Snowmass overhaul: scruffy Aspen neighbor aims for a more upscale image.

• Author: Lewis, David
• Position: Who owns Colorado

When it comes to taking a resort town and turning it topsy-turvy, it's hard to know what to compare with the town of Snowmass Village. Plans call for something comparable to the $1 billion renewal of Vail and Lionshead. Yet Snowmass is smaller and the impact of its revival will be broader, deeper and more expensive--to the tune of several billions.

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That's because Snowmass Village is in the middle of remaking itself from a slightly scruffy ski town into something more akin to nearby Aspen.

So the 2,000 or so local residents might be forgiven their pique with the endless construction, the traffic barriers, the new ownership ... except that when the dust settles the property owners among them are going to be richer, and so are many of the rest.

Snowmass' rebirth can be divided into three parts and a footnote or two. First is the purchase of the three key Snowmass developments: Snowmass Center, Snowmass Base Village, and the Village Mall area.

Second is the town's re-imagining of itself, through its planning for the center, base village and mall areas, and through its plans for the town that envisions the integration of: a new town hall; a new visitor center right by a new recreation center surrounded by playgrounds, a new skate park, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts; Sam's Knob, a mountainside restaurant; and Rodeo Place employee housing.

Third: the $35 million in upgrades of private resort properties, such as the Crestwood Condominium Hotel ($10 million); Laurelwood Condominiums ($1.5 million); Resortquest ($4 million); and Seasons Four ($2 million).

These, however, are merely the pilot fish of real estate, a species known for following the sharks.

For the big fish, the pieces continue to fall into place. On March 1, Aspen Skiing Co. and Intrawest Corp. closed the estimated $165 million sale of Snowmass Center, Snowmass Base Village and the Village Mall area (aka the West Village) to Related Westpac, a partnership between New York-based Related Cos. and WestPac Investments LLC.

Aspen Skiing Co. will continue to manage Snowmass ski area. The company also will operate the 26,000-square-foot Snowmass Children's Center, due to open this spring.

Related Cos. has experience with mixed-use developments such as West Palm Beach, Fla.'s CityPlace and New York City's Time Warner Center. The company has real estate assets of $15 billion. Its chairman and founder is Stephen Ross, who Forbes magazine says is worth about $2.5...