Traer Creek is a land investment company based in Avon, Colorado. We invest in the community by partnering with businesses, municipalities and individuals to make Avon a vibrant place to live and work.
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Kristin Kenney Williams, kristin@commfluent.com, 970-390-0062
AVON PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION TO REVIEW VILLAGE (AT AVON) PUD AMENDMENTS
- Amendments are a joint application by Traer Creek LLC (“Traer”), Town of Avon (“Town”)
AVON, Colo. – Nov. 3, 2025 – The Town and Traer have been working cooperatively on a series of amendments to the Village (at Avon) Planned Unit Development (PUD) that will be reviewed for the first time by Avon’s Planning & Zoning Commission on Nov. 10 in a public meeting.
The PUD amendment application was originally submitted in March of last year. Traer and the Town have spent the last year working through numerous issues that have come out of discussions related to the original submittal, and new issues brought forward by the two parties.
The Village is a large PUD, comprised of over 1,700 acres, and stretches from Planning Area A just east of Chapel Square to Planning Area I, which is located behind Eagle-Vail across the Eagle River, and north up to Planning Area J and Planning Area K on the mountain up to USFS property. Among other things, the PUD consists of up to 2,400 homes and 825,000 square feet of commercial space, excluding Planning Area I. The PUD also provides a Community Housing Plan, which will be amended as part of the series of amendments in the PUD application.
The Village was annexed into the Town in 1998 with construction of public infrastructure beginning in 2002 and continuing to today. The Village now includes the Buffalo Ridge affordable housing apartment complex, the Piedmont apartments, the Bosk apartments (opens end of 2026), Traer Creek Plaza, Wal-Mart and The Home Depot, the Springhill Suites and Towneplace Suites dual brand hotels, the Maverik convenience store and gas station, with future residential and commercial in the pipeline. To date, 368,573 square feet of commercial space and 807 housing units have been built or are in the process of being built,, including 244 deed-restricted, community housing apartments at Buffalo Ridge affordable housing apartment complex.
“Our team has worked diligently with the Town since the 2014 agreements, and appreciates the collaboration with Town Manager Eric Heil, Community Development Director Matt Pielsticker, and many other members of staff,” says Michael Lindholm, who, alongside his brother, Marcus Lindholm, leads the Traer Creek investment team. “These collaborative efforts have resulted in all