Mar. 14, 2001
By K.W. Harp
Herald Staff Writer
Durango Mountain Resort wants to see more than just skiers.
Senior Vice President Bob Kunkel envisions a family resort where grandpa can go fly-fishing, mom can go to the
spa, and the children can explore mountain trails on their bikes.
Kunkel wants to see people coming to Durango Mountain Resort "for the whole Durango experience," he said.
After a 15-year development hiatus, Durango Mountain Resort has a new master plan that would stress the "resort"
part of its name with 1,700 new housing units over the next 25 years.
"We think Durango is an ideal legacy purchase – something I can hand down from generation to generation to
generation," said Gary Derck, the resort’s chief executive officer.
Derck and Kunkel held a news conference Tuesday at the Herald to review the master development plan for expansion.
The resort is aiming for wealthy baby boomers who will be in their 50s, 60s and 70s over the next 20 years, Derck
said.
"They’re all going to want second homes," he said. "We think Durango is a place a lot of them will
choose."
But it’s more than just the baby boomers. Their children have outgrown Disneyland, Derck said, and would be much
more inclined to join the family for skiing and mountain biking in the Durango area.
The new condos and houses would range in price from $15,000 for a three-week time share to several million dollars
for a house on multiple acres.
In between, homes without ski-in access would start between $300,000 and $400,000. Homes at the base of the lifts
would cost up to $700,000.
"Moderately priced" single-family lots would hover in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, Derck said. Condos
would start at $150,000.
"Nothing in the plan approaches the $500,000 to $600,000 lots you see at Two Dogs and Tamarron," he said.
What Durango Mountain Resort doesn’t want to be is another Telluride or Aspen.
"I don’t think Telluride is on our radar screen of something we want to emulate," Kunkel said. "Our
whole project is not priced in that range."
And with the sale of either developed or undeveloped land, the ski area would have more money to gain the status
of a world-class resort, a sort of catch phrase of late for resort officials.
"Economically, we want a reasonable return to build the amenities ... you would expect with a world-class
resort," Derck said.
This expansion is one main component to achieving that world-class dream.
The resort has already spent more than $1 million on studies and impact estimates, and it has to spend another
$50 million for trails, roads and other infrastructure, Derck said.
The $50 million represents the total cost of estimated improvements not including new housing and lodging, and
with the 25-year timeline, the development should pay for itself as it goes.
"Our goals should be conservative with small incremental wins," Derck said. "Let’s keep hitting
singles and not go for the home run."
This year was one of those small wins in some respects, Kunkel said. While the area is 5 percent below skier-day
expectations for the season, skier visits are set to be 90,000 to 100,000 over last season, he said. Estimates
say there will be more than 320,000 skier days this winter.
The mountain can accommodate about 6,000 skiers at one time. Resort expansion is just one of the ways the resort
hopes to reach that figure.
Within 10 to 15 years, Derck said he wants to see skier days climb to more than 400,000 – far less than the 600,000
and 700,000 previously estimated by resort officials – which shows the resort’s hopes do not rest on drastically
escalating skier numbers.
With a 150-day season, that’s about 2,700 skiers a day. With the help of people on spring break, there were 4,300
skiers Monday, Kunkel said.
Ski areas industry-wide are realizing that skiing alone doesn’t mean success. Many are gambling with resort development
to bring in more appeal, more people and more money.
Taking that profit, the resort can then add new lifts, expand skiable terrain and attract more visitors to a newly-designed
resort destination, Derck said.
The development would mark the end of the vast open space between Needles and Cascade Village on U.S. Highway 550,
but Derck promised to find a balance between environmental impacts and economic necessity.
Of the 620 acres scheduled for development, 235 acres are set aside for open space with another 187 acres of natural
land that will not be developed, Derck said. Included in that is a 25- to 30-acre park, access from the west side
of Highway 550 with an underpass, and four hiking trailheads. The first development, which should begin in May,
will bring 14 new townhomes to the base of the mountain near Purgy’s restaurant. No other development should start
until spring 2002.
The development to start this year was already approved by the county years ago, so it did not have to go through
another round of government approvals, said La Plata County Planner Nancy Lauro.
But as for the rest of the project, the county staff still has many concerns.
"It’s such a big project that I can’t tell you everything is fine or everything is terrible," Lauro said.
"We had some concerns .... and we still have some concerns. Given the magnitude of the project, the county
needs to give serious considerations as to the impacts."
The proposal also reaches into San Juan County, and an intergovernmental agreement has been reached. Each county
will separately adopt the same development agreement with the resort.
Since development has not occurred for 15 years – when the 1980s recession stopped all development at the ski area
– the resort is treading relatively new water.
"We are going to make some mistakes," Derck said. "There’s a 15-year gap where nothing has happened.
... We are going to be experimenters."
The resort now owns about 100 acres of the proposed development. The other 500 acres are owned by the Duncan family,
former owners of the resort. But once zoning is completed, Durango Mountain Resort will buy that land for an undisclosed
price, Derck said.
The benefits of the expansion would be far-reaching, Derck said, having impacts on the entire county, including
the city of Durango. An economic benefit to the city will allow for hotel upgrades and other amenities.
"We believe in Durango and not just our own mountain," Derck said. "I think Durango is the destination
resort, and we’re one of the pieces of that."
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