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What’s being built between Vail Pass and Gypsum? Here’s the latest on 16 projects

Examining new developments in Eagle County in the style of Dick Hauserman's 'On the Road to Vail'

Vail Pioneer Dick Hauserman was estimated to have taken more than 1,000 trips between Eagle County and Denver in his life, taking time to learn about the interesting features along the way.

In his 2004 book “On the Road to Vail,” Hauserman said oftentimes, on those trips, he had a passenger in the car and would point out the highlights.

Hauserman described the Vail Valley as “a megalopolis 50 miles long” boasting 13 golf courses which “hardly meet the demand for play.”



In “On the Road to Vail,” Hauserman takes readers on one of his journeys from Denver, starting with I-70 exit 259 and heading east into Eagle County. He details many points of interest along the way, making the book a glove-box staple alongside your Rand McNally Colorado road atlas.

In an homage to Hauserman and the commentary he provided on what he called Vail’s “out-of-control expanding development,” here’s a detailing of some of the projects currently underway in Eagle County — including a golf course to help fulfill that unmet demand he referenced — in the east-to-west style of “On the Road to Vail.”

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The purpose of the Vail Pass rest area replacement is to improve the existing rest area facilities. The project will also add a number of elements to acknowledge the modern and older history of the site.
Vail Daily archive

Vail Pass rest area reconstruction

At the easternmost edge of Eagle County on Interstate 70 atop Vail Pass, a $22.5 million project to expand the rest area at mile marker 190 is currently underway. The former rest area building is being enlarged, from 2,660 square feet to 5,616 square feet, and another 614-square-foot building will also be added to the site.

The project will increase the number of tractor-trailer parking spaces from six to 20; it will increase the number of passenger vehicle parking spaces from 32 to 65. Recreation parking for non-snowmobilers is going from 35 to 67 spaces and for snowmobilers, 95 parking spots are being added.

The previous restrooms had 10 toilets and/or urinals across two bathrooms, one men’s and one women’s, and the new rest area will be expanded to include two men’s bathrooms, two women’s bathrooms, and two family restrooms for a total of 22 toilets and/or urinals.

The project is expected to be completed in 2024.

An overhead photo of the I-70 West Vail Pass Auxiliary Lanes project on Vail Pass.
Courtesy image

I-70 West Vail Pass Auxiliary Lanes project

Journeying west from the top of Vail Pass, you will likely notice a reconfigured roadway with a freshly built retaining wall and a new bridge at mile marker 185. This is part of a large project to expand I-70, adding another lane for 5 miles in the eastbound direction between mile markers 185 and 190.

In addition to the bridge replacement and widening of the interstate, six wildlife underpasses are being installed underneath the roadway, curve modifications with widened shoulders are taking place at mile markers 186 and 188, the Vail Pass recreational trail is being relocated between mile markers 185 and 187, and a truck ramp reconstruction occurred at mile marker 182.


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The I-70 West Vail Pass Auxiliary Lanes project is currently halfway through its six-year timetable with the most recent cost estimate coming in at approximately $300 million. When that phase is complete, the Colorado Department of Transportation plans to create another new lane in the westbound direction, with the entire project expected to cost $1.2 billion.

The 72-unit Residences at Main Vail is comprised of 100% deed-restricted rental units.
Ali Longwell/Vail Daily

Residences at Main Vail

Arriving in Vail at mile marker 176, a large new building greets locals and visitors on the north side of the roundabout near Middle Creek where the Children’s Garden of Learning preschool once stood.

The building is a 72-unit apartment complex called the Residences at Main Vail and is a 100% deed-restricted housing project that was built by the town of Vail to accommodate local workers.

The town broke ground on the $25-million project in November of 2021 and celebrated its completion in October.

A view of the back side of the new Marriott Residence Inn in Vail. The 146-room hotel opened in September.
Ben Roof/Special to the Daily

Marriott Residence Inn hotel

Heading east from Main Vail, near mile marker 174, the new Marriott Residence Inn hotel now occupies the former Roost Lodge location in West Vail.

The new hotel was developed by Sunridge Hotel Group and opened in September after three years of construction.

In addition to the 146-room hotel, there are five employee housing units on site, as well.

