Around 7.5 acres of land neighboring the Outlets at Silverthorne’s Green Village received initial approval for rezoning as a developer group considers making significant changes to the area years after purchasing the site.

Two lots off of Rainbow Drive, one vacant and the other housing Chipotle and The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, have been eyed by the town for the last few years because officials felt the area was under utilized.

The land parcels being rezoned are just down the street from Summit County’s busiest areas on Interstate 70, Exit 205. The exit is a converging point for travelers going back to the Front Range coming from a variety of Western Slope ski resorts and has been known to resemble a parking lot on the busiest days of the ski season. The land parcels under consideration stand along Rainbow Drive which feeds into Blue River Parkway, a road identified by the Colorado Department of Transportation and local municipalities as needing improvements to accommodate traffic growth.

In 2022, the town put out a request for proposal for a mixed-use development including restaurants, high-density residential areas and commercial spaces. Those plans fell through, and the property was sold to a group of three firms — Palisade Partners, Wall Development Group, and Equity Ventures Commercial Development — that are now working to bring the project to fruition. 

When presenting the rezoning proposal to Silverthorne Town Council at an April 24 meeting, town senior planner Emily Weber told officials there was currently no site plan for this project. She said the rezoning of the area would expand the permitted land use of the site to include hotels, professional offices, arts studios and entertainment facilities. 

While officials have no plan to approve it yet, tentative plans were outlined in documents submitted by the developer group and their representatives, shedding light on what may come to the area. 

“This has been a long process. We’re excited to move it forward, and we think we’re bringing some phenomenal local restaurants, great housing — and we believe that after the three years of planning that we’ve gone through, we’re producing something the town will be proud of,” Wall Development Group’s founder Jimmy Wall said. 

Documents included in the April 24 meeting agenda packet detail as many as 118 residential units could be built on the site alongside 27,000-square-feet of new commercial space. The town is also offering an incentive to the developer group if some of these units are deed restricted for the workforce or for senior housing. It is also noted in these documents that the owner group “has engaged with the town in conversations to implement workforce housing at this site, including opportunities for a public-private partnership.” Assistant town manager Mark Leidal said there was also no application in for the site currently, and the town has not yet officially signed off on any agreements for a public-private partnership. 

“Once the rezoning is complete, we plan to meet with people in the community to gather input before doing anything specific on the site,” Palisade Partners design and construction director Matt Mueller said.

He added the company is currently negotiating with “a number of local, national and regional restaurant and retailers” but couldn’t disclose their names.

Weber, the town planner, said council will review the development agreement at a May 14 meeting, and since the rezoning would intensify the usage of the land by drawing more permanent residents and customers for the businesses that end up there, council has some negotiating room “to help mitigate the impact.”

“We’d be increasing the density, and in order to kind of withhold all of that density, (would the applicant) be responsible for updating the roads in that area?” council member Jonnah Glassman asked town staff members. 

Weber said without a site plan it’s tough to know what the increase in density and intensity of land use will look like. Parts of the development agreement council will review were included in meeting documents and demonstrate the owner group will be responsible for off-site road and traffic improvements, sidewalk and trail connections and widening a portion of the Blue River Trail adjacent to the property. It also states the developer will be on the hook for Rainbow Drive improvements including curb, sidewalk and draining improvements.