ISSUE # 27 ... ASPEN'S SHAKEDOWN STREET
February 5 "Nothing shakin' on Shakedown Street,
Used to be the heart of the town.
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart,
You just gotta poke around."
- The Grateful Dead
IT'S HOPKINS STREET...
Shakedown Street in Aspen? You just gotta poke around to learn that it's Hopkins Street. Hopkins and Galena, right? Well, yes. But a few blocks west is the scene of a classic, little-known shakedown of interesting proportions and even more interesting characters!
City Hall, at Hopkins and Galena, has certainly been the site of many a shakedown of developers attempting to get approvals for their projects, with Council bent on negotiating every square inch. Regardless of whether the projects meet code and have the recommendation of the professionals in Community Development or on the Planning and Zoning board, Council is known for squeezing developers for more subsidized housing, larger public amenities or smaller building dimensions in order to grant approval. And in the case of the Cooper Street Pier building, Council even extracted a government price-controlled eatery!
(See Issue #4 - "Welcome Chairman Mao's Diner.")
Recent months have borne witness to several bizarre negotiations with developers on Lift 1A, Aspen Walk, the Wienerstube, and even the Episcopal Church. Council wants more and more public amenities and less private development - commercial or residential. This of course continually drives up the costs of these projects through unending and prohibitive demands on the developers - all in the name of "responsible growth."
The Red Ant loathes the shakedown game. (We'd prefer adherence to a consistent set of land use regulations.) But apparently some citizens have studied at the knees of our masters of extortion, City Council, and have mastered it themselves!
"SMART" GROWTH? YOU BETCHA!!
The Ant appreciates the elegant new Residences at Little Nell (RLN) and looks forward to enjoying après-ski on that new patio. The RLN will be a nice -- albeit frightfully pricey --addition to the base of Ajax. Many locals intensely dislike the RLN, citing its mass and scale, and interruptions of the view plane -- and the project is frequently maligned in public meetings by the Nostalgia Squad. Strangely, however, one of the city's most vocal no-growth leaders LOVES the RLN and its developers, even writing to the Aspen Times in 2003 to support the project:
"Regarding the proposed Little Nell Residences, and the redevelopment at the base of Aspen Mountain. This is a beautifully designed use for the base of Aspen Mountain, which will bring the elegance needed for that area. We have worked over the past year on another situation with these guys - The Aspen Land Fund Group - and they have kept their word every step of the way. It was a pleasure to work with them because their word meant exactly what they said. We think they can be trusted to bring this quality to this project; if this is thwarted, then far less appealing options will be the result for the base of Aspen." 
Residences at Litte Nell.
Now, just how did this ardent anti-growth owner of a historic West End Victorian become such an RLN fan?? It would seem that Phyllis Bronson, Aspen's purveyor of teenage mood-swing elixirs, who regularly chastises those who disagree with the Mayor and boldly vocalizes her views against anything that smacks of development, felt that RLN was different from all those other big lodges, hotels, and timeshares. Although it may come as a surprise to many, it surely looks like one of the leaders of "Citizens For Smart Growth" personally benefitted from an elaborate and profitable land exchange in 2002. This wasn't just any land exchange -- Bronson became "Phyllis the facilitator" for The Residences at Little Nell! And how "smart" it was!
Meet Phyllis as She Wants to Exterminate The Red Ant.
Click Here for short video-- http://aspenmatters.com/videoClips/canOfRaid.html
HERE'S WHAT'S SHAKIN' - STROLL DOWN WEST HOPKINS STREET
Public records indicate that Bronson owned Unit #1 at The Tipple Inn (a.k.a Little Tipple) part of the defunct Tippler nightclub and its adjoining structures at the base of Little Nell on the site where the RLN now exist. When her neighbors in Units #2 and #3 sold their better-located 670 square foot 2-bedroom units for $1M apiece to the Aspen Land Fund LLC (the developers of the RLN), Bronson squatted in her ground-floor, viewless, same-sized unit, and the shakedown was on. Ten months of "negotiations" ensued. In the end, and in order to get the deal done, the RLN developers were forced to sweeten Bronson's pot! And how sweet it is......
On October 4, 2002, Aspen Land Fund LLC purchased a darling 1888 historic Victorian in Aspen's West End at 134 ½ W. Hopkins Avenue for $1.9M. This renovated 1983 square foot property boasts 3 bedrooms, wood floors, a gas fireplace, a Jacuzzi tub and views of Aspen Mountain. "Location, location, location." 
One week later, Phyllis Bronson "gave in" to the RLN developers and sold her Tipple Inn unit to them on October 15 for $675K -- and the RLN project was off to the races! (The RLN developers paid Phyllis just $675K when they paid her Tipple Inn neighbors $1M for their same-sized studios! Perhaps because of its inferior location? Or maybenot?......)
On that very same day, Bronson bought the little Victorian on Hopkins from Aspen Land Fund for $675K! The Aspen Land Fund sells Bronson the new house -- bought just one week earlier -- at a $1.2M loss??
Shakedown!! Phyllis Bronson held out, shook down the RLN developers and got a $1.9M historic West End Victorian - essentially doubling what her neighbors got! Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart!
OPPOSITION TO ALL OTHER PROJECTS
A leader of "Citizens for Smart Growth" in Aspen and a veteran of many anti-development fights, Phyllis Bronson is indeed an articulate speaker for her no-growth causes at City Council meetings. Now ensconced in her historic downtown home -- made possible by her shakedown of the developers of the RLN -- Bronson continues to rail against other proposed developments, including:
The Bidwell Building across from Paradise Bakery--("I look at this and think it's one place more I can't go. You've designed a beautiful building, but it doesn't belong there.")
ZG Master Plan--(It's going to change the character of the town. And then one day we wake up and we have a Limelight Lodge.")
The Wienerstube -- "I want to see something left of Aspen's core.")
The recent Lift 1A Master Plan--
Phyllis Comments On Aspen Development--Click Here--Short Video Click below:
http://aspenmatters.com/videoClips/phyllis.html
Simple yet unambiguous statements for sure, but if you read between the lines, could Phyllis Bronson, so distressed about development and growth in Aspen, be signaling that she's ready to further expand her real estate portfolio? You just gotta poke around.
The Red Ant notes: Last year, Phyllis Bronson listed her little Victorian for sale, asking $3.6M. It did not sell and is no longer on the market.
ELITISM IN ASPEN
It's the elitism exhibited here that troublesThe Red Ant--- elitist attitudes of thosefortunate enough to get their piece of Aspenwho now want to shut the door behind them. Whether it's preventing the development of lodging for tourists,fighting solutions tothe S curve traffic jams, or demanding historic preservation of neighbors' homes, these elitists are often those who incessantly campaign for the return to the free and easy Aspen of the 1970's -- ironically a time when Aspen welcomed all, regardless of economic status, politics or social standing.
If you have thoughts about the growing elitism and double standards in Aspen, plesase post your comments on the ANThology by clicking below on the comment bubble.
Elizabeth
THIS SUBMITTED BY JACK STRAW:
red ANT, please post following on your blog.
I found another video of phylis, you did not include on your newsletter.
Jack Straw
Elizabeth
NOT TO BE OUTDONE, ESTIMATED PROPHET SUBMITS:
hey, RA,
please post. and inform the cowop.
I skied Lift 1A behind phyllis, and heard her singing this:
Estimated Prophet
Reader Comments (20)
well, well, well, you can never tell.....
good work, ant!
who knew?