CON GAMES: Aspen Land Grab

September 4th, 2008 at 06:51pm Michael Conniff 2

When it comes to fateful decisions, nothing beats the one by Aspen City Council to “bank” land—to spend $35 million, far more than they had in the bank, for a series of land purchases that culminated in the controversial $18 million-plus that went to pay for the BMC West lumber yard.

If the Council had kept the money in the bank—and not borrowed $8 million or so from the city-owned Wheeler Opera House—then there would have been a margin of error for the Burlingame affordable housing project when things went south. As it was, the City had no safety net when disaster struck. That set me to thinking about whether the City might have missed what was right under theirs noses: some choice land, already owned by the City or within the realm of possibility, that would have filled in the blanks when it came to bankable land.

Let’s start with the Zupancis-Galena (Z-G) property, the piece along Main Street now contemplated for a new $50 million Pitkin County office building. The City has plans to sell the lot to the County for an office building, but what could be better for affordable housing than some greenish affordable and/or employee housing right there on Main Street? Considering the Pitkin County office building would replace the existing structure, my guess the plot could accommodate at least 25 units, maybe much more depending on the density bugaboo.

There has also been talk about building on top of the Red Brick Arts Center downtown. What a great idea: a couple of stories up above, running the length of the block and within easy reach of downtown. Count that as another 10 units or so. Should the Aspen Art Museum (AAM) move up the hill to the Z-G property, the City couldn’t touch the historic power plant building vacated by the museum, but they could conceivably build a structure if the property is not too soggy—a big if, I know, but let’s be optimistic and say that’s good for another 5 units. The Civic Master Plan is also positing more affordable housing on Z-G land at the corner of Rio Grande Park, enough for 30 more units easy.

Head into town and you will find two of the biggest open spaces in the core—the City Market parking lot and the wide-open parking lot next to Boogie’s. The City Market lot could be re-built underground, with affordable housing built on top like a layer cake; the open parking lot next to Little Annie’s would have to either be bought or perhaps taken by way of public domain. Put them together and you could build another 50 units or more.

By my count, that adds up to 115 units or more than Phase I of Burlingame. What I like about these units is they are all within the core or within easy reach of downtown, thereby guaranteeing hundreds of people could contribute daily to the “messy vitality” the City so covets. Other people no doubt could add in lots and land that the City could build on without taking it to the bank, enough in total for probably 100 units, but the point is obvious: instead of “banking” land and obviously overpaying for lots, the City of Aspen might have done better to recognize the opportunities so closely at hand.

Entry Filed under: Aspen, Affordable Housing, Aspen City Council