New road site construction underway on Village at Avon property
Ben Roof/Special to the Daily
There’s a lot of earth being moved on the Village at Avon property, located between East Beaver Creek Boulevard and Interstate 70 exits 167 and 168.
The plan for the area includes an influx of more residential units to complement the Piedmont apartment complex on the east end of the property, but before that can be realized, the property must include a new road on the north end of the valley floor.
While there’s no specific deal yet completed for more housing, the road is currently under construction in an effort to reduce the chances of any delays when a deal is finalized, said Michael Lindholm with Traer Creek LLC, the landowner.
The Village at Avon is one of Traer Creek’s large holdings in the area — 1,800 acres in total — which began to see development in the 1990s with the construction of Traer Creek Plaza, a Walmart Supercenter and a Home Depot on the east end of the property; and the 244-unit Buffalo Ridge affordable housing complex on the north side of the property.
The LEED-certified Traer Creek Plaza, with its living roof and semicircular shape, was considered an especially innovative project at the time, designed to be more aesthetically pleasing than the conventional L-shaped building. It contains a mix of retail space on the bottom floor and office space on the second floor, and the roof contains a top layer of sedum, a vegetation that allows for the absorption of runoff, creating less shock to the Eagle River ecosystem.
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“From above, the building’s roof blends into the landscape and takes on the shape of another hill,” according to a brochure of the property from Traer Creek LLC.
The plaza was designed by the Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, and won the Gold Hard Hat award for outstanding mixed-use project, as well as a Building of America Award presented by “The Real Estate & Construction Review.”
But development on other projects in the area stalled following the initial work surrounding Traer Creek Plaza, as numerous setbacks occurred including a lawsuit with the town of Avon, which resulted in new fees at Walmart and other Traer Creek businesses. A water tank failure in the years that followed resulted in another lawsuit.
With those issues resolved, the property has seen renewed activity in recent years, with the completion of the 240-unit Piedmont apartments in 2021; the opening of a Maverik service station in 2023; and the opening of two new hotels, a 116-room Marriott SpringHill Suites and a 127-room Marriott TownePlace Suites.
The hotels set up the next phases of development, according to Traer Creek, bringing additional guests to the area to create vibrancy for the existing business and restaurants in Traer Creek Plaza.
The hotels opened June 25.
