For the week of April 24 - 30, 2002

Public gets its say 
on new Elkhorn

Part of redevelopment is 
fractional ownership

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By PETER BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer

The new owners of the Elkhorn Resort revealed at a meeting Tuesday of the Sun Valley Planning and Zoning Commission that they would like part of the redevelopment to be a fractional ownership project.

Greg DeStefano, representing one of the partners, Greenfield Partners L.L.C., told the P&Z that the project would be similar to Les Saisons in Ketchum.

Greg DeStefano, of Greenfield Partners L.L.C., describes the master plan for the redevelopment of the Elkhorn Resort. Greenfield Partners and the Chesapeake Hotel Group are the new owners of the resort. Express photos by Willy Cook

The fractional ownership project would just apply to the seven five-story condominiums the owners would like to build in the "Village" core of the resort.

DeStefano told Sun Valley attorney Rand Peebles that 70 units would be sold in seven week "fractions." The cost to buyers would be between $190,000 and $350,000.

He said the reasoning behind the fractional ownership was to allow people "to participate in Sun Valley without having to buy a unit for $800,000 to $1 million."

In addition to the seven condominium buildings around the core of the resort, 10 townhomes are planned to be built on the existing golf course parking lot on fairway 18, and 24 townhomes are planned to go up where the swimming pool and tennis court parking lot are now.

Although the meeting Tuesday was not scheduled to be a public hearing, DeStefano said he wanted to hear what the public and the P&Z had to say about the master plan.

Darrell Scott said he was concerned that the fractional ownership would overload the amenities that members of the Sun Valley Elkhorn Homeowners Association currently enjoyed.

Gabe Cherian said he looked around the area where the Elkhorn pool would be moved and thought it would be "sun blocked" by surrounding buildings.

Toni Lash asked about the owners’ plan to get rid of the Elkhorn ski lift.

"Why do you want to take away our ski lift?" she asked. "Would you and the Sun Valley Co. rather not have people skiing in Elkhorn?"

The Sun Valley P&Z Commission listens to the redevelopment plan for the Elkhorn Resort. From left to right, Mark Pynn, Jim McLaughlin, Ken Herich, Phil Usher, recording secretary Karen Curry and Blair Boand. Express photos by Willy Cook

DeStefano told the P&Z that Greenfield Partners and Chesapeake Hotel Group, the other owner of the resort, were talking with the company about removing the ski lift and replacing it with parking for the golf driving range.

DeStefano told the P&Z that "without substantial improvement, we don’t see the lift as a huge amenity. And we’ve been told the lift runs infrequently."

The end result of the meeting was that the commission tabled the master plan review indefinitely to allow the developers opportunity to digest and respond to all the public comment.

The owners will also have to respond to the P&Z’s requests for a more complete master plan, which would show where a proposed "amenity building" would be built.

DeStefano said this building would be "a mini version of Zenergy," a health spa at Thunder Spring in Ketchum.

The amenity building would also replace the tennis courts and swimming pool the Elkhorn redevelopment would demolish.

Other concerns from the P&Z were the 62-foot heights of the fractional ownership condominiums, the estimated thousand truckloads of debris from the demolition of the resort, and building in phases.

"It’s the size, the mass and the scope of the project we need to get a handle on," commissioner Ken Herich said.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.