A new Maverik gas station and convenience store was built in Avon during the summer of 2023.
Ben Roof/Special to the Daily

Maverik gas station and c-store

Heading into Avon, a new Maverik gas station was recently built on the north side of the interstate at exit 168 on Wagon Trail Road.

The fueling apparatus contains an electric car charging station and 12 fuel pump spaces.

The convenience store is located within a new, 4,425-square-foot building that was originally approved in 2021 as part of the larger Village at Avon project in East Avon. It opened in September.

A combination Marriott SpringHill hotel and Marriott TownePlace hotel is currently being constructed in Avon.
Ben Roof/Vail Daily archive

Marriott SpringHill and TownePlace hotels

Located adjacent to the new Maverik station, also at mile marker 168, two new hotels are currently being constructed.

One is a Marriott SpringHill hotel and the other is a Marriott TownePlace hotel; the two properties join at a right angle and appear to be one large building at first glance.

The Marriott properties will feature standard hotel rooms and extended-stay suites for a total of 243 rooms.

The Marriott SpringHill and Marriott TownePlace hotels are expected to open this ski season, said Gaelan Kerr-Koppel, vice president of JMA Ventures, which is developing the properties.

Frontgate Avon, located on Highway 6 near the entrance to Beaver Creek, is currently under construction.
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily

Frontgate Avon condominiums

Head another mile down the road to mile marker 167, look to your left toward U.S. Highway 6 in Avon and you’ll see a large “condotel,” (condominiums that can be rented out like hotel rooms) being built near the entrance to Beaver Creek.

The project is called Frontgate Avon and consists of 75 condos, nine townhomes and two workforce housing units. It has a lobby to give it a hotel-like feel where, after parking in the subterranean structure, guests will be greeted by a front desk attendant.

In addition to the condos, Frontgate contains a 10,000-square-foot outdoor aquatics area with a pool, a water slide and two hot tubs, one of which is about the size of a school bus — big enough for 40 people.

There will be theater rooms, golf simulators, a family adventure zone with virtual reality pods and an arcade, and a shared office-workspace area for professionals working remotely. The building also contains a large ski locker room modeled after the Vail Mountain Club, along with a 3,600-square-foot fitness center.

Breckenridge Grand Vacations is developing the property and the first phase of 45 condominiums is nearing completion after years of work.

The One Riverfront project is approaching completion in Avon. The project consists of 13 townhomes, now complete, and 40 condominiums, on which developer East West Partners targeting a Feb. 2024 completion.
John LaConte/Vail Daily

One Riverfront condominiums

Another condotel, located about a quarter mile northwest of Frontgate, is also nearing completion in Avon.

The One Riverfront project is a mix of 13 townhomes — 4-5 bedroom units that are 3,000 to 4,000 square feet — and 40 condominiums in a five-story building.

Owners of both the townhomes and the condominiums can short-term or long-term rent their properties. Guests will find the properties functioning much like the nearby hotel at the Westin, with renters having access to the new building’s amenities — which include a rooftop bar, kids pool and three hot tubs.

One Riverfront is targeting an early 2024 completion.

Eagle County in 2022 dedicated more than $11 million to a joint project with Colorado Mountain College to build rental units in Edwards.
Colorado Mountain College/archive image

Freedom Park and CMC campus apartments

Moving farther down the valley into Edwards at mile marker 163, Eagle County and Colorado Mountain College have collaborated on a two-building apartment complex between Freedom Park and the CMC campus.

The project is located between Freedom Park and the CMC campus and contains two buildings holding 72 rental units, for a total of 96 beds. Eagle County and the college each get one building.

Each building is expected to cost about $10 million, and the first units should be available late this year.

Vail Health is continuing to make progress on the construction of the Precourt Healing Center in Edwards. Once completed, the facility will provide 28 inpatient behavioral health beds.
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily

Precourt Healing Center

Just to the east of Freedom Park, also on I-70 at exit 163, Vail Health is building the Precourt Healing Center, a three-story, 50,000-square-foot inpatient behavioral health facility.

The facility will contain 28 beds — 14 of which will be for adolescents and 14 of which will be for adults — offering 24-hour behavioral health care serving adults and adolescents in crisis.

