Four Seasons Resort coming to Park City area?

Just when you thought the Park City area was full of luxury, it appears more may be heading our way.

The Real Deal is reporting that Gary Burnett, one of the biggest names in New York real estate, is considering bringing a Four Seasons hotel to the Park City area. In 2015 he purchased 40 acres adjacent to Deer Valley and is reportedly in negotiations to buy 1,000 more acres in the area.

Industry observers say that as people are getting priced out of markets like Jackson Hole, they are considering secondary markets like Park City. The development has the approval for a hotel and up to 200 condos.

It is always interesting to me that so many people are eager to put hotels near Park City. This week the hotel occupancy rate is hovering at 16%. During Sundance we may reach near capacity but generally “good times” of year have our occupancy rate below 60%.

Of course, just like the hotel under construction between Highway 248 and Peace Trail, this hotel will likely be in Wasatch County. That means any development and its tax dollars are outside the control of Park City and Summit County. Although, I’d hazard a guess that visitors to a Four Seasons will make a stop or ten in Park City during their stay. They’ll bring their cars, eat at Park City restaurants, ski a bit, maybe buy a fur or two on Main Street… and then head on back to the Four Seasons where they’ll pay their $10,000 bill at the end of the stay.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t begrudge Wasatch County too much or the developer if he builds this. It’s just a reminder that the times-are-a-changing a bit. We’ve all heard that there is a massive amount of development approved (but unbuilt) right over the county line in Wasatch County. It makes our approved but undeveloped land look like nothing. Given that, it will be interesting to see what our leaders do as Park City’s resources are utilized but our share of the tax base likely isn’t proportionate to the impact. It’s not an easy problem to solve, but it is coming our way.

I hope our leaders are up for the challenge.