THINC Park City

http://kpcw.org/2011/11/treasure-hill-loi-decision-postponed/

City Hall expects to release the dollar figure, set by Sweeneys, in mid-December

by Jay Hamburger THE PARK RECORD

City Hall in the middle of December expects to make public the price tag set by the Sweeney family for a complete buyout of the development rights attached to the Treasure land, a figure that has remained the great unknown during the long-running negotiations about Treasure between Park City leaders and the Sweeneys.

The number will likely be released on or close to Dec. 16, which is a Friday and the day after the Park City Council is scheduled to hold its final meeting of the year.

For the rest of this article please visit:

http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_19367421

By christopher smart from The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52433700-78/million-park-plan-council.html.csp

Park City officials have decided against asking voters this November if they want to buy all or part of the Treasure Hill density. In addition city officials will consider extending a letter of intent with the Treasure developers allowing them more time to negotiate specifics of the project. KPCW’s Linda Gorton has more:

http://kpcw.org/2011/08/park-city-officials-say-no-to-bond-for-now/

The thinking could doom the chances of a conservation deal for all the land

by Jay Hamburger THE PARK RECORD

The Sweeney family said this week its side has not accepted the theory of a $48 million conservation deal that would altogether eliminate the prospects of development at the Treasure site.

That thinking could eventually doom the idea that a deal could be reached to set aside the full Treasure acreage from development. Treasure opponents want that sort of agreement, but the possibility seems more unlikely if the price tag was to climb from the $48 million that has been publicized in recent weeks.

Ed Sweeney, one of the family’s representatives in the Treasure negotiations with City Hall, said in an interview a separate idea is of more interest. Under that scenario, City Hall could pay the family $15 million to reduce the scope of the project through the buyout of some of the Sweeney family’s development rights and by shifting some of the rights to a spot uphill from the Park City Mountain Resort base area. Some development would remain at the Treasure site as well, situated on a hillside overlooking Old Town close to the route of the Town Lift.

The negotiations have been ongoing for months in closed-door sessions. The two options could be priced at $48 million and $15 million. Either one would be funded through a ballot measure.

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http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_18765981

Negotiators have not made enough progress to ask for millions in a bond election

by Jay Hamburger OF THE RECORD STAFF

City Hall will not ask voters on Election Day to finance a conservation deal for all or part of the Sweeney family’s Treasure acreage, acknowledging that the negotiations between the two sides have not yet made enough advances to put a ballot measure to Parkites in November.

Park City officials outlined the decision not to pursue a ballot measure in a prepared statement released on Thursday. They were facing a fast-approaching deadline to prepare one. State law would have required the decision to put a ballot measure to voters in November be made by Aug. 25. The deadline left little time for the two sides to craft ballot language for what likely would have been a polarizing request to voters to approve conservation bonds, perhaps totaling nearly $50 million, to fund a deal.

For the rest of this article please the link below:

http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_18718703

The Treasure opposition group wants City Hall to put a ballot measure to voters that would finance the buyout of all the development rights on the acreage, the higher-priced option of the two under consideration.

The group, known as the Treasure Hill Impact Neighborhood Coalition, posted the position on its website in early August. It argues that the higher-priced option provides the best returns for the community.

City Hall and the Sweeney family are considering two options at the Treasure site. One would keep the land undeveloped through a conservation purchase. The other would reduce the scope of the project through a combination of a conservation purchase and a shift of some of the development rights to a spot uphill from the Park City Mountain Resort base area.

The price tag attached to a conservation purchase that would keep the land undeveloped could be $48 million. The other option could cost $15 million. In either case, City Hall would ask voters to approve a bond raising property taxes to finance a deal.

For the rest of this article please see the link below:

http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_18647844

By Christopher Smart at The Salt Lake Tribune

The clock is ticking on an option to buy down the density of the proposed 1 million-square-foot Treasure Hill project adjacent to Park City’s historic district. But a citizens’ group claims that details of the deal remain too murky to put before voters.

In 1986, the Sweeney family was granted approval for a 415,000 square foot development on their land west of Lowell Avenue near Park City Mountain Resort’s Creole ski run. But several years ago, the family submitted the 1 million-square-foot proposal, which has not been approved.

Park City officials are conducting a survey to see if residents would support a $15 million bond to buy down 25 percent of the original Treasure Hill plan, which includes a luxury hotel, conference center, condominiums and retail space on 12 acres. The remaining 112 acres of Sweeney land would remain as open space.

The $15 million deal also would include moving another 25 percent of the building density north to land near Park City Mountain Resort.

But a group called Treasure Hill Impact Neighborhood Coalition, or THINC, says it isn’t clear whether the 50 percent reduction on site applies to the 1 million square foot proposal or the original one. They maintain the square footage in the deal hasn’t been specified.

For the rest of this article please see the link below:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52328122-78/million-park-square-sweeney.html.csp

THINC Supports Total Buy-Out of Treasure

http://kpcw.org/2011/08/thinc-supports-total-buy-out-of-treasure/