In April 2019, Vail Health’s board voted to contribute $60 million from its reserves over a 10-year period to start the construction of the facility, with the Vail Health Foundation committing to raising an additional $100 million.

The facility is targeting a spring 2025 completion.

The Fox Hollow construction site in Edwards.
Vail Health/Courtesy Photo

Fox Hollow apartments

Not far from the Precourt Healing Center in Edwards, Breckenridge Grand Vacations (the builders of Frontgate Avon) is also constructing a housing project known as Fox Hollow.

Breckenridge Grand Vacations is privately funding the Fox Hollow project, which will consist of 87 workforce units containing 217 bedrooms.

The entire project will be used for employee housing for Vail Health employees, with Vail Health purchasing 28 of the units and master leasing the remaining 59 units from Breckenridge Grand Vacations.

It’s located at 18 and 22 Murray Road and is expected to be complete in the coming months.

Construction is underway on a new six-hole private golf course in Eagle County near the Two Bridges boat launch between Bond and McCoy.
Nate Peterson/Vail Daily

New golf course on the Colorado River

Heading west from Edwards, at the northern edge of Eagle County near the Colorado River, a new golf course was built during the summer and fall of 2023.

To get there, exit I-70 at Wolcott (mile marker 157) and head north on Highway 131 towards Steamboat. The six-green private course is located on the west side of the road near the Two Bridges boat launch.

While it’s not a full course, and won’t be open to the public, the project marks the first golf course to be built in Eagle County since Frost Creek, formerly known as Adam’s Rib, opened near the town of Eagle in 2008.

A new housing development called The Reserve at Hockett Gulch is currently under construction in Eagle.
Courtesy image

Hockett Gulch housing development

Making your way past Wolcott into Eagle at I-70 exit 147, if you take Highway 6 toward Gypsum you’ll notice a construction site on the south side of the road where it curves to the west toward Gypsum.

The project is called The Reserve at Hockett Gulch and is designed to provide “high-end finishes and functional living space with a mix of unit types, ranging from studio and one-bedroom units up to three-bedroom units,” according to the project narrative.

Phase 1a of the development includes the construction of 216 units, with an additional 184 units in Phase 1b. The remaining allowable units (up to 500 units total) will be constructed in subsequent phases, according to the plan.

From left to right, Eagle County Commissioner Matt Scherr, Eagle Mayor Scott Turnipseed, Haymeadow Project Manager Michael Hood and RA Nelson Project Manager Barry Monroe in April celebrate the groundbreaking for the Haymeadow housing project in Eagle.
Courtesy photo

Haymeadow housing development

Take a detour off Highway 6 toward Sylvan Lake and you’ll come across a new housing development known as Haymeadow.

Haymeadow could one day bring 837 housing units to the area, and a first phase — including seven buildings and 76 total units — is currently being built along Brush Creek.

The first phase is being called “7 Hermits” and contains 18 one-bedroom and 58 two-bedroom units; it’s slated for completion in 2024.

A timetable for the remainder of the project has not yet been finalized, and that 837 number — a source of nervousness for some — may be reduced if an idea for a conservation project in the area is realized.

The Siena Lake subdivision in Gypsum could bring nearly 600 new homes to the town.
Scott Miller/Vail Daily

Siena Lake housing development

As you continue to make your way west to Gypsum, you may notice a few model homes dotting the landscape off Cooley Mesa Road, southeast of the Eagle County Regional Airport.

Nearly 600 units have been approved for the project, known as Siena Lake, ranging from 400 to roughly 1,500 square feet.

The developers are claiming that homes will be ready this year, but a recent visit to the site showed little activity.

Tesla’s new sales, service and delivery center has a business license and has passed all its town inspections. The center remains closed and is advertising for several positions.
Jon Hardy/Courtesy photo

New Tesla dealership

Last but not least, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the new Tesla sales, service and delivery center, located at 550 Plane Street in Gypsum.

Construction of the 35,349-square-foot building was completed during the summer of 2023, but staffing the new Tesla center has proven to be a challenge, and it still remains closed as of this time.

The center was built by Game Creek Holdings, a company that takes its name from Vail’s Game Creek Bowl and has developed projects for Tesla across the country from Georgia to Arizona.


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