Vail’s planning process for new village in West Lionshead expected to begin this week
A contract with East West Partners for the creation of a new master plan is the next step in the process
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
The Vail Town Council on Tuesday will consider giving the go-ahead to a contract with East West Partners for the creation of a new master plan for West Lionshead.
Once that contract is finalized, East West Partners will begin managing the day-to-day duties of planning firm Hart Howerton, which will create the new master plan.
The Town Council has a motion on its Tuesday evening agenda that would authorize Town Manager Russ Forrest to enter into an agreement with local developers East West. The motion represents the next step in a process to redevelop the West Lionshead area, which began on Oct. 1 when the town and Vail Resorts announced that both parties had worked together to reach a settlement agreement in a years-long legal battle over the East Vail property known as Booth Heights.
As part of that settlement agreement, Vail Resorts said it would drop all appeals regarding the town’s eminent domain acquisition of Booth Heights in exchange for an agreement from the town to partner on an effort to develop the West Lionshead area between Lionshead and Cascade villages in Vail, formerly known as Ever Vail.
- What: Vail Resorts, town of Vail and East West Partners community input session
- Where: Grand View Room, top level of the Lionshead parking structure
- When: Dec. 4, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The settlement agreement stipulated that Vail Resorts and the town would split the costs of master planning West Lionshead, using East West Partners as the developer.
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The groups issued a request for qualifications to put together a master plan for the area and received qualifications from four design firms. After reviewing the firms’ qualifications and checking references, the architectural planning group Hart Howerton was suggested as the best candidate. On Nov. 19, the Vail Town Council approved negotiating a contract with Hart Howerton.
That contract lays out a timeline that would begin as early as this week, assuming the council authorizes Forrest to approve the agreement on Tuesday.
A community input session has been scheduled for Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Grand View Room, located at the top level of the Lionshead parking structure.
Hart Howerton would begin by engaging in a two-day work session, in which the architects would tour the West Lionshead area and “pull together all the contexts, constraints, challenges, opportunities, metrics, as well as needs and wants” for the project, according to a memo from Hart Howerton Partner Eron Ashley, published Friday.
A second step would involve going through “an open exploration of ideas” with the town and Vail Resorts, in which the firm would sketch out two to three alternatives for the property, Ashley said.
“The alternatives would illustrate potentially different approaches to the following: site organization, land uses, zoning requirements, product types and intensity of development, infrastructure, traffic and pedestrian access and circulation, gondola placement, open space system, neighborhood design, ski operations, parking strategy, as well as amenities and their integration with the ski terrain,” Ashley said.
The most promising set of ideas would then be combined into a conceptual-level development plan for the property.
Subsequent steps that are not included in the initial proposal include the final master plan creation and development of the concept architecture. In advancing the concept architecture, “we would work out the basic organization of building plans for hotel, residential and commercial uses that would inform circulation, parking, and servicing strategies,” Ashley said.
The project background, analysis and programming phase of the plan is expected to take four weeks and cost $50,000. The creation of the alternatives is expected to take 8-10 weeks and cost $135,000. And the designing of the conceptual master plan is expected to take 4 weeks and cost $65,000.
According to a draft published Friday, East West would be responsible for reviewing the monthly bills submitted by Hart Howerton; managing the day-to-day scope of work of Hart Howerton; and coordinating meetings and discussions between the partnership made up of the town, East West Partners and Vail Resorts.
“In consideration for the completion of the Scope of Services by Contractor, the Town shall pay Contractor an amount not to exceed $150,000,” according to the agreement. “This amount shall include all fees, costs, and expenses incurred by Contractor, and no additional amounts shall be paid by the Town for such fees, costs and expenses.”
