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Title: |
Peaks to remodel, changes hues |
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Author: |
Matthew Beaudin, Telluride Daily Planet |
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Date: |
11/24/2006 |
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Early financial losses to MV when closed, but a $60 million facelift
As numerous new ultra-luxury hotels garner final planning approvals in Mountain Village, an old star is pulling on her Sunday best.
Even Michael Jackson and Dolly Parton would be jealous of the Peaks’ coming facelift: The property will undergo a makeover costing at least $60 million, and will see its effects from the bathrooms to the spa, the restaurants to the rooms and the lobby. And as for the building’s venerable veneer, well, that’s changing, too.
“The colorful palate will go away,” said Eric Sather, the general manager of the Peaks. The new Peaks will see variations on birch white and mellow tones. “If you were to look at the bark of an aspen tree, those would be the variations of colors,” Sather added.
The Blackstone Group, owners of the property, have also decided to scrap the southwestern motif for a more modern approach. The Peaks will also add 36 units and two employee condos, though that development won’t be built onto the existing building but rather next to it.
The Peaks is a sweeping resort, touting an 18-hole golf course and a world-class magazine-rated spa among its 174 rooms, 14 condominiums and 10 private cabins.
“Finally, the Peaks is going to have an infusion of capital that it should have had all these years,” Sather said. “We’re going to have a solid 4 star, or better, product.”
The Peaks will now be selling its hotel rooms for private ownership in order to offset some the upcoming expenses, he added.
Sather said that a perfect world would see the project collect all its approvals in the coming months and allow for construction to begin at the end of this year’s ski season with a scheduled completion of around Christmas 2007. He also said he would rather not close the hotel’s doors, but that “It will be virtually impossible to complete the project without closing the building.
“My concern right now is that I’m going to lose quite a few employees,” he said.
And when a giant lays down to sleep, the local town can feel the ground shake.
Financial projections estimate that the closure and subsequent “ripple effect” on local taxes will remove some $300,000 from the Mountain Village’s economy, according to Erin Sweet Neer, a chief accountant for the Town of Mountain Village.
Mountain Village Town Manager Kathy Mahoney said “The trickle down is enormous… that’s 177 rooms exiting stage left.”
Plans are in the works to place the guests The Peaks would have had elsewhere, and Mountain Village is also readying a task force to help the business community survive the closures.
And while the short-term impacts are a bit scary, Blackstone hopes its investment pays off.
Glenn Alba, a principal at Blackstone, said the company believes in the possibility of the area. “We really believe in the Telluride market and what that could potentially be,” he said, also citing the region’s economic conrnerstone, the real estate market, as a reason to bolster the property. “We think that the market is there,” he said. “we’re hoping that the market has continued to hold up as well as it has.”
Executives have also said the renovations will raise room rates
“We’re in this to make money,” Sather said. Said they can get maybe $200 a night more during ski season. “It’s good for us — it’s good for the conference center.”
A standard room at the Peaks for this weekend was booking on Wednesday for $150 a night online. During the Christmas holiday, that same 400-square foot room jumps to $355 a night.
Mountain Village Town Council’s Rube Felicelli said the plans aren’t surprising.
“We’re anticipating this,” he said. “We knew this was going to happen.”
That, however, doesn’t mean the changes don’t come with concerns.
“Short term it’s going to be very rough on business,” he said.
Mahoney took the long-term view:
“All cities go through it,” she said. “No pain, no gain.” |
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