Developers of the proposed Warm Springs Ranch Resort are faced with a difficult situation.
Without the required approvals from the city, they have little chance of obtaining financing given the current debt market or to strike a deal with a major hotel brand. And while Ketchum city officials and members of the public want to know what they would be green-lighting, the end result depends upon that down-the-road financing and potential branding.
Given that predicament, the developers, Park City-based DDRM Greatplace, are attempting to leave enough flexibility in their planned-unit development application to delay finalizing plans until the design review process.
To that end, a considerable amount of new information was supplied to the city over the course of the week. Joy Kasputys, DDRM's local liaison, said on Thursday that the new submittal offered a range for several aspects of the project, including the number of rooms, residences, condominium suites and fractional ownership units that comprise the five-star hotel.
While DDRM CEO Stan Castleton has committed to a minimum of 120 "hot beds"—those readily available in the rental pool—that figure could balloon up to 180, according to the new material. This upper end would likely be welcomed by the city, which has repeatedly stressed the need for high-end hotel rooms in Ketchum.
In addition, Scheme 11, Version 1, as it's called, expands the range in size for a spa and conservatory, from 11,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet. As well, Castleton stated in his introductory letter that there is a potential deal with Ketchum native Mariel Hemingway to host a cooking television show on the premises, which would increase the amount of what's defined as "other public space" in the plans.
Despite the variables, Castleton has once again stated that the project would have a maximum floor-area ratio of 1.6 and remain within the "tent concept" first presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission in June. This would set height and mass limits to different sections of the core hotel building, with the uppermost floor reaching 93 feet.
Overall, Block 1, including the hotel, Warm Springs Restaurant, a number of townhomes and at least 35,000 square feet of workforce housing, would total, at most, 695,486 square-feet in the most recent design. That's about 75,000 square feet more than the previous design.
Kasputys said that this increase would be largely due to a subterranean parking level, which the council saw during the last public meeting on Oct. 21.
Including the parking structure, the hotel would have a total of nine floors, three of which would be below Warm Springs Road.
Other increases in square footage would result from breaking off sections of the hotel into two wings, located to the southeast and northwest of the core hotel building. Kasputys said this would require additional corridors to connect to the main building, as well as an increase in the amount of back-of-house space needed to service these areas.
"We're looking forward to design review when we can really nail all of this down," Kasputys said.
Kasputys said more information, including an economic report from hospitality specialists PKF Consulting, would be turned in today and that the full report should be available on Ketchum's Web site by this evening.
The council is scheduled to hold public hearings on the application on Dec. 1, 2, 11 and 12.
