Vail approves over $6 million in land purchases from CDOT for deed-restricted housing
Mayor says town is on track to have 1,000 new deed-restricted units by 2027
Triumph Development,Town of Vail/Courtesy photo
The Vail Town Council wants its constituents to know it is making progress on housing.
“We’ve been going a mile a minute on the housing front,” said Town Manager Russ Forrest.
At its Tuesday, Aug. 15, meeting, the Vail Town Council received updates and forged ahead on several housing projects in the town — including approving over $6 million worth of land acquisitions from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
“The town is holding up to our commitments, our community, to everyone who has asked for the town to build more housing right in town here; we are doing that,” said Mayor Kim Langmaid. “We are on track to meet the town’s goals of building 1,000 new units by 2027.”
Langmaid pointed not only to the CDOT acquisitions but also to the Timber Ridge redevelopment, the West Middle Creek parcel (which the council received an update on this week), and the Residences at Main Vail property, which will begin welcoming residents in September.
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CDOT acquisitions
The council authorized the purchase of three separate parcels from the state department. In total, these excess row parcels could result in an additional 480 deed-restricted homes, according to George Ruther, the town’s housing director.
The town has been collaborating with the state on the acquisition of these three sites for around three years, Ruther said.
The first parcel is .65 acres and is located along the North Frontage Road near the Timber Ridge Development. As the town began the process of planning the site’s redevelopment, the CDOT parcel was identified because it would allow the developers to add a seventh building to the project. With these units, the redevelopment is anticipated to bring 288 total deed-restricted units to the site.
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The Town Council approved the purchase of the parcel for $1,715,000, plus closing costs. The purchase was already contemplated as part of the budget for the project. Vail recently finalized the development agreement with Triumph Development and is targeting to begin construction next spring.
The second parcel is 1.25 acres and is located adjacent to the West Middle Creek parcel. The town recently rezoned the site to prepare for future housing and is actively working to select a development partner for the project.
On Tuesday, Ruther gave an update on the selection process, noting that the town received “10 quality responses” to its request for proposal. Of those, it brought six developers out to Vail this week to visit the site and interview them.
Ruther reported that the proposals represented a variety of projects that could bring between 200 to 370 units, would cost between $77 million and $135 million, and had a variety of funding options. The Town Council is expected to see the final recommendation and pre-development agreement for a development partner at its upcoming September meeting.
The Town Council approved the purchase of the CDOT-owned parcel for $2,277,000, plus closing costs.
The final site the town is seeking to acquire from CDOT is a 1.02-acre parcel near Columbine Drive and Spruce Way in East Vail, denoted as the “Bighorn Parcel.”
Ruther told the Vail Daily that this site is “ideally suited for residential development,” commenting that it is “adequately configured to accommodate a medium amount of residential dwelling units as recognized by the Vail Land Use Plan.”
“Early feasibility analysis completed by the Town of Vail found that it is likely the Parcel can accommodate 10 to 12 moderately-sized townhomes, very similar in scale to what has been developed all throughout East Vail. No final design work has been completed, however, and a schedule for development has not been established,” Ruther added.
The funds for the purchase of this site will largely come from the town’s housing fund, however, there is a portion of the parcel impacted by Bighorn Creek that will be set aside for stream tract preservation and added open space. This portion will be purchased with real estate transfer tax funds.
The approval of the site was for $2,410,500 plus closing costs.
According to a memo in the meeting packet, the Town Council had already budgeted around $5 million in its 2023 budget from its housing fund to acquire these three pieces of land. The additional amount required to make the purchase is available within the housing fund, aside from the real estate transfer tax funds used for the piece of open space in East Vail.
Dowd Junction Regional Housing
The Town Council packet also had an update on the progress of a state land board parcel in EagleVail. This parcel was identified in a bill signed into law earlier this year, which will help bring affordable housing to the 3.5-acre parcel in Dowd Junction.
The project is anticipated to be a partnership between the State Land Board as well as multiple local entities, including the towns of Vail, Minturn and Avon, the metro districts of EagleVail, Traer Creek, and The Village as well as other possible partners.
Already, some planning efforts have been initiated with the State Land Board assuming the costs for conceptual design and planning such as site evaluation, utility evaluation, and evaluation of potential deed restrictions.
On Tuesday, the discussion on the site was tabled for the council’s next meeting in September, but Forrest shared that “great progress” was being made and a “super partnership is forming.”
The Vail Town Council packet shares some of the initial conceptual designs for the site, which contemplates up to eight phases of construction and potentially up to 704 units of housing as well as some commercial space.
