Housing scarcity forces ski companies to do something
By Jason Blevins, Denver Post
Ski resort companies are shouldering more responsibility for workforce housing after years working in the background with community partnerships.
In Telluride, Colo., resort owner Bill Jensen spent $6 million this year on homesites and revamping an empty apartment complex for employees. Aspen Skiing spent $4 million on 40 tiny homes it plans to park in a former KOA campground it bought in Basalt. Vail Resorts, which promised $30 million for employee housing in 2015, is planning a new apartment complex in East Vail to join its new housing partnerships in Summit County, although it has run into resistance from residents concerned with traffic and environmental impacts.
Employee housing was becoming a critical problem in the mid-2000s, but then the economic recession hit and locals with their own housing started working for resort companies. But as the economy improved and locals found jobs elsewhere, resort companies started looking farther afield for workers and that required housing.
