Vail's Four Seasons said to be on track for winter opening

One of the biggest new projects still under construction in Vail, Colorado is on the fast track to a "winter" finish line. The building includes a 121-room hotel, 19 fractional residences and 16 whole-ownership condominiums.

A few days ago, I toured the site, which is located not far from the main Vail roundabout, and can be seen clearly from Interstate I-70. Jeff Meier, the director of sales for Playground Destination Properties Inc., the official sales agent, showed me the 10-story property. Although it is huge (500,000 square feet), some of the massiveness is concealed by having four of its floors below the level of the inner Vail Village road. When completed it will have a spa and pool at that lower level.

The building has been framed and the pool area as well as the lobby and spa were being worked on when I visited. The 1/12th fractional ownership interests come with 21 days of primary time. Four Seasons is offering 2, 3 and 4 bedroom units priced from $405,900 to $715,000.

Will Four Seasons be ready for the 2009-2010 season? Playground (which is a part of Intrawest, an ironic choice at Vail considering that the ski resort arm of Intrawest is a big competitor of Vail) would not be pinned down on a specific month, saying only that it expected to welcome its first guests "this winter."

Vail Real Estate: No Slowdown

Upbeat news from the Four Seasons, now under construction in Vail, apparently not much hurt by national real estate troubles. Fractionals (1/12th shares) are still selling at a brisk clip, says Jeff Meier, senior director of sales and marketing, who adds, “About 18% of our buyers have come from outside the United States.” The project between Vail Village and LionsHead is an amalgam of 120 hotel rooms, 16 whole-ownership units and 19 fractionals. First release fractional prices: $379,000 to $689,000. Completion is set for 2009.