Killington Resort Village(image courtesy of www.discoverkillington.com)

Prestige Real Estate firmly supports the development of the Killington Resort Village for several reasons:

New construction will raise real estate values and heighten interest in existing properties. Some people have argued that new residential construction (both homes and condominiums) will have a negative effect on Killington real estate.

We believe just the opposite. Having been involved in several new construction projects (Winterberry, The Lodges, Topridge Duplex Homes and The Vistas), we have seen how new construction has had a positive impact on the market value of nearby property.

New construction will bring new buyers to our region. Several buyers with whom we have worked were also considering new construction at other ski resorts. Had we not been able to present to them new projects in Killington we strongly believe they would have bought elsewhere. The new residential units to be built at the “Village” will excite buyers who have complained about the lack of “new product” in Killington.

The Village will bring back skiers who have left for other areas. Skier visits to Killington have declined over the decade from well over a million to just over 600,000. We need to attract new visitors and we need to convince people who have left Killington (for other resorts with a village) to return. Those who worry about traffic on the access road or overly crowded conditions on the mountain forget that we have the capacity for a significantly larger number of visitors than are currently here.

New commercial development will create an incentive for existing businesses to make improvements. New retail/commercial space is of concern to some but we believe that new competition is beneficial to everyone. More traffic coming to the area will benefit existing businesses as well as new businesses. In addition, existing businesses who have become complacent may be forced to update, benefiting all customers and ultimately themselves.

Construction of the Village will bring a substantial number of jobs to Killington. There will be many new jobs for people year round helping to stimulate business during traditionally slow periods.

On January 11, 2009, an informational meeting was held at the Sherburne Elementary school in Killington.  Members of the Killington Economic Development and Tourism Commission (EDTC) as well as Select Board members and other town volunteers presented the rationale for purchasing a 37 acre parcel of land located on Killington Road known as the “Fireside” property.  Well over 100 people attended the meeting to hear the presentation and voice their support, concerns, and/or questions.

The EDTC contends that the land is necessary to host events critical to building a vibrant four-season economy for the town.  The conceptual site plan presented at the meeting indicates proposed event areas, parking, trails, and access points.  The land is being offered to the town for $850K.  Costs have been estimated at approximately $700K for site development, not including bathroom facilities. 

The EDTC and Select Board are proposing that the town voters approve a Municipal Bond in the amount of $1.4 million to cover the outstanding costs.  According to the presenters at the meeting, revenues associated with the Options Tax will be sufficient to cover the cost of the bond spread over 20 years.  The vote will be held through Australian ballot at the Killington town meeting to be held the first Tuesday of March, 2010.  Absentee ballots will be available prior to the meeting.

Although attendees at the meeting were generally supportive of bringing new events and business to the town and many attendees seemed supportive of the land purchase, a number of the attendees requested that revenue projections be presented supporting the expenditures.  No revenue models or new visitor projections were developed or presented.

An additional meeting prior to the town meeting in March will be “warned” and held for further comment and discussion.  Watch for future announcements.

Last night, in a meeting of the Killington Select Board, the town discussed the intent of the Select Board and the Economic Development and Tourism (EDT) Commission to purchase a parcel of land in town.   The EDT has recommended consideration of the purchase of a parcel of land to provide a venue for events desired in the future.  Members of the Select Board clarified that an option to purchase the land (not the purchase of land itself) was likely to be approved.  The option would cost $25,000 and would be funded through revenues collected under the town’s 1% Options tax approved at the Killington town meeting held in March 2008.

Many of the questions raised by attendees at the meeting were deflected by the Select Board stating that the details of the arrangement would be discussed only in Executive Session.  That said, the Select Board confirmed that they were considering and would likely approve the $25,000 expenditure to purchase an option, only.  The Board stated that they were empowered to authorize this expenditure, however, purchasing the land, itself, would require a vote by the town at the Killington town meeting to be held in March 2010. 

More details are likely to become public in September after the option is purchased.  For complete details of the discussion at the meeting, visit the Killington town website for access to the minutes of the meeting dated August 24, 2009.  The next Select Board meeting will be held Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at the town offices.

Big news for Killington this coming week!

First, according to the Rutland Herald this week, the Select Board has approved spending $25,000 of revenue from the 1% Options tax to move forward on the purchase of real estate.  Although the location of the property being purchased has not been formally announced, it is my understanding that it is a large parcel of land located on Killington Road.   The property is to be used to host new town events.  The purchase is expected to be announced formally at the Killington Select Board meeting to be held Monday evening, August 24th.  Stay tuned for further details.

