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HowieT2
07-10-2006, 03:56 PM
Stopped off at the base on saturday 7/8 to check out the construction. As a caveat, I am no expert on these matters, but what I saw, and didn't see, was disconcerting. First of all, it doesn't appear they have made much progress on the new base lodge. The framing is not even close to being done. Considering they tore down the old structure in April, I would have thought there would be significantly more progress.

There appears to be a round foundation which has no structure on it at all. I may be crazy, but Timbers has not even been started.

They also put in a new road for a fire water reservior above the Snow Creek condos. The road starts between the upper level of the condos and the slope where the little shack is. It runs to an opening cut into the woods. There were a couple of construction guys there and they said the road is going to be paved. I would sincerely hope that this road is skiable in the winter.

Someone please tell me that the new lodge will be ready this winter.

noski
07-10-2006, 04:24 PM
I am sure Win will chime in soon.....

Tin Woodsman
07-10-2006, 04:50 PM
I'm not worried at all. It's over two months until the first frost, three months until the first snow, and almost five months before they open for primetime at South. I am confident they'll be ready.

Treeskier
07-10-2006, 07:47 PM
When I watched the fire works on Monday evening there was no steel up. But by Thursday on my hike up Snowball to have lunch on top of Spring Fling they had all ready flew lots of steel on both the new Gatehouse and new work on Timbers. They where actively digging the hill behind Gatehouse out. They also where digging out the new water plant area between snowball and cats meow. The fire works were very nice!

Spooked a couple of turkeys on the hike up but got to see a couple flying below us looking down Spring Fling. Very cool visual.

Sugarbush's float won best in the 4th parade. \"Make Snow not War\" very nice!

What a beautiful week.

Got lots of hiking in to prepare for our trip to Chile in 24 days :)

Bubba
07-11-2006, 05:02 AM
There appears to be a round foundation which has no structure on it at all. I may be crazy, but Timbers has not even been started.

Someone please tell me that the new lodge will be ready this winter.



Timbers is being built off site and will be assembled at the Mt.

Lostone
07-11-2006, 06:43 AM
Again, Win will likely chime in with the facts, but the word I had was Timbers and the new lodge are prefab buildings, so we are much further along than we look. 8)

And as for a rate of progress, I'd say they were cooking. 8)

win
07-12-2006, 06:37 PM

win
07-12-2006, 06:41 PM
Yes, time to chime in. Everything is on schedule. The site work is usually the biggest task on projects like this. Sewers have to be installed, water pipes have to be connected, electrical conduits have to be installed and dirt has to be moved, etc. The Steel for the Gate House was put up in one week. The Post and Beam sections for Timbers restaurant have been cut and will be erected over the next three weeks. The Round \"thing\" you saw is the base of Timbers Restaurant and beneath it is the new Patrol Clinic. While the the Gate House is going to be a big improvement and will be larger and have a lot more in it, it is basically a simple building to build. Two floors and a lot of open space on the second floor. Pizzagalli has kept Claybrook right on schedule since day one and we are confident they will do the same thing for the new Gate House. The rain cost us a couple of days but that has been made up. Construction projects go in phrases. Fron the outside, you will see a lot of activity and then wonder why nothing seems to be happening when a lot is. Over the next couple of weeks, you will see major change in the base area and then there may appear from the outside to be nothing happening when it is. We will be posting pictures on our website, and I am sure Lostone will be passing along his thoughts and possibly pictures on his walks around the mountain. Do not fear! No skiing terrain is being removed! There has been a storage tank at the top of Cat's Meow for years. This is just another one in the ground for Claybrook.

By fall, we will also have the parking lots completed. The In and Out Road will be paved, and you will see a landscaped parking lot rather than a bare gravel lot. It is going to make for a much more attractive look in all four seasons. You will also notice that the new Village Road was completed right after the fourth and paved in one day (initial paving with a final coat once all the construction vehichle are gone this fall). Think snow starting in November this year and just the right amount of rain from this point forward.

We had a good week of sales on Claybrook!

Keep the questions coming?

Win

Tin Woodsman
07-13-2006, 08:54 AM
Win -

As always, thanks for the update. Since you opened the door, are you at liberty to share with us the status of Claybrook sales? If you just take a simple count of availability graphic on the Lincoln Peak Village website, it looks like you've been stuck at 60-65% for a while. But I'm not sure how often that's updated, if at all.

