Sixth Street Station continues long march toward approval

BOZAR is where the action is…

The largest project ever proposed for Crested Butte continues to slowly wind its way through the town approval procedure, with proponents hoping “optimistically” for final town approval by this coming fall. The Sixth Street Station is currently undergoing the BOZAR (Board of Zoning and Architectural Review) review process but at least one element may find itself in front of the Town Council this winter.

The issue of how to deal with the land beneath public rights-of-way is being discussed, and whatever is agreed to will need final council approval. The Sixth Street Station developers are planning on building underground parking beneath the project and about 12,000 square feet of the parking will be located underneath town alleys and a section of Teocalli Avenue.
The entire project is comprised of 62,500 square feet. It encompasses retail, restaurant, spa, office and residential space. It will stretch from Gothic Avenue to the edge of town on Butte Avenue along Sixth Street.
Included in the project is a short-term residential accommodation component, basically a hybrid of a fractional ownership condominium project and a hotel. There will be 19 condominiums with 45 “keys” or lock-offs that could accommodate visitors. The project has been in the pipeline about two years.
“We are getting down to the final details over the architectural aspects,” said Crested Butte Building and Zoning Director Bob Gillie. “We are close to architectural approval so the next big thing to be resolved is the use of public space. That should happen sooner rather than later.”
Project Manager Gary Hartman of Sunlit Architecture agrees. “We are still in the throes with the town and we will ask for another BOZAR meeting to talk about the final elements of the architecture probably for late February,” he said. “I think we are dangerously close with the architectural stuff. Then we have to determine how to use the public space and how to legally convey that land.”
Hartman said the developers had received positive feedback from the previous council about using that land. The negotiation now is how to convey that space.
Gillie said that while it hasn’t always been easy, “We’ve been able to come to terms with most of the issues that have come up so far.”
Similar to the proposed Foothills annexation, there is a reimbursement agreement with the developers and the town given the size of the project. While staff time isn’t reimbursed, the Sixth Street Station developers must pick up the tab for extra BOZAR work sessions and the consultants hired by the town to evaluate things like traffic flow and engineering.
The last Town Council made some zoning concessions to allow the project to go forward in the PUD (Planned Unit Development) process. The current Town Council will likely see the project two more times—one is to discuss the use of the land beneath town rights-of-way and the other is to approve condominium plats and declarations.
“BOZAR is where the action is,” admitted Gillie. “Now, the BOZAR approvals are contingent upon a number of things. There are a lot of issues like engineering, utilities and groundwater concerns that still have to be addressed.”
Gillie said the town is asking the proponents to work with the Kapushion family, which owns the land west of the Sixth Street Station property, to devise a master plan for that side of town.
“There are several moving parts to this proposal,” said Hartman. “There is the architecture which determines the look and feel of the project. There is the legal aspect with the conditional uses over the fractional ownership condominiums. There is the engineering and water as well. But being optimistic, I would say there is a fairly realistic chance that we can hope for town approval by the end of the coming summer or this fall.”
Given a weak economy, Hartman admits he doesn’t anticipate pushing for a quick approval and a landslide of sales with the project. “We aren’t pushing it but we are moving it,” he said. “We definitely want to see approval.”
Once approved by the Crested Butte BOZAR, the development will have a three-year vested property right. This allows developers to start the project without coming back to the town within 36 months of approval.
“We’re still at a 90-day look-ahead,” said Hartman. “If the town gives us the final approval and if the economy turns around and if the banks start lending money again and if the buyers start seeing this is an opportunity, we will proceed. Optimistically, I would say that could all fall into place in maybe the summer or fall of 2011.”
In the meantime, look for the next BOZAR meeting concerning Sixth Street Station in late February or early March and a Town Council agenda item to discuss private use of public property sometime in March or April.