FOUR SEASON FUN AT SOLVISTA
BASE CAMP ONE A FAMILY FAVORITE
By Mark Samuelson / Photos Courtesy of Base Camp One

FAMILY FAVORITE: Dundee Resort Development has a solid success on its hands with Base Camp One at Granby Ranch featuring large, family-friendly resort condominiums, just 90 minutes from downtown Denver.

In 2006, Beaver Creek developer Greg Finch drove over a ridge from Granby into a scenic valley with a boutique ski area at one end and pristine views of Rocky Mountain National Park and the Never Summer Range at the other. Mountain meadow fairways spilled down the valley toward a bend of the Fraser River, and infrastructure around the ski base, dating from the 1980s, was attracting some newer resort-quality construction. Finch, president of the US subsidiary of $3 billion-backed Toronto-based Dundee Resort Development, liked what he saw ... and imagined a concept that might help turn a niche market into a first-rate performer.

Now Finch’s Dundee Resort Development has a solid success on its hands with Base Camp One at Granby Ranch – spacious, family-friendly resort condominiums, just 90 minutes from downtown Denver, and literally steps to the base lodge and lifts at Granby Ranch’s SolVista Basin. In a market when pricier projects at Winter Park have languished, Granby Ranch tracked 53 residential sales for the year – many of those to Base Camp One and its one-to-three-bedroom units. 

Dundee Resort Development was no rookie to the mountain resort scene. When Finch took over as president of the US subsidiary in 1992, he steered the company toward new projects in Colorado’s Vail Valley with a particular focus on Beaver Creek, Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead – areas that were about to see a huge influx of international attention and investment. In 1997, Dundee purchased Arapahoe Basin, and initiated a 15-year upgrade and expansion. In 2005, Dundee moved into California’s Sierra Nevada range to purchase Bear Valley Resort near Lake Tahoe, once an alpine retreat that attracted the Hollywood crowd, but that had fallen behind the curve for the tastes of contemporary consumers.

ALMOST HEAVEN: Residents at Base Camp One are steps from the lifts at SolVista Basin, and can finish off their day of skiing around the firepit.

At Granby Ranch, Finch could see that same potential – a wonderful, natural setting ripe for quality residential investment.  The ski area, named Silver Creek in the 1980s, was getting a strong infusion of imagination and capital from Brazilian developers Marise and Celso Cipriani, bringing more skier visits partially due to new, high speed lifts, and adding summer allure through the makeover of its Headwaters Golf Course.

By 2009, the national real estate market was in contraction ... but with Granby Ranch’s 90-minute convenience to Metro Denver and DIA, Finch and his team refined the concept to create an advantage. Why not use Granby Ranch’s amenities – not just the ski mountain, but mountain bike and hiking trails, the golf course, and a fishing lease along the Fraser River, known for 20-inch browns, to lure families who were turning away from higher priced resorts? Granby Ranch management, meanwhile, was adding improvements that added sizzle to the mountain and its surroundings –
new terrain parks and glade skiing, improved bike trails that lured national competitions, and a “River Camp” for overnight camping on the river. In 2012, residents will begin using a much anticipated swimming pool and hot tub ... a short walk from Base Camp One.

RIGHT PRICE: Ski-in-ski-out one-bedrooms start at under $200,000 with roomy two-bedroom and larger residences from the low $300,000s.

When families arrive at Base Camp One, they find themselves 50 feet from SolVista Basin’s ski lodge and Seven Trails Grille, where parents can have a drink while watching their kids funnel into a single base area. (Parents and grandparents have that same viewpoint from large decks that accompany all of Base Camp One’s condos).  All of this is priced to appeal to buyers who are in the thick of their kids’ school years, dealing with expenses that have grown more significant in the current economy, while wanting year-round family experiences that ski-only resorts have a hard time providing. 

At Base Camp One, they find one-bedrooms starting under $200,000, and from the low $300,000s for roomy two-bedroom and larger residences that have capacity to host friends and grandparents. “We’re very concerned about our kids’ safety,” says Loan Fleetwood, who with husband Doug has two daughters, 6 and 8. They return to their condo at Base Camp One every two or three weeks – every weekend during ski season. “Up there, safety is something we can see. The girls can have their own independence.”

Meanwhile, Dundee has now passed the 50-percent mark in project sales, opening up wider financing opportunities that can be passed on to newer buyers. Stop by Granby Ranch’s Mountain Preview Center –15 miles past Winter Park on US 40. To learn more, call 970.887.5250 or visit www.GranbyRanch.com.

READ MORE STORIES FROM THIS ISSUE:
• Winter 2011 Articles