After 13 meetings spanning from June 2023 to March 2024, Breckenridge Town Council unanimously voted to approve two key aspects of the East Peak 8/ Gold Rush Lot development at its March 26 meeting, moving the development closer to the construction phase. 

Council approved both the development agreement and the annexation of a parcel of land associated with workforce housing outside town limits, specifically the Entrada parcel at the corner of Colorado Highway 9 and County Road 450, on first reading. One more reading is needed for each before the development agreement is set in stone and the land is annexed into the town.

Council applauded town staff members for their work throughout this process and commended the developer, Breckenridge Grand Vacations, for its willingness to make changes based on council input and concerns. 

Council member Dick Carleton, who raised the most concerns throughout this process to ensure the development would be something residents felt somewhat comfortable with, said this was the most collaborative development process he had experienced. 

“It’s been a much more open process with these applicants,” Carleton said. “I feel like we’ve pushed pretty hard on a few items and there has been some give and take, and I very much appreciate that.”

Council member Jay Beckerman drew attention to the fact that this is not a project that is being given by the town to the developer. He stressed the developer had the development rights to do something different, but that Breckenridge Grand Vacations ultimately worked with the town to make it more conducive for the town. 

Council member Jeffrey Bergeron also showed appreciation for the developer’s willingness to change course.

“I think it was the right thing to do at the right time — the alternative to what is going to be happening in months to come would be a three- or four-multistory building right in the heart of town,” Bergeron said. 

Before the developer can start thinking about construction, there’s a few more items that need to be knocked off the list. The most time consuming of these will be reviewing an individual site plan for all seven parcels in the development in addition to changing two different master plans to allow for the density needed to complete the project.  

While a first reading for the development was meant to occur March 12, a few tweaks to the agreement at the request of the council moved this back. Staff and developer Breckenridge Grand Vacation made a series of changes that council found suitable enough this time around to approve. 

Planner Chris Kulick notified council of changes made to the agreement propelled by their comments involving baseline rents for workforce housing.

Some council members had concerns about how protected renters in the workforce housing on Park Avenue would be from spikes in rent. Certain members took issue with the proposed 3% yearly increase in rent and also wanted to ensure that increases in uncontrollable expenses, such as property insurance increases, would not hike up rent.

The developer previously raised concern about limits on rents given uncontrollable expenses that could increase as time goes on. The developer met with housing staff to hash this out. 

“We kind of came full circle to the idea that just the (area median income) will govern this, and we’ll just reset every three years,” Breckenridge Grand Vacations Chief Executive Mike Dudick told council. 

For the first three years, there will be a 3% increase in rent yearly. After that, the town and the developer will review the rent and set a baseline rent for the next three-year period, taking into consideration any changes in uncontrollable expenses. 

The general target for this workforce housing is 85% to 60% of area median income, and rent will begin at $989.40.

Carleton, who has kept the needs of the workforce in mind throughout the entire process, said he would still move to approve the agreement, yet he would like to have assurance that rents would remain reasonable for the people living there.

He said he wanted more protection for the people living there from any hikes in expenses by having something in the agreement that prohibited Breckenridge Grand Vacations, or another owner if they were to sell, from taking on additional expenses to rent. 

“I feel like the developer is very well protected with a 3% increase every three years … but the workforce isn’t protected,” Calreton said. 

Council member Jay Beckerman questioned why the developer decided to go back to using area median income for this aspect of the development when it previously decided that wouldn’t happen. 

“We’ve heard from you and from others that (area median income) is very imperfect, and that the volatility of (area median income) is unpredictable,” Beckerman said. 

Dudick explained the mechanism he came up with alongside the housing department staff looks to shield renters from extraordinary rent increases, and other costs such as property insurance.

Dudick said the three-year review “protects the tenant against a big upward spike, it protects the owner of the building from an aberration of a downward dip for whatever reason.”

Ultimately the council conceded and left that provision in the development agreement.

Last meeting council raised concerns about a sentence in the agreement that stated “Nothing in this agreement precludes the landowner of Parcel 1 and the town from jointly agreeing through a future agreement process to a different use on Parcel 1.” Much of the council expressed the reason they were moved to approve this version of the development was because the developer previously ditched plans to have this major development on that parcel, which is right in the middle of town. 

Council members worried that this would allow a future council to approve a development, no matter the size, on this parcel. That sentence was struck in the development agreement presented to council March 26.