Winter Park Real Estate Happenings

Below is a recent article we published describing recent happenings in the world of Winter Park Real Estate.

Condos in Winter Park ride the Intrawest Wave

Drive through any part of Grand County and it’s hard to miss all the new developments springing up alongside highway 40.  From $100,000 condos to $1 million plus single-family homes, you can’t deny that in Winter Park and Grand County, to quote Bob Dylan, “the times they are a-changin’.” 

What’s the cause of all this change?  Well, if you didn’t know already, back in 2002, the City of Denver partnered with Intrawest Resorts to develop the base village of Winter Park that included a commitment to provide $50 million dollars worth of on-mountain improvements.

So what’s happened so far?  Intrawest has already begun the on-mountain improvements.  These improvements include seven new ski trails, a new triple chairlift that will provide access to the backside of Parsenn Bowl and the new “Panoramic Express” six-pack chairlift; it is the highest high-speed six-person chairlift in all of North America.

Off-mountain the vision expands dramatically! This summer, Intrawest began construction on their new multi-million dollar base village.  Scheduled to open during the 2008-2009 ski season, the village will boast a  commercial core with storefront retail and residential uses and will be the arrival point for the new open-air cabriolet (think stand up gondola) which will whisk users from the Vintage Hotel area embarking point. 

Currently, Intrawest is just completing construction on two new condominium complexes, Fraser Crossing and Founder’s Pointe. These two buildings will add approximately 200 new units to the base village and are nearly sold out! New owner closings and occupation of these two buildings is expected to be accomplished throughout the first quarter of 2008.

So what has all this meant for condo owners?  As could be expected, with so much money pouring into the area, values have been going up.  In sharp contrast to the Denver market, where home values have been declining, condo values in Winter Park and surrounding areas have been increasing at an average rate of 14% annually since 2002.  That’s a pretty good return on investment by anyone’s standards. 

When asked why Winter Park has seen such price increases over the past few years, area realtor Joe Penta commented, “As a resort area we are largely insulated from the economic ups and downs of specific industries. When one sector is down (i.e. high tech) another sector is booming (i.e. oil & gas) so there are always people out there looking to invest in resort markets where they can enjoy the property and rent it out when not using it personally. Combine that with a strong development base throughout all of Grand County (Rendezvous, Grand Park, Grand Elk, Granby Ranch, Orvis Shorefox to name a few), and you’ve got a great combination for continued strong growth.”

“When I purchased a second home up here seven years ago, I was immediately taken by the beauty of the area and the abundance of recreational activities Winter Park has to offer.  Winter Park and the surrounding area provide the lifestyle my clients are seeking and are willing to invest in. They are seeking an expansion of their financial portfolio away from simple paper assets that a wall street money manager can play with, to lifestyle investments in real estate holdings that they themselves can enjoy WHILE they appreciate.”(www.JoePenta.com)

Winter Park is just the beginning.  Significant new developments are also underway in Granby, including Grand Elk, Granby Ranch, and the new fly-fishing community, Orvis Shorefox.  These developments focus on a four-season approach to resort living, offering golf courses, fly-fishing, and boating in addition to being just a 15 minute drive to Winter Park. 

With all of this construction activity and the catalytic occurrence of Intrawest development on the mountain and in the village, Winter Park may be in a position to mimic the type of growth seen at other well-known Colorado resorts, like Vail and Aspen.  The potential for reward is certainly great, and existing owners have already reaped many of those benefits.