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« Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Ginn: New Gorilla On The Mountain?By  Best known for warm-weather golf and beach clubs and resorts in the Southeast and the Caribbean, Ginn is bidding to become the newest major mountain resorts player. The Florida-based company's plan for a private ski/snowboard and golf community at Battle Mountain, on land wedged between Vail and Beaver Creek, is getting a close look from locals and other Colorado resorts. What's more, Ginn senior vice president Bill Weber acknowledged to The Industry Report that company founder Bobby Ginn is "looking into" buying the venerable Burke Mountain slopes in Vermont, as reported earlier. (IR 6/27/05) Ginn's corporate Web site now lists Vermont along with Colorado as one of the places where it has land "currently under development." The company reported sales of $1.2 billion in 2004, according to the Web site. Ginn's Colorado venture is a novel one. It would be the first private ski hill in a state with more skiers than any other. And it appears to be winning the backing of some local residents. The company is negotiating to become a part of the small town of Minturn. It has already hired local people to spearhead its marketing and has bought local buildings from them. Ginn's plans hinge on getting its property annexed by Minturn, a community of about 1,200 a few miles down the road from Ginn's 5,300-plus acres of Battle Mountain. Despite its prime location in Eagle County, one of the fastest growing and most prosperous in Colorado, Minturn has never profited from its proximity to wealth and growth. Indeed, Minturn went through a long and costly fight over water some years ago that ultimately embroiled a consortium of water users and providers, including Vail Resorts and the local Eagle County water districts. (A spokesperson for Vail said it would be "inappropriate" to make any comment about Ginn's proposals since they are still in the pre-annexation stage.) "No one has paid attention to Minturn" until recently, Ann Capela, the town manager, told The Industry Report, adding, "for a long time Minturn has waited its turn" to participate in the boom in Eagle County. Now it might be time, via the Ginn development, "to reap some of the benefits of the nature that surrounds us," she said. Nevertheless, Capela, a professional manager hired by the town, is taking a "wait-and-see" position. "My attitude is 'measure twice, cut once.'" When she arrived in 2004 after managing Imperial County in Southern California, Capela saw a village that she described as "funky and cool." Surrounded by steep, rocky hillsides, Minturn has a mixture of Victorian buildings and newer residences as well as an inn, restaurants and a handful of retails shops. It looks like a typical Colorado or Utah mining or ranching community that has not yet been gentrified. "Our challenge is going to be how to do progress without sacrificing Minturn's character," Capela said. "You don't want to forsake the small town atmosphere but you need to improve the infrastructure. People have to be able to turn on their taps, flush their toilets, drive down the street and get their garbage picked up." Since closing on the $32.5-million purchase of its land last December, Bobby Ginn has spoken several times at Minturn town meetings. Weber has moved his family from Florida to Colorado to oversee the project. In addition, Ginn gave Minturn $50,000 to pay for expenses associated with the project, including a community survey. Town officials have already toured several warm-climate Ginn developments. "It's win-win for the community. Minturn will have the opportunity to become far more self sufficient," the Brooklyn-born Weber told The Industry Report. The 100-year old former railroad and mining town, which sits at about 7,500 feet, would like to get a facelift (everything from new sidewalks and streetlamps to a new water treatment plant) out of the deal. It also hopes to reap large property tax revenues from Ginn homesite buyers and moneyed second-home owners who shop in its stores and hire its workers. Ginn has also promised to pay what it takes to finish the cleanup of a Superfund site on a small portion of its land. The site was associated with the now-closed Gilman zinc mine. Cliff Thompson, Ginn's brand-new spokesman, who was hired away from the newspaper the Vail Daily, called the site "the wart on the beauty queen," In return, Ginn would get the most vital commodity in the West -- water -- as well as other infrastructure improvements for its proposed 1,700 mid-mountain homesites, gondolas, ski slopes, and golf course. Forest Service and state approval processes, which normally vex mountain resort developers, are not an issue here because all of the Ginn proposals are on private land. Nevertheless, both Weber and town officials expect the annexation process alone to take two years. Weber doesn't mind. "We know we have a jewel for a piece of property. We want to do it right," he said. As for those who might fear a change in little Minturn's character, Weber said, "Bobby is from a small town in South Carolina that makes Minturn look like a big city. We've had a history of going into smaller communities" -- Hammock Beach, Fla. for one -- "and we haven't overrun the towns." Capela was one of four town officials who visited Ginn's Hammock Beach and the Reunion Club properties in Florida. She came away impressed. "He really builds top shelf stuff," she said. Ginn's Battle Mountain project, sometimes compared in Colorado press reports to the Yellowstone Club in Montana, might provide as many as 1,000 jobs to residents not just of Minturn and nearby Redcliff, but also Leadville, 25 miles away on a serpentine road over Tennessee Pass. Ginn would be "a good economic addition to the county and the region," said Capela. She also wants the benefits of any deal to help build improvements such as a senior center and a youth skate park, as well as better government facilities. "Our computers are not even networked now," she said. In the past few months the company has purchased a lodge, the Minturn Inn, as well as two other properties from Minturn Town Councilman Tom Sullivan for about $6.5 million, according to public records. Weber told the Vail Trail that the buildings would be used for employee housing and offices. Most residents of Minturn will remain "concerned" and "skeptical" about Ginn's plans until they see more in writing, said Capela. Among other issues, Minturn has a considerable number of longtime older residents who have no plans to move away, she pointed out. A community survey conducted this year by the Northwest Colorado Council on Governments (NWCCOG) shows that among the key concerns of residents are water quality, traffic, parking, economic development, open space, taxes and especially the preservation of the small town environment. As Capela put it, they "don't want tall buildings and they don't want 'em too close." Residents have also made it known that they would want access to the private ski hill. No problem, Bobby Ginn replied. He has promised Minturn and Redcliff that, although his facilities won't be open to the general public, local residents would get deeply discounted rates to ski and golf at his exclusive resort. « Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Comments
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Posted by: Kathleen Comfort | September 13, 2006 04:49 PM
