Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Ketchum to start review of 3 hotel plans

P&Z sets schedule to help streamline process


By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

The Hotel Ketchum, proposed by local developer Jack Bariteau, is one of three hotel projects coming in front of the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission in the coming weeks. A schedule has been set to afford members of the public ample opportunity to comment on and ask questions about the projects. Courtesy graphic.

There won't be much in the way of a spring break for the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission, which is set to begin hearing three separate hotel proposals, starting on Monday, March 24, with a workshop regarding the Hotel Ketchum application.

Over the following eight days, the commission will meet twice more, discussing a workforce housing plan for the proposed Ketchum Lodge on Monday, March 31, and the Warm Springs Ranch Resort on Tuesday, April 1.

The first workshop will afford the public the opportunity to ask questions after hearing a presentation on the key components of the Hotel Ketchum project from applicant Jack Bariteau. The commission will close out the meeting by requesting any additional information that members feel is necessary to render a decision.

Bariteau's development is planned for the southeast corner of River and Main streets, where Trail Creek Village now sits.

The 73-room Hotel Ketchum would include six penthouse residences, a full-service restaurant and bar, a spa, fitness center and meeting space. The approximately 148,000-square-foot project would also have 89 underground parking spaces, and outdoor-dining and swimming pool terrace areas.

In an e-mail interview, Bariteau said that if everything goes on schedule, it would take 10 to 12 months to draw up plans if the city approves the project, and another 22 to 24 months for construction.

He estimated total cost at $60 million to $65 million, including offsite workforce housing for approximately 18 employees.

Next up for the commission will be a pre-application design review for the Ketchum Lodge, with the sole topic of discussion being the workforce housing plan prepared by the developers, Centurion Partners.

The proposed mixed-use hotel would be located on the two city lots across from the post office on Second Avenue, on a parcel known as the Simplot lot. The hotel would be a neighbor with the new Sun Valley Center for the Arts building on the same block.

The hotel complex would have a large central plaza along with 70 rooms, 26 residences, 17 fractional and nine whole-ownership units. It would also 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 open to the public, an outdoor swimming pool and retail space.

The final meeting during this busy stretch for the commission will be another workshop, this time focusing on the large Warm Springs Ranch Resort project.

The applicant, DDRM, will meet first with members of the public, who will have the chance to review materials and ask questions before the commission joins to hear a presentation on the key components of the development.

As with Hotel Ketchum, after a question-and-answer session with the public the commission will then request any further information required to make a decision.

As proposed, the 77-acre Warm Springs Ranch Resort development, located northwest of downtown, would include 75 hotel rooms, 45 condominium suites, 30 fractional ownership units and up to 35 additional residences.

As well, the five-star hotel would have a 13,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, 12,000 square feet of meeting space and a restaurant.

The resort would also feature a nine-hole golf course with limited public access, 27 town homes, two estate lots, 25 villas and almost 48,000 square feet of workforce housing for 152 employees.

Along with the scale of the project, concerns raised when the project was first revealed to the P&Z during pre-application design review in November related to potential traffic problems on Warm Springs Road and the hotel's 93-foot height.

Ketchum P&Z meeting schedule

- March 24, 7-8:30 p.m.—Hotel Ketchum workshop.

- March 31, 5:30 p.m.—Ketchum Lodge, workforce housing plan.

- April 1, 3-8:30 p.m.—Warm Springs Ranch Resort workshop.




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