Also, am I to understand that the area between the GH lodge and Claybrook will be pedestrians only this winter? IOW, will all skiers need to traverse uphill from the new GH lodge when moving from Super Bravo to Gate House?

win
07-13-2006, 09:18 AM
Reporting the sales isn't something I really talk about because it can be misleading unless one goes into a lot of detail. We try to update the availabe inventory when the P&S is signed, the deposit is made and the legal recission period has expired. We have continued to sell units every month, although as expected the activity slows from April to September. This summer we have seen more activity than last year, and we continue to have many interested discussions going on. There is only one five bedroom and only one four bedroom available for whole ownership, and we are down to a few three bedrooms available for whole ownership. As expected the higher floors (3 and four) have sold first and they are almost entirely spoken for. People assume the views from them will be great, and they are. The surpise is how good the views are from the 1st and 2nd floor and one can only appreciate that when you get into the building. The 1st residential floor is actually the 2nd floor as the garage is at the parking lot level. We are giving prospects tours, and we will have a model unit available in a couple of weeks. We are feeling good about where we are with sales

Yes, the area in between will be pedestrian and skiers will traverse on skis behind the new Gate House. This area has been expanded and is about 75 feet wide now, so it will be a much more pleasant traverse than has been the case in the past. Also the area around the Bravo lift is being regraded so that the corral areas will be flatter and wider and should improve the traffic flow considerably.

summitchallenger
07-13-2006, 03:41 PM
Thanks for the reply, Win! Great to have you in here updating folks and getting out the facts.

ski_resort_observer
07-13-2006, 10:02 PM
Here a couple of pics from today. Think it will look great when it is done!
http://forums.skimrv.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album04&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

Lostone
07-14-2006, 10:36 AM
:wink:

I was on the other side, checking out the width of the traverse area. I wasn't really able to see it, as I would either be below the dirt near the Gatehouse lift, or above where the hill drops off. Then, I couldn't see how level the bottom of the dug out area was.

I decided I had to get to the other side, and planned it for tonight. :roll:

Actually I have a million pictures that I haven't gotten around to posting, so even if I had the shots, you'd have still probably posted the pix before me. (The lodge will probably be built before I get around to posting them. :roll: :lol: )

But looking at the situaltion as it appeared last night, and from the pix this morning, it does look like there will be a ton of room. 8)

Remembering that I am only looking at the foundation and the metal work, this certainly looks larger than the Gatehouse lodge was. I think we're gonna like this folks! 8)

smootharc
07-14-2006, 10:55 AM
....what exactly buildings A4a, A4b, B2 and B1 (lodging, services ?) are on the site plan (link below)

http://www.lincolnpeakvillage.com/ezstatic/data/lincolnpeakvillage/i/siteplan_large.jpg

but I was checking it out and realized I didn't know about those ones and I'm a curious one.

win
07-14-2006, 11:18 AM
Total Gate House Lodge is just under 24,000 square feet. The second floor cafeteria will have seating for at least 400 in comparison to the "Old" lodge and tent that had 250 seats. Because of the high ceilings it is going to look even larger. The new Castle Rock Pub will have additional lunch seats of 80-100 and Timbers will have approximately 150. That is a nice increase over what existed in both the old Gate House and The Valley House. As I previously mentioned, there will not be any served food service in the Valley House, but the cafeteria will be open and heated. It can be used and there will be quite a few vending machines for drinks, candy and other food. The Mushroom will be available for private functions and catered if desired. The bathrooms down stairs will also be open to all. The Wunderbar space is being used by Pizzagalli until all punch list items have been completed.

win
07-14-2006, 11:24 AM
Smootharc,

These buildings are partially permitted but only conceptually designed. The first will replace the interim village and will house ski & ride, day care, rentals, repairs, tickets and may also have some locker space for employees and the guests and possbile additional food service. (It had previously been referred to as the Family Center). The other buildings are potential additional retail space & slopeside condos. This site plan is a concept of what Lincoln Peak Village could look like in a few years.

smootharc
07-14-2006, 11:34 AM
Smootharc,

These buildings are partially permitted but only conceptually designed. The first will replace the interim village and will house ski & ride, day care, rentals, repairs, tickets and may also have some locker space for employees and the guests and possbile additional food service. (It had previously been referred to as the Family Center). The other buildings are potential additional retail space & slopeside condos. This site plan is a concept of what Lincoln Peak Village could look like in a few years.

