#Silverthorne #Colorado
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| Special to the Summit Daily |
The developer spearheading a large-scale project that's expected to radically transform Silverthorne's downtown is getting closer to submitting a preliminary site plan.
Getting an early glimpse of what some elected officials have referred to as integral to the town's future, town officials seem to like what they see so far.
"What a great first stab you've taken at this," Councilman Derrick Fowler told the developer last week, echoing comments made by other members of the Silverthorne Town Council. "This is really encouraging."
The block that's to be developed is bordered by Third and Fourth streets and Highway 9 and Adams Avenue, directly across the highway from the new $9 million Silverthorne Performing Arts Center and Silverthorne Pavilion.
Currently on the property sit the Mountain Lyon Café, the Old Dillon Inn building, 1st Interstate Inn and The Mint Steakhouse.
All of that except The Mint, however, would be razed to make room for the project that isn't being framed as just another downtown addition; it's supposed to give Silverthorne its "Main Street experience."
Mayor Bruce Butler has named Fourth Street Crossing as one project he'd like to sign off on before he leaves office in April. Like Butler, the incoming mayor, Ann-Marie Sandquist, also has identified Fourth Street Crossing as a top priority.
"I'm really excited about what you're trying to do," Butler told the developer. "I appreciate all your efforts and the group you've put together, and I really look forward to seeing this come out of the dirt next year."
The developer, Milender White, was selected through an interview process to come up with a concept for the site after responding to a request for proposals last year.
Now, Milender White is getting close to submitting a preliminary site plan for Forth Street Crossing, said development executive Tim Fredregill as he walked Silverthorne Town Council through what his firm's done so far during the work session at Wednesday's council meeting.
It's not terribly common these days, but through work session hearings, the town gives developers a chance for an informal dialogue where they can feel each other out, have an informal conversation, so to speak, where they can offer suggestions and opinions before submitting the preliminary site plan.
This one went for almost an hour and a half as Fredregill, along with a half-dozen members of the development team, which includes DTJ Design, Tetra Tech engineering and LIV Sotheby's realty, presented slides showing how the project might look once complete and talked about some of the changes they've made as the project continues to take shape.
It doesn't appear like much changed too dramatically compared to Milender White's initial concept, but as Fredregill noted, some of the boxes on the site have been shifted.
As he described the project, the newest blueprints set the townhomes toward the interior with storefront retail on the southwest corner. There's still the boutique hotel, parking garage, transit facility and market hall, which they're thinking should have an event space, cafe, more retail and the preserved Old Dillon Inn.
Mixed-use retail and residential buildings will also line Fourth Street, with the hotel coming with a courtyard. A public plaza wraps around The Mint, which is to be preserved, and a market hall will built on the southeast corner of the block while incorporating the Old Dillon Inn.
Fredregill explained the plans for the hotel itself have also changed, but he said they've been altered for the better.
The original designs called for a three-story, select-service hotel, according to Fredregill, but he said that by adding a fourth floor, they can make it a full-service hotel with a full kitchen, rooftop bar and bistro, and a lobby.
Early ballpark estimates have pegged the entire Fourth Street Crossing project as a possibly $70 million development or more, and one major challenge posed to the development team is designing a mixed-use project that's both a tourist destination and a vibrant, thriving 24/7 community.
"What we want people to be able to do is come out, have a nice dinner, cross the street, go to a show at the performing arts center, cross back over, have a night cap and tuck into bed in the new hotel," Fredregill said. "We took that to heart and tried to make this a truly engaging and active place."
The project is still taking shape, but one thing Butler asked the developers to consider is how the project ages, as it's intended to be one for the ages in Silverthorne.
"It's not just a development," the mayor said looking forward. "You're really building the next 100 years of history."
To keep up with the project, find it on Facebook by searching "Fourth Street Crossing," or go to FourthStreetCrossing.com/
