Snowmass Property Fetches $144 million
A property deal worth almost $144 million that closed last week includes the largest hotel in Snowmass Village, an additional lodge and a conference center.
A single transaction documented April 2 in the Pitkin County Clerk & Recorder’s Office shows Elevate Snowmass LLC acquired the property that includes the 254-guestroom Viewline Resort Snowmass, the 151-room Wildwood Snowmass Lodge and the Snowmass Conference Center. The recorded sale price was $143,997,116 for the entire complex.
Elevate Snowmass is under the control of hotelier Stephane De Baets. De Baets, originally of Belgium, also is the founder of Elevated Returns, which through affiliate entities is the controlling owner of St. Regis Aspen Resort and the full owner of Redstone Castle. De Baets is in the process of remaking the castle into a wellness retreat.
“I like to concentrate my assets close to where I’m living,” De Baets said Monday, “so I can see my family growing up.”
He’s said he is bullish on Snowmass Village, where condo projects have been sprouting up and selling out pre- and post-pandemic. Since 2018, two condo projects have been completed every 18 to 24 months, according to broker Tim Estin in a recent real estate newsletter he produces.
“In general, SMV has been on fire, selling at an approximate 40-60% discount to Aspen with a slew of brand new condo product that is simply not available in Aspen due to aged stock and more restrictive zoning,” Estin reported. “The newly developed, still-in-progress and evolving, Snowmass Base Village has rejuvenated the beautiful mountain resort just 8 miles from downtown Aspen.”
The centerpiece of the recently purchased property is Viewline Resort Snowmass, which comprises 112,800 square feet of hotel space and is located off the Snowmass Mall. Guests can ski in and out from the hotel, built in 1968 not long after Snowmass Ski Area debuted in 1967.
The hotel — along with the conference center and Wildwood Lodge — has changed ownership and gone through a rebuild, renovations and rebrands. That includes when Starwood Capital Group and Wasserman Real Estate, under the entity Silvertree Propco LLC, bought the trio of properties for $42 million in June 2011. The new ownership spent $55 million on renovating and rebranding the Silvertree Hotel & Conference Center into the Westin Snowmass and Snowmass Conference Center.
Marriott will continue to operate the Viewline Resort Snowmass, De Baets said. The Maryland-based hotel company, officially known as Marriott International, also runs the St. Regis Aspen Resort hotel.
Marriott operates Viewline under a franchise agreement that De Baets said his company will end; however, he plans to keep Marriott aboard under a hotel-management agreement.
Generally speaking, a hotel-management agreement would empower Marriott to run the hotel and manage day-to-day operations and hire staff. That’s different from a hotel franchise agreement in which the owner handles daily operations and staffing, but uses the hotel brand’s marketing, support and systems.
“We’re going to terminate the franchise agreement and are going to Marriott to manage for the foreseeable future,” he said. “I have an extremely good relationship with Marriott. I think they are a great operator and obviously owning two Marriotts in 20 minutes outside of each other, I can create a lot of economies of scale and efficiency. So I believe that having them manage it rather than being a franchisor is going to improve the guest experience and it’fs going to be much more efficient.”
Wildwood comprises two buildings, one that’s 22,488 square feet and a second one 37,200 square feet. It was originally built in 1967 and rebuilt in 1985, according to property records.
Town Manager Clint Kinney said the deal has gotten some local buzz because “it’s a significant hotel for Snowmass Village and we’re going to be interested in working with the new owners moving forward.”
By: Rick CarrollI Aspen Daily News I April 7, 2025