...they would all look very nice, in my opinion, and would increase the whole shebang's "villagy" feel. Is there such a thing as a "Starbucks/Eastern Mountain Sports/Barnes & Noble" combo retail store that could move in? First double-choco-whippachino-frappe-skinny-latte's are on me, everybody.... :D

noski
07-14-2006, 12:05 PM
...they would all look very nice, in my opinion, and would increase the whole shebang's "villagy" feel. Is there such a thing as a "Starbucks/Eastern Mountain Sports/Barnes & Noble" combo retail store that could move in? First double-choco-whippachino-frappe-skinny-latte's are on me, everybody.... :D
Ouch, CHAINS????? How about 3 Mtn Cafe/Inverness/Tempest???? (sorry, I am programmed for that kneejerk reaction :wink: )

smootharc
07-14-2006, 12:16 PM
...they would all look very nice, in my opinion, and would increase the whole shebang's "villagy" feel. Is there such a thing as a "Starbucks/Eastern Mountain Sports/Barnes & Noble" combo retail store that could move in? First double-choco-whippachino-frappe-skinny-latte's are on me, everybody.... :D
Ouch, CHAINS????? How about 3 Mtn Cafe/Inverness/Tempest???? (sorry, I am programmed for that kneejerk reaction :wink: )

...you forget that I'm programmed to foment dissention (with foment being today's SAT word).

But, you are correct, the chains are evil, and they are all owned by a Halliburton shell company anyways. Perhaps an independent bookshop/cafe like that great, huge one in Manchester would be better. It's an island of wonderfulness in that sea of outlet store madness. I actually fell asleep in their upstairs wi-fi lounge once, awaking to my wife's nudge and concerned look. Hey, I've got three kids (they were with her, don't ask how I managed that) and I hadn't had enough sugar/caffeine...

Tin Woodsman
07-14-2006, 12:32 PM
Total Gate House Lodge is just under 24,000 square feet. The second floor cafeteria will have seating for at least 400 in comparison to the "Old" lodge and tent that had 250 seats. Because of the high ceilings it is going to look even larger. The new Castle Rock Pub will have additional lunch seats of 80-100 and Timbers will have approximately 150. That is a nice increase over what existed in both the old Gate House and The Valley House. As I previously mentioned, there will not be any served food service in the Valley House, but the cafeteria will be open and heated. It can be used and there will be quite a few vending machines for drinks, candy and other food. The Mushroom will be available for private functions and catered if desired. The bathrooms down stairs will also be open to all. The Wunderbar space is being used by Pizzagalli until all punch list items have been completed.

Win -

The 250 seat number for the old GH lodge - did that include the seating in the old Castlerock Pub? I'm just trying to get an apples to apples comparison here.

Can I assume that you'll go ahead with the complete demolition of the VH Lodge only when you've completed the planned Skier Services bldg. IOW, do you believe the new GH lodge and Timbers have sufficient space to tide you over in case VH goes away without the Skier Services Bldg coming on line?

Tin Woodsman
07-14-2006, 12:40 PM
Smootharc,

These buildings are partially permitted but only conceptually designed. The first will replace the interim village and will house ski & ride, day care, rentals, repairs, tickets and may also have some locker space for employees and the guests and possbile additional food service. (It had previously been referred to as the Family Center). The other buildings are potential additional retail space & slopeside condos. This site plan is a concept of what Lincoln Peak Village could look like in a few years.
Presumably, further investment in bricks and mortar like that is dependant upon successful execution of the Claybrook project. That said, having a row od tastefully designed strctures lining the north end of the parking lot like that would certainly be a big improvement, IMHO, over the current, rather barren, setting. Moreover, it would represent a real opportunity to connect SB to the SB Village in a way that's never been done before.

