Fenton, the local point man for Centurion, preceded Sarpa in the presentation. The Simplot family wanted to sell the block but after talks with three prospective hotel development groups they decided in January to become equity partners with Centurion.

Project manager Krystal England took over for Centurion outlining four key elements. Using an aerial photo of the area she explained it was important to connect the downtown core with the West Ketchum neighborhood, and the Fourth Street Heritage Corridor would be part of that. She also said there was an awareness of the proposed First Avenue Arts Promenade and of how the bike path and post office meshed with the plans.

All the development's advocates spoke of the arts center as the part of the mix that was appealing and unique.

"We see the arts center as the connecting factor to this whole project," England said.

The hotel complex would have a large central plaza and during arts center activities "events (would) spill out onto the plaza," England said.

The hotel would have 70 rooms, 26 residences, 17 fractional and nine whole ownership units. It would have meeting space of about 4,000 square-feet, enough for 300 people, and a full-service, 7,000- to 9,000-square-foot spa that would be open to the public, an outdoor swimming pool and retail space such as a coffee shop or a "Dean and DeLuca" style specialty grocer.

The hotel would be four stories, but specific heights have not yet been detailed. About 17,800 square feet has been designated for employee housing and would face onto the bike path.

"It (the housing) really feels like it is their (the employees') own space and not part of where they work," England said.

Responding to questions, Sarpa said he thinks all hotel employees could be housed on site.

"We want to house as many of our workforce as possible," he said.

Any employee housing would need to be a public-private partnership, he said. The hotel would have 150 or more employees, Sarpa said.

No hotel operator has been selected, and Sarpa said it was too early for that. However, he qualified that U.S. and European operators are being considered.

These days a hotel operator needs to draw clients from a global market, he said. "You have to be able to draw people into your shoulder seasons."

When commissioners noted that Ketchum lodging occupant rates hovered somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 percent, Sarpa noted that 20 years ago in Aspen the rate was about 53 percent. "I hear you loud and clear."

None of the 30-plus people at the meeting raised serious objections during the period of public comment.

"It looks like a wonderful project," said neighbor Karen Jacobsen. "I can't imagine anything better across the street from me."

Jacobsen was, however, concerned about overflow parking. The complex would have about 147 underground parking spaces.

"You know we need hotels," said Carol Waller, executive director of the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau. "You're hearing a very creative project this week. We need these to help stimulate economic activity in our community."

Waller urged the commission to expedite things to "get shovels in the ground."

For all the fanfare, commissioners did have a few concerns.

"I'm not crazy about where the pool is located," said Chairwoman Anne Corrock.

The developers said they considered locations other than the corner of Third Avenue and Sixth Street for the pool, but there were sunlight concerns and noise factors if it was located closer to retail shops.

Corrock also questioned if the town needed another coffee shop, and developers responded that they did not want to include anything the town didn't need.

Other hotel applicants with similar service levels as the Ketchum Lodge have plans for 200 rooms, and Commissioner Curtis Kemp asked about the lower number of rooms proposed in this case.

Many hotels consider 200 rooms the number needed for economic success, but in this case the hotel would be at the top of the price structure, Sarpa said.




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