Edwards RiverPark revival: After being put up for sale, large project has a new developer
Residential density is still 440 units, but the commercial space has been removed
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More than three years after it was approved, and more than two years after the project was put up for sale, a new developer seems ready to revive the Edwards RiverPark project.
Jared Hutter of Aptitude Development on Thursday presented to the Edwards Metropolitan District Board of Directors with details of a revised plan for the nearly 105-acre property along U.S. Highway 6 about a mile west of the roundabout at the intersection of Highway 6 and the Edwards Spur Road.
The project was put up for sale in the summer of 2022, following the death in 2020 of lead project partner Don MacKenzie. The remaining partners saw the project through the nearly two-year entitlement process, which required 13 public hearings between the Eagle County Planning Commission and the Eagle County Board of Commissioners.
Hutter and his firm currently have the property under contract and have been working on some changes to what was originally approved.
Hutter said in his firm’s view, the original developers “rushed through their design. … We gave ours a lot of thought.”
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But, Hutter added, much of what’s in the original plan hasn’t changed.
Noting the valley’s need for housing, Hutter’s presentation states that the project’s density remains at a maximum of 440 units. Of those, at most, 170 will be free-market, with at least 270 deed-restricted.
The original deed-restricted unit breakdown was:
- 90 deed-restricted rental units — nine price-capped rental units at 80% average median income
- 72 price-capped rental units at 100% AMI and nine resident-occupied, deed-restricted units for sale with no transfer fee exemption
- 98 resident-occupied deed restriction for sale units
- 82 resident-occupied for sale or rental units
The project will also retain the previously approved open space, wetland buffers, trails, parking requirements and stream setbacks. The developers will also build a required roundabout on U.S. Highway 6.
The previously-approved commercial space will be eliminated, and a child care facility, previously approved for 2.500 square feet, will be expanded to 10,000 square feet.
Laura Cassalia of CHA Consulting, part of the development team, said the team had engaged McDowell Engineering, which has recently completed a traffic master plan for the community to do traffic estimates for the revised project. Removing the commercial space results in a decrease of approximately 10% in vehicle traffic to and from the project, she said.
Hutter noted that some of the building density will be moved around, which requires changes to the previous “planned unit development” proposal.
That proposal is currently being evaluated by Eagle County’s planning staff for sufficiency. The next step is then sending out the proposal to referral agencies — including the metro district’s board — for comments.
From there, the plan will then go back to the Eagle County Planning Commission for a new review process. If it passes muster there, it will head to the Eagle County Board of Commissioners for final approval of the changes.
