“I would like to commend your project. It’s much needed. The Silvertree was the best thing going for the community back in the ’80s,” but maybe not today, restaurant owner Doug “Merc” Mercatoris said Wednesday during an “administrative public hearing” on the project.
The comments by “Merc,” a former mayor of Snowmass Village, are typical of residents who seem to believe the upgrade is long overdue and will provide a much needed shot in the arm to the resort community.
But at the same time, Mercatoris doesn’t want to see local businesses harmed in the short term while the hotel undergoes a bottom-to-top transformation that’s tentatively set to begin in early April. (Managing partner David Wasserman, representing Starwood Capital, has publicly stated his intention to complete the project by the start of the 2012/13 ski season.)
“I am concerned of the construction impacts and I haven’t heard much of that in the presentation today,” said Mercatoris, whose Chinese restaurant the Mountain Dragon is contiguous to the hotel.
But it’s more than his restaurant that could be affected by the construction. The Thursday night Free Concert Series on Fanny Hill, located right out the Silvertree’s back door, as well as other summer events on the Snowmass Mall are other sources of worry for businesses whose summer traffic already pales in comparison to that of Aspen.
Attorney Joe Krabacher, representing the Silvertree/Westin application, replied that, “We are trying to minimize impact of the construction.” He added: “We’re planning on doing our best to cooperate in terms of special events.”
A detailed construction management plan, Krabacher said, will be revealed after a general contractor is selected for the project. That decision is expected to be rendered shortly.
Management of construction impacts is believed to have been one of the issues behind the recent departure of Snowmass Village Planning Director Chris Conrad, sources say. Neither Conrad nor Town Manager now acting planning director Russ Forrest were able to comment on the employee’s dismissal.
What’s in store
Krabacher noted that “Westin is extremely excited about his project,” believing the higher-end property will fill a gap in the local market. He noted that guest rooms will be “renovated to a brand standard and finish (level) that guests expect in a four-star hotel.”
That’s not all. Plans call for the number of suites on property to be increased by 10 – to 17. Those include a presidential suite to take the space where hotel offices are now located. That will slightly impact the overall number of rooms in the hotel, currently 262, which will drop to 258.
“Major decision makers for conferences want to have better accommodations,” Krabacher noted during the public meeting.
Other project highlights include:
- The hotel’s in-house restaurant will be moved to the second level, in the space now occupied by the Cabaret nightclub. It will be expanded to include 230 seats and will be visible from the Snowmass Mall.
- On the current site of the existing Brother’s Grille, three deluxe suites will be built.
- The spa and fitness center will be expanded into a four-room spa.
- The current private club room will morph into a kid’s club.
- The slope side pool and hot tub area beside Fanny Hill will be redeveloped.
- The hotel entrance off the Snowmass Mall will be modified. At the main entry area off Elbert Lane, some landscaping will be removed.
- A cantilevered porte-cochere and pedestrian canopy connection between the hotel and the conference center are planned.
- Changes in the sidewalk and the fire lane along Elbert Lane, which also runs by the conference center, are proposed.
- Roaring Fork Club members will lose their parking spaces on Elbert Lane as a result of the project.
Bob Geimer of Starwood Capital said the configurated lane, coupled with the hotel’s emphasis on valet parking “should allow for better circulation.” Geimer also surmised that Westin guests “are probably more fly-in” than drive-up. “We think there will be a reduction in cars.”
Snowmass Wildcat Fire Protection District Fire Marshal John Mele said that after meeting with the applicant, “we believe there’s some good intentions for traffic managment in the area.” But Mele also asked that the current section of Elbert Lane designated for fire vehicles “remain a fire lane.”
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