Second, the Killington Planning Commission will be discussing, and hopefully moving forward on Wednesday evening, August 26th, with some type of approval of the PUD application, submitted by SP Land Company several weeks ago.  This meeting is the continuation of the public hearing process which has been discussed and recessed from meeting to meeting over the past couple of months.  Although we don’t anticipate approval of the complete PUD, we are optimistic that the Commission will approve the Conceptual Master Plan and the PUD, with conditions.  This should allow SP Land to move forward with more detailed design and engineering.  Many more steps are required before any construction may begin, including Vermont’s Act 250 procedures and detailed building and site plan reviews.  This could, however, signal an important first step towards the development of the much anticipated Killington Village.  Again, stay tuned for further details.

Follow these links for copies of Select Board and Planning Commission minutes and agenda.

Recently a 2 bedroom, 2 bath ski on/ski off condominium went under contract. This property is located on Bear Mountain in Killington. A 15 bedroom home listed for $319,000 was just reduced to $304,900.

In the first 12 days of August, three Killington condos have sold:

• a one-bedroom Pico condo listed for $129,000 sold for $115,000;
• a one-bedroom Fall Line condo listed for $152,900 sold for $149,000; and
• a three-bedroom Fall Line condo listed for $285,000 sold for $225,000.

In addition, during the same period, four Killington properties have gone under agreement:

• two two-bedroom Pico condos listed for $140,000 and $199,000;
• a three-bedroom Pico condo listed for $200,000; and
• two Killington single family homes listed for $199,500 and $475,000.

This activity marks a significant transition from “lookers” to “buyers.”  All indications are that this trend will continue into the fall.

Five properties sold in Killington, VT in July 2009.  Four of these real estate sales were for condos and one single family home.  Killington condo sales ranged in price from $130,000 to $165,000.  Of those sales, two were located in Sunrise Village, one at Whiffletree, and one at Fall Line.  One single family home sold in Killington on Roundabout Drive for $326,000.

Alhtough more properties sold in June (8 sales) than in July, there are six properties in Killington that are currently under agreement: five condos listed for $129,000 to $285,000, and one single family home listed for $724,000.

Continue to watch this blog for regular updates on Killington real estate sales activity.  To view properties currently for sale in Killington, visit www.prestigekillington.com.

There are only 119 condominiums on the market for sale in Killington, VT.  This is the lowest number of available units since October 2006.  There are 38 studio and one bedroom units ranging in price from $69,000 for a one bedroom Mountain Green condominium to $225,000 for a one bedroom/loft Trailcreek condominium.  There are 42 two bedroom units ranging in price from $79,000 for a two bedroom Mountain Green to $339,000 for a two bedroom Sunrise unit.  There 39 three bedroom units listed ranging in price from a three bedroom Mountain Green for $125,000 to $759,000 for a large town home at Topridge.

There have been seven sales in Killington Vermont since January 1, 2009: 3 homes have sold; 3 condominiums have sold and 1 parcel of land has sold.  There are currently seven properties (1 Killington Home and six Killington Condominiums) under contract and scheduled to close in the near future.  There are 51 homes listed for sale, 125 condominiums on the market and 21 parcels of land listed for sale in Killington.

After a meeting of the Killington Planning Commission on May13th, the Commission voted 6-3 to publicly warn a meeting whereby the Commission will review SP Land’s application for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) permit and Conceptual Master Plan Review for the long-awaited Killington Ski Village.  This is the first step in what I expect will be a long application, review, and approval process which will involve both the town of Killington and the state of Vermont.

There were arguments by the Killington Town Planning Manager and Planning Commission members both for and against the public hearing.  The argument against the public hearing was led by Dick Horner, town Planning Manager because he felt that the application was incomplete.  Mr. Horner felt that the application lacked the level of detail necessary to fully evaluate the plan and the town would only get “one opportunity to get it right.”  David Rosenblum, Chairman of the Planning Commission argued for the public hearing by suggesting that a project of the magnitude proposed by SP Land (a 20-25 year phased-in development) could not be expected to have every detail determined upfront.  Mr. Rosenblum felt that the application should be publicly reviewed and discussed.  At that time, the Planning Commission could identify additional information/detail that would be required to approve the plan.  The idea of a “conditional” approval was also discussed and acknowledged as a possibility.

The result of the discussion was the warning of a public meeting at the Killington town offices on Wednesday, May 27th at 7:30pm.  I urge anyone and everyone with an interest in the future of Killington to attend this meeting.

For the Rutland Herald prospective on this meeting…