At a moment when the luxury real estate market may be softening even in Colorado’s ski towns, a resort developer has put together seven land parcels in Breckenridge that could be combined into a half-billion-dollar master plan of homes, townhomes, “chalets,” and a hotel.

Developer Breckenridge Grand Vacations is calling the venture Finale, presented as “the last developable land in Breckenridge,” according to a spokesperson in Los Angeles.

That’s not quite true, said Breckenridge Community Development Director Mark Truckey.

“Not the last,” Truckey told The Denver Gazette, in reply to a query as to whether the project will actually tap the town’s final developable land resource.

“But that’s probably accurate near the base of the ski lodges,” he said, “the vacant properties in that area of town.”

Quickly approaching buildout

In the high-density world of ski resort offerings, the entire Finale project with development costs estimated at $500 million, would only total 25 acres, according to the developer. The city’s Truckey said that total includes several non-contiguous parcels.

One of those parcels will be 14 ski-in/out single-family home sites called Victory Ridge, being promoted as one of “the only opportunities to own land directly adjacent to the ski resort.” 

The home sites would range from two-thirds to over one acre.

Those are reportedly already listed for potential buyers, at prices from $5.25 to short of $9 million — just for the sites.

“Founding buyers,” the company says, would get views of the Continental Divide and other snowcapped sentinels, and would receive “desirable pricing and incentives” for two lifetime ski passes valid for up to 60 years.

Meanwhile, BGV would also offer 16 luxury Independence townhomes closer to the former mining town’s historic downtown, to be priced from $4.125 million to $6 million, connected to the slopes by the Breck Connect Gondola. It broke ground on those townhomes June 2.

Residents of those, the spokesperson said, could further purchase into the services and amenities at Grand Colorado, a previous BGV development at the base of Peak 8.

Finale would also offer condo “villas” and mountain “chalets” called The Imperial, with two-to-five-bedroom homes; along with an Imperial Hotel, with some ski-in/out private residences.

The Denver Gazette tried to contact BGV’s Graham Frank, chief development officer, partnered on Finale with BGV’s CEO Mike Dudick, but did not receive a response before press time.

In addition to Grand Colorado, the resort company developed Grand Timber Lodge and Grand Lodge on Peak 7 in Breckenridge. Ownership concepts offered in its developments include timeshare and “interval ownership” sales, according to several sources.

The partnership developers have been involved together in a combined $2.2 billion in transactions involving 23,000 owners, according to the company.

Scrape-and-build

Truckey at the Town of Breckenridge noted that the parcels also include a smaller property at the north end of town — an offset for affordable housing. Breckenridge’s workforce housing program is one of the most aggressive in the mountains, he said.

Meanwhile, as developable sites dwindle, the town’s real estate picture is an exaggerated view of real estate around Colorado. Larger single-family homes that have soared in price are now taking longer to sell, while the most attainably priced single-family homes, from around $1.3 million, can go quickly.

The price range is still lofty enough that “people who work in this town like me can’t afford them,” Truckey said.

As large-scale developers run out of raw land, “then the game will be redevelopment,” Truckey added. He noted that the town is already seeing a scrape-and-build phenomenon, where smaller, older single-family properties disappear, to be replaced by much larger ones.

“Some in the community are getting concerned about that,” Truckey said. 

Also involved in the multiphase project, according to BGV, are design firm DTJ, interior designers Styleworks, and Norris Designs. 

No estimate was provided on the other parcel’s potential construction start date.