And to clarify, I had been under the impression that you had in fact received full Act 250 approval for the ex-Family Services Center (have a new working name yet?). However, it's late arrival from the govt last off-season forced you to re-order the development of the base area - correct? I'm just trying to get a sense of whether that facility is now on the back burner, or whether SB is still fully committed to building it (assuming satisfactory sales of Claybrook).

win
07-14-2006, 02:59 PM
We are partial to local businesses too, but we are always going to focus on what our guests want and need. We are definitely planning to do the second lodge. Originally we were going to do this one first and Gate House second, but after further thought it made more sense to do the Gate House first and complete that part of the base area. Valley House is really insurance this year. Whether we bring it down next summer or the following will really depend on this winter's experience. We are still using it for employees. Ski & Ride lockers are there as are our marketing and finance teammates, so we need alternative space before it comes down.

We are partially permitted, but do have to go back with final renderings once the details of the buildings have been finalized which should not be an issue.

Yes. the 250 is apples to apples. Remember how narrow the Gate House seating was in the middle because of the cafeteria!

One update, Pizzagallie has decided to finish some more site work before the Timbers start going up, so they will now start the week after next but still be completed as scheduled.

HowieT2
07-18-2006, 09:12 AM
Thanks for addressing my concerns. I'm glad to hear everything is on schedule ( and refreshed with anticipation of skiing in a few months even though it's 100 degrees today)

KingM
07-19-2006, 04:04 PM
I think the project is coming along nicely and I like the plans going forward. I'm just a little confused as to what is in the "definite" category, what is in the, "we're serious but aren't ready to move forward," category and what is in the, "hopefully, we'll do this some day," category. Are you set for another round of construction for next year or are you still waiting to see how things go?

win
07-19-2006, 04:34 PM
I am a bit superstitious so I hesitate to ever say "definite". We decided to more in phases for practical reasons. When Claybrook is substantially sold, we are going to finalize the plans for the second lodge and additional condominium units which is what will make the second lodge work financially. Our plan called for it to be substantially sold by the end of this ski season. As I mentioned we already have some good preliminary plans and partial permitting for the second lodge and condos. I would want, as we did for Claybrook, to see a reasonable amount of pre-sales before we began construction. We also have to time it so that construction of a lodge begins in the Spring after the ski season and is ready for the next season. Given all of that, my best guess is that this will happen in the summer of 2008. (I would love to have this happen in the summer of 2007, if it could). If this is done successfull, we will continue to finalize the village with some additional condos and retail space, so it completes the rendering on the website. Sorry I can't be more definitive, but when I can I will.

When this first phase is done, virtually all of the major site work in the base area and parking lots will be completed, so the next phases will be much less complicated and disruptive.

Tin Woodsman
07-20-2006, 09:36 AM
I am a bit superstitious so I hesitate to ever say "definite". We decided to more in phases for practical reasons. When Claybrook is substantially sold, we are going to finalize the plans for the second lodge and additional condominium units which is what will make the second lodge work financially. Our plan called for it to be substantially sold by the end of this ski season. As I mentioned we already have some good preliminary plans and partial permitting for the second lodge and condos. I would want, as we did for Claybrook, to see a reasonable amount of pre-sales before we began construction. We also have to time it so that construction of a lodge begins in the Spring after the ski season and is ready for the next season. Given all of that, my best guess is that this will happen in the summer of 2008. (I would love to have this happen in the summer of 2007, if it could). If this is done successfull, we will continue to finalize the village with some additional condos and retail space, so it completes the rendering on the website. Sorry I can't be more definitive, but when I can I will.

When this first phase is done, virtually all of the major site work in the base area and parking lots will be completed, so the next phases will be much less complicated and disruptive.

Win -

Thanks for clarifying. That is some of what I was trying to get to with my previous questions. Is the inclusion of a residential component into the second lodge a new feature of this structure? I had been under the impression that it was solely skier services and some retail. Has there been any change to the primary mission for that building being the concentration of all family/skier services into one facility? Also, should the subsequent phases take place, would you foresee any significant level of cooperation with the SB Village so as to integrate everything into a greater whole? Or is it simply too early to speculate?

