Ketchum's Urban Renewal Agency would receive $25 million over the next 13 years if the city annexes 138 acres of property at River Run and permits Sun Valley Co. to build a ski-mountain base village there, a recently completed economic analysis concluded.
The city's financial consultant, Henderson, Young & Co., based in Redmond, Wash., also estimated that beginning in 2024 after development is completed, the URA would receive about $3.6 million annually.
The consultant stated that revenue to the city would outweigh the costs of annexing the resort property. Its economic analysis projects that the city would collect $50.5 million in revenues through 2030.
"Growth will pay its share of fixed costs and regular capital by becoming citizens and taxpayers," Henderson, Young & Company stated in its fiscal analysis.
Ketchum's consultant will present its analysis to the City Council in a public hearing Thursday, Feb. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The analysis covers costs versus benefits to Ketchum of incorporating the base village within the city limits.
The last River Run annexation hearing was more than two months ago on Dec. 9. Another meeting scheduled for Jan. 13 was postponed due to the council's needing more time to review the fiscal analysis.
Sun Valley Resort hired a consultant of its own, RRC Associates of Boulder, Colo., and will present its fiscal analysis as well on Thursday. Both reports are on the city's Web site at www.ketchumidaho.org. Click on the "City Departments" tab and scroll down to "Community and Economic Development," then click on "Hotels and Special Projects." Then choose "River Run Annexation," and two different analysis titles will appear near the top of the screen.
Ketchum's URA would collect an estimated $50.5 million through 2030 because the resort's 138 acres could be made a part of the urban renewal district, and any increases in property taxes from new development within the district are automatically directed to the URA.
The city could then use the money for rehabilitating deteriorating areas and promoting healthy development, which is the purpose of URAs.
The River Run base village is planned to consist of 520 dwelling units, each averaging $1.5 million in sales price; 180 hotel rooms averaging $492 a night, and 35,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
The Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission has also suggested implementing a real-estate transfer fee of 0.25 percent on the first sale of any dwelling to help finance community housing. That would equate to $1.9 million for the city if all 520 units were sold.
But the council has not yet decided whether it will accept the P&Z's suggestion and make the transfer fee an annexation requirement.
Lots of decisions await, but won't be made on Thursday. One involves a debate over leaving a couple of acres for an active park, such as a soccer field. Lisa Horowitz, director of Ketchum Community and Economic Development, said the next annexation meeting would probably take place sometime in March.
Between now and then, the council will also hold a meeting to consider a planned-unit development for the 19-acre core of the base village. That's where a 110-foot-tall hotel would be built on the east bank of the Big Wood River along with 35,000 square feet of retail space and restaurants.
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
A bird’s eye view of the proposed River Run base village with a dotted line depicting the annexation-area boundary of the 138 acres. The areas marked with Ns are residential.
