Can you tell readers a little bit about the history of Killington’s desire to develop a ski village?
Mike Solimano: In 2001, I was hired as the director of finance, and there was already conversation about developing a village. And, I thought—there’s a lot going on in Killington and this is going to be really cool. Despite all the upgrades and investments we’ve made at the resort, we really don’t have much ski-on/ski-off terrain. There are a lot of other resorts that have built villages or lodging near trails where people could ski directly to their door. We’re missing both.
Now it’s 20 years later, and we have a really good partner in Great Gulf. They have enough money and resources to execute on the plan unrelated to the ups and downs in the real estate market. And, there is a willingness to agree on things to make this happen.
Michael Sneyd from Great Gulf said that the projected Six Peaks Village was “designed with the skier in mind.” Is that not true for all ski resorts? How is this one different?
MS: One of the things about Michael Sneyd and his team at Great Gulf, they’re actually skiers. They aren’t a bunch of people that just want to build condos, make a bunch of money, move on and leave. They’re excited about the mountain! Knowing how to build housing is only part of it. They understand that we can’t ruin everyone’s ski experience while they build the first phase of the village. They know how to adjust, and they’ll make sure there’s constant access to the lodges and facilities during early stages of construction.
And, they know that the village needs to be a hub of activity. Whether it’s something like ice skating or concerts, a lot of people in the area want to come to a place and hang out together. People don’t come to Killington for the small, quaint New England feel, right? We’re a big, kind of aggressive mountain. That’s why we’re the “Beast of the East.” It can be a little bit of something for everybody, which is awesome.
What seasonal opportunities will Killington Resort be able to develop with this expanded village footprint?
MS: I think the advantage we’ll have with the village is the layout, thinking about it as a four-season resort as opposed to just for skiing. We’re already running a lift every weekend of the year, all year round. Lift-served mountain biking and gondola rides for hikers or leaf peepers take us right up to the ski season. And then we transition right back to mountain biking on Memorial Day weekend!
The village gives us the opportunity to do a lot of new things, especially if we have enough people. Up until now, we’ve been working a bit on the margins. Rather than just having mostly local acts, we’ll be able to draw much bigger names and special events. With more resources, there can be an added event and marketing budget. We can offer a whole new level of world-class entertainment that will make Killington even better.
The Six Peaks Village is projected to have between 1,935 and 2,300 residential units. How will that influx of housing affect the resort experience? The character of the place?
MS: There’s not enough housing in Killington. As a resort, we bought buildings for employee housing, which squeezes the market even more. That wasn’t really our ideal solution, but we needed to house our staff. But I feel like the market will keep evolving. Some people will move into the village and that will free up other properties at different price points, and probably raise the overall yield.
Building a village is not really about packing in more people on Saturday—that’s definitely not the model. I think the model for us is growing midweek and spreading people out. We want people to have a good experience. If you look at us compared to most of the other Eastern resorts, we barely have any lift lines, even on a busy Saturday. It’s partly because it’s a big mountain with a ton of lifts. Some of the infrastructure we’ve put in in the last 10 years has been focused on moving people to parts of the mountain where they haven’t historically skied. We’ve been trying to make it feel less crowded, even on our busiest days, by creating tunnels and bridges around the mountain.
Killington Forward is a multi-faceted project that also involves the provision of municipal, clean water to Killington and major road reconstruction. Why are these elements important?
MS: One of the most basic needs in the world is clean water. We are probably just starting to figure out what the problems with the water are for Killington as a whole. Every couple months, we have a new business testing positive for PFOAs. It’s cost prohibitive. Access to water, and even the challenges of wastewater disposal, has always been the challenge, and historically a limiting factor in developing properties. We all knew we needed that water for the actual village, but now we can use it for both the village and the town. I think everything is aligned. We’re lucky, honestly, that the town and the Select Board understand all those pieces together.
In terms of the road reconstruction, if you can make the road safer with nice lighting, crosswalks, and bus stops, I just think that’s going to be a huge improvement for all seasons. We have a lot of staff that are living in buildings along the access road. I love the idea of having a little bus shelter as part of this. People can stay warm and safe, and the bus can actually pull over completely without blocking traffic. The town has been building a sidewalk up most of the road over the last 10 or 15 years, but you still find people going downhill, walking in the right hand lane and there’s literally a sidewalk on the other side of the road.
As a resident of the area, what do you think the ripple effect of Killington Forward will be on the area beyond the resort?
MS: This development will help free up the housing market. I think expanding the stock can only help. It’s naive to think a new, million dollar condo will help somebody who can’t afford the current cost of living in this area. But, I think naturally expanding the housing stock is going to help because more people will be able to spread out. We do need to get more affordable housing. I think between here and Rutland, everybody knows we need more of it.
As voters complete their ballot at home or go to the polls on Town Meeting Day, what do you think they should keep in mind as they consider voting for Killington Forward?
MS: I would ask them, in the last 10 years, has Killington Resort done what they’ve said they’d do? Have we worked with the town, the residents, and the business owners to make the area better, and more thriving? Do they believe that we’ve done things in the interest of the whole community and not just the resort? I think most people are going to say, “yeah,” and then, hopefully, they’ll continue to give us the benefit of the doubt.
There’s no doubt that they think this place is better than it was 10 years ago. Most people like to see that we have more people here, businesses aren’t closed up in the summer, and people are cutting the grass. All those things come from expansion of our summer business. As the resort expands and does better, everyone in the community does better. Restaurants are finally making and investing money by creating more outdoor patio spaces for year-round capabilities. It becomes contagious. Everybody stepped up their game, which I think ends up being a way better product for everybody else.
