Raleigh Studios Update

By Jim Barth
May 26, 2012

Mayor Williams says he wants Park City to annex the land where developers plan to build Raleigh Studios, an endorsement that comes as the Park City Council is poised to begin its discussions about the project.  The mayor does not hold a vote in the matter unless he must break a tie between City Council members. However, Williams leads the City Council meetings, and he is able to influence the discussion.

Williams describes a series of benefits to Park City if the land is annexed and the project is developed within the city limits. According to the mayor, one of these benefits is that City Hall would review the designs of the project more rigidly than Summit County would if the land remains in the unincorporated area of the county. He further states that City Hall would collect property taxes and sales taxes if the land is in Park City.

For more details, please see the Park Record Raleigh Studios article.

 

Chicago-based firm buys Utah’s Victory Ranch development

By Jim Barth
May 18, 2012

According to a recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune, the Victory Ranch Club, a luxury home development that spans almost 6,500 acres located near Park City has changed hands.  Sterling Bay Companies, a Chicago-based real estate investment and development firm founded in 1986, purchased Victory Ranch last week from an affiliate of Wells Fargo Bank for an undisclosed amount.

Victory Ranch stretches across Summit and Wasatch counties and affords panoramic mountain views of the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains, Deer Valley Resort, the Provo River and the Jordanelle Reservoir. The development has approvals for more than 650 units. The new owners, though, are considering building fewer.

The development is home to the private Rees Jones championship golf course, Victory Ranch Club, which opened for rounds last Saturday.

Having worked as an attorney on the assemblage of the various ranch properties that were to eventually become the Victory Ranch, and having travelled extensively over the entire property during those early years, I can attest to the stunning beauty of the Ranch, particularly the southeastern ridge area.  For further details, please give us a call.

To read more, please visit The Victory Ranch Club article.

Park City trails get gold

By Jim Barth
May 12, 2012

There may be silver in the hills, but Park City's trails are gold. The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) recently named Park City a Gold Level Ride Center, the first town in the world to receive the honor.

Charlie Sturgis submitted the town's application on behalf of the Mountain Trails Association and said receiving the award is an important milestone. “This really shows that we have the whole deal dialed in, dirt bike parks, terrain parks, downhill and family-friendly trails,” Sturgis said. “We also have hotels, restaurants and information that can be easily accessed by mountain bikers.” Sturgis estimates that there are 350 miles of mountain bike trails just in the West Side of Summit County.

IMBA Communication Director Mark Eller said Park City fits all of the criteria for the award. On a scale of 100, Park City received a 96. According to a press release, no other town has ever received higher than a 90. “We have known about Park City for a long time, but when we held a biking summit out there recently, we really saw how great all of the trails were,” Eller said. “We invited multiple towns to apply for the award and then went through a detailed matrix of attributes.”

Eller describes Park City as a model town and said it offers “everything” when it comes to biking. “There are all kinds of high quality biking in one place,” he said.  Eller said the award may also benefit the community by attracting additional summer tourists. “Mountain bike tourism is really coming into its own,” he said. “Places like Park City, Whistler B.C., and Winter Park, Colorado are marketing summer recreation as professionally as they are winter sports.”

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