Snowmass Village, CO – Aspen Skiing Company, owners and operators of the four ski areas surrounding Aspen, Colo., last week submitted a bid to purchase the stalled base area village project at Snowmass.
Related Companies of New York defaulted on $400 million remaining of a $520 million construction loan issued by Hypo Real Estate Capital Corporation, a subsidiary of a German bank nationalized by the German government after the bank failed in the 2008 financial crisis. The German government solicited bids on the note in a process by which the village project itself will eventually be transferred to the successful bidder following a foreclosure sale scheduled for November. Aspen Skiing Co. submitted its bid prior to the deadline last Wednesday.
Construction on the $1 billion project, which was to include 600 condominiums and a million square feet of commercial space, stalled after Related defaulted on the loan shortly after its first phase opened for the 2007-08 ski season. Condos in Snowmass are currently selling at about half the price per square foot that Related had projected it could sell them for.
It’s estimated that it will require more than $200 million to finish the project.