Vail approves purchase of two residential properties for deed restriction

The Vail Town Council approved the purchase of two units that it will use to increase its employee-housing inventory in the community.

The town is set to acquire one two-bedroom, two-bath unit within the Pitkin Creek Condominiums in East Vail for $975,000 as well as a three-bed, three-bath Chamonix Vail Townhome unit in West Vail for $634,940. The Pitkin Creek property is scheduled to close on June 16, and the Chamonix on June 21.

This is part of a larger push and goal of the Town Council to increase its housing supply for year-round residents. It also follows closely after the purchase of another Pitkin Creek Condominium for the same purpose in early May.

The goal of council is to acquire 1,000 additional deed restrictions by the year 2027, according to the Vail Housing Strategic Plan, which was adopted in 2017. Following the most recent acquisitions, the town’s deed-restricted housing inventory will increase to nearly 950 homes.

Pitkin Creek condo

After the Pitkin Creek Condominium is purchased by the town, it will be deed-restricted as part of the town’s buy-down program, which was established in 1999.

Or as Council member Jen Mason put it on Tuesday: “We’re the proud owners and we’re going to hopefully sell it to someone else that will be the proud owner and it will be deed-restricted.”

While the unit was listed for $1.2 million, the town is under contract with the town for $975,000, according to a memo in the Town Council packet.

Under this deed restriction, the property can either be sold to a town of Vail municipal employee or a local Vail resident employed at an Eagle County business. According to the memo, the unit will “subject to the terms of a deed-restriction at a price of $625,000.”

The memo also stipulates that should the unit not be purchased by a town municipal employee, it will be offered through a lottery sales process to a qualified resident.

The condominium complex has a long history of workforce housing. According to the town it was built in the 1980s, with homes being deed-restricted and sold for as low as $82,000. However, after seven years, the deed-restrictions expired and condominiums in the complex began selling for market-level prices. Most recently, a two-bed, two-bath in the complex sold for  $1.1 million, according to the staff memo. 

Chamonix townhome

The second property authorized for purchase by Council on Tuesday is the property in the Chamonix Vail Townhomes neighborhood. This 32-unit neighborhood was completed in 2018 to provide deed-restricted workforce housing in the town. As part of these deed restrictions, the town is given the first option to purchase any for-sale units in the neighborhood.

The terms of the deed restriction also cap the maximum resale price at $634,940 for the unit in question.

After this unit is closed upon, the town intends to “tweak the deed restriction and have a lottery for the resale” at that price, according to Town Attorney Matt Mire at the Tuesday meeting.  

A memo in the Town Council packet says that the tweak will be to specifically require that “at least 75% of a qualified resident’s income be derived from a business located within Eagle County.”

The memo further states that “the lottery selection process is scheduled to occur in mid-July with a closing tentatively occurring in late-August or early-September, subject to terms.”

This story used information from a town of Vail press release.

Reporter Ali Longwell can be reached at alongwell@vaildaily.com.