Vail Valley Real Estate Blog

The ski areas of Vail, Beaver Creek, Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead are probably going to have some new competition. The golf course options are going to grow also and this may affect Cordillera more than any other community. Bobby Ginn’s proposed ski and golf resort development is becoming more accepted by Minturn Colorado locals.

Bobby Ginn wants to build a private ski resort and golf community with around 1700 homes and condominiums in Minturn Colorado, a sleepy mountain town just west of Vail.  Residents who previously have spoken out about the project seem to be more accepting as time goes on.  While there will be some incredible benefits to the town of Minturn, one of the fears is the increased amount of traffic.  There will be upward of 137 trucks daily on Highway 24 unless Union Pacific agrees to allow them to use the railroad for transportation purposes.  Union Pacific is looking into the possibility of this happening. 

When this development finally gets completed it will add more ski terrain to the Valley, however, it will actually have a marginal affect on the other ski mountains like Vail, Beaver, Creek, Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead since it will be a private ski mountain. The neighborhood that may see the biggest effect is Cordillera. Skiing is relatively close to Cordillera with its four golf courses, however what the highend buyer is looking for today is out the back door skiing.

The town and residents have asked to have among other things, a stunning paved bike path leading from the town of Red Cliff to Minturn. Red Cliff is another up and coming hamlet about 15 minutes away from Minturn.  In addition to the bike path, an arts and community center has been requested for seniors, children’s arts and crafts and a marriage pavilion will be part of the community center. They have also requested looking into wind power and alternate energy forms.  These additions would serve as a consolation to the residents for putting up with years of impact during the development.

The town council is expected to vote on annexing Ginn’s property into Minturn sometime in February. This development will have ripple effects throughout the Vail Valley in terms of what it offers; not just to visitors, but the additional need for a large work force in an area that already has a short supply of quality labor. This situation is not being helped with the current constrictions by the foreign visa situation. It’s a small valley but it has all the issues of a much larger city.