win
07-20-2006, 06:47 PM
Tin,

This really is in early stage of design. We had always planned for some more residential units done in stages. Whether or not they are actually physically part of the same building or apart is not decided yet. When we went through zoning last year we showed a concept for the Guest Services lodge (ski& ride, guest services, day care, rental and repair, retail, etc.) and additional residential units. That will still happen. It is just the final design that needs to be determined. Unltimately, I would like to connect our "new" village with the original Sugarbush Village and bring (or return ) vitality to both. We also want to make sure that the residences in the original village still have ski on and ski off access and that the aesthetics work. You probably know that the original village is not one voice. It is a bunch of separate condo associations. These once was a village association, and they are a couple of people working to put that idea together again. We own only part of one building which houses our Claybrook Sales office, the Day Care Center and some small condo units we use for employee housing on the second floor. Stop by someday and I would be pleased to show you some of the concept possibilities. As I said earlier, we do want to take one step at a time, but we do have an overall vision of where we want to be in the future. Claybrook is unique in that it will be the premier address of the units built at Lincoln Peak Village. Hope this helps

Tin Woodsman
07-21-2006, 09:57 AM
Win -

Thanks for the detail. Sounds like you guys are taking a wait and see approach to let the market guide you w/r/t staging and composition of subsequent structures. That's a smart approach, though I"m sure you don't need me to tell you that.

I'm glad to hear that there is thought being put into how you can eventually harmonize what you're doing with what exists in the SB Village and perhaps add 1+1 to equal 3. One of the problems that some of your younger customers might see in SB is that there's no "there" there. This is an asset in many respects as well, b/c the MRV retains its laid back, rural mountain charm in contrast to other places to the North and South. That said, to a certain extent you need to appeal to your emerging and future customers. To the extent that you can bring vitality to a new and larger village core, that would extremely beneficial, IMHO. And it likely wouldn't have much if any impact on the restaurants and businesses throughout the Valley either. Different strokes for different folks.

At some point, I'd love to take you up on that offer.

win
07-21-2006, 10:56 AM
I'll await your call!

Lostone
07-21-2006, 01:07 PM
Speaking of Claybrook, I see the silo portion's outside is brown. Is that an intermediate color, going to the red, or is that portion to remain brown?

I think the brown looks good. I think I like that more than the red. That might just be me, being partial to wood grains.

And speaking of that silo... What is it? Are some of the residences going to have that as part of their unit? Is it storage? Just someplace to imprison nosy ambassadors? :shock: :lol:

djspookman
07-24-2006, 07:00 AM
Speaking of Claybrook, I see the silo portion's outside is brown. Is that an intermediate color, going to the red, or is that portion to remain brown?

I think the brown looks good. I think I like that more than the red. That might just be me, being partial to wood grains.

And speaking of that silo... What is it? Are some of the residences going to have that as part of their unit? Is it storage? Just someplace to imprison nosy ambassadors? :shock: :lol:

Lostone,

Re-silo color-I hope it remains brown, much like some of the older style silos, as I can't remember seeing too many color matched silos around (but that's just my personal preference)

As for the silo plans, the last plans I saw were these: http://www.lincolnpeakvillage.com/static/lincolnpeakvillage/floorplans/main.php?floor=2 so the silo is a part of some of the units. I'm not sure if that's the latest plan though.

dave

noski
07-24-2006, 08:11 AM
Re-silo color-I hope it remains brown, much like some of the older style silos, as I can't remember seeing too many color matched silos around (but that's just my personal preference)

dave

Me too. fwiw....

win
07-24-2006, 02:26 PM
It won't be brown or red. we are going to surprise you, so keep walking around. The windows in the silos are bedrooms. There are 2 bedroom on the floor of each silo. You can see the site plan on the Claybrook website. One unit is a 3 bedroom and one is a 4 bedroom. I think they are going be be two of the neater untis in Claybrook.

Lostone
07-24-2006, 06:51 PM
Oh man!!! He's gonna make me keep walking!!! :roll: :lol:

I'll keep an eye out, then.

I agree about it those rooms being one of the neater rooms. "I live in the silo!" :)

smootharc
07-25-2006, 08:16 AM
I agree about it those rooms being one of the neater rooms. "I live in the silo!" :)

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/TXOPLmissile.html

Nice to meet you at the Farmer's Market saturday, btw.

Lostone
07-25-2006, 08:52 AM
Yeah... but this is a much nicer silo. 8) :lol:

Yes, thanx for calling out to me. Nice to meet you and your mob. :wink: