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In wake of town’s $12 million offer for Booth Heights, Vail Resorts still wants housing

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September 21, 2022, 4:27 pm
East Vail parcel
Booth Heights parcel (September, 2015, ground-level Google Earth image).

Vail Resorts on Wednesday said it just learned of a $12 million Town of Vail offer for its Booth Heights parcel in East Vail — where the town has had a change of heart and no longer wants to see workforce housing — but that the company is still focused on building affordable units.

“Vail Resorts learned about a potential offer for the first time at the hearing last night,” Vail and Beaver Creek senior communications manager John Plack told Real Vail in an email. “We remain committed to our goal to bring incremental and urgently needed affordable housing to our community.”

The Vail Town Council, in an executive session Tuesday, decided to offer $12 million for the property, which the town already rezoned to accommodate the housing project, which was approved for development by a previous council.

The current council then changed course and voted to move forward with condemnation of the project to protect a nearby herd of bighorn sheep. Vail Resorts is fighting the condemnation and has challenged the town’s prohibition on new building permits.

Mayor Kim Langmaid on Tuesday moved to instruct the town attorney to offer Vail Resorts $12 million for the purchase of the Booth Heights property. The motion passed 5-1, with council member Travis Coggin voting against the motion.

Former council member Merv Lapin spoke in favor of the purchase of Booth Heights, and also suggested the town stop master leasing employee housing to Vail Resorts and providing overflow parking, according to a town press release.

Former council member Mark Gordon, according to the same release, said he “believes many in the community feel the purchase of Booth Heights is a foregone conclusion and do not have a voice. He asked again for a public vote.”

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David O. Williams

Managing Editor at RealVail
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.