The central question before Snowmass Town Council is whether to let a proposed Ritz-Carlton redevelopment proceed with exceptions to town rules on height, setbacks and parking. The plan would replace the Viewline Resort, Snowmass Conference Center and Wildwood Lodge with a luxury complex that includes 167 hotel rooms, 61 fractional-ownership residences and as many as 125 deed-restricted workforce housing units, along with a new conference center, retail space and a parking garage.
The council began reviewing the proposal Monday, according to the Aspen Times. Elevated Snowmass LLC, the entity run by developer Stephane de Baets, acquired the property in 2025 and is seeking rezoning. De Baets also owns the St. Regis in Aspen and Redstone Castle.
How Much Taller Than the Rules Allow
The numbers show just how far the request stretches current limits. The proposed lodge building would stand 77 feet tall, compared with the town's 69-foot allowance, while the workforce housing building would reach 48 feet against a 45-foot limit, according to the The Aspen Times. Those figures mark a shift from what Aspen Public Radio reported back in February, when the project was described as a pre-sketch proposal anticipating four to eight stories above grade, with 150 guest rooms, 62 fractional units, 80 workforce housing units and 180 mostly underground parking spaces — different totals than the Sketch Plan now before the council, though the available reporting doesn't spell out every change behind the revised figures.
The Sketch Plan is an early review stage, not permission to begin construction. The Snowmass Planning Commission recommended on Oct. 7 that the council accept it with revisions, including alternative massing and scale, stronger landscape design and better-screened delivery facilities, according to The Aspen Times. Further review and approvals would still be required.
Neighbors Push Back on Construction and a Rerouted Lane
The proposal’s effects on nearby residents and existing streets remain contested. At the public hearing, Barnett Davis, who lives in the neighboring Sonnenblick condominiums, raised concerns about health impacts from years of construction next door. “We are very concerned about the impact on our ability to live there,” Davis said, according to the Aspen Times.
A separate objection concerns the proposed realignment of Elbert Lane. Dwayne Romero, CEO of the Romero Group, filed a written objection on Oct. 15, according to the Aspen Times. “Rerouting to solely benefit the Ritz plan is a big no-go from our perspective,” he said.
Design Team Points to Mountain Views
The design team has argued that the arrival sequence at Snowmass Mall could reduce some of the building massing and open mountain sightlines. Jessica Garrow, a principal at architecture firm Design Workshop, told the council the team remains focused on that element as the plans evolve.
The review is scheduled to continue Nov. 16. According to a staff memo cited by the Aspen Times, the council plans to take up lodging, commercial space and the conference center on Dec. 7, workforce housing on Dec. 21, and a draft resolution in early January 2027.
A Bigger Push for Workforce Housing Townwide
The workforce housing debate inside this single project sits against a broader shift in Snowmass policy. The town passed the first reading of an ordinance in January that would require developers to provide workforce housing for 100% of the employees generated by a project, up from a 60% requirement that has been on the books since 2011, with the new standard calling for 448 square feet of housing per employee generated. Town estimates cited in that same Aspen Times report point to an existing shortage of 300 workforce units plus an additional projected need of 208 units, for a total shortfall of 508 units, with Snowmass currently housing only about 34% of its roughly 1,190 employed workers against a goal of 60%. Aspen One has publicly backed raising the mitigation rate to 100%.
Housing demand and construction safeguards
The Town of Snowmass Village’s Draw Site page says its Comprehensive Plan identified a need for 383 additional workforce housing units based on demand identified in 2018, and reports 280 Village employees on a waiting list for 300 rental apartments. That townwide context does not guarantee that the Ritz proposal’s workforce units will be built. Snowmass Village’s code requires an approved construction-management plan before a permit is issued for construction activity, according to section 18-11 of the municipal code; that general requirement does not establish what controls will ultimately apply to this proposal. In a separate case, Town Council unanimously approved a Snowmass Center redevelopment design on Jan. 21, 2025, subject to conditions addressing public use, traffic safety and existing businesses, The Aspen Times reported. That was a different project and approval stage, not a prediction for the Ritz proposal.
Similar housing fights are playing out elsewhere in Snowmass Village. Aspen One has proposed 30 workforce-housing units near the top of Divide Road, intended largely for employees who work at or stage operations from a neighboring vehicle-maintenance facility, according to the Aspen Daily News. The existing employee housing facility there has just six units and eight beds, with a 20-person waitlist, even though the underlying zoning allows only three additional workforce units on the lot. Nearby homeowners have raised concerns ranging from noise and visual impacts to pedestrian and cyclist safety. A separate proposal known as The SHOP won unanimous planning commission support to advance to the council, which continued its public hearing on that project to Dec. 1 after nearly three and a half hours of discussion.
For now, the Ritz-Carlton Sketch Plan remains a work in progress, with no final decision expected before the council takes up the draft resolution in early January. Whether the height exceptions, the Elbert Lane realignment or the workforce housing count survive that process in their current form is still an open question headed into the next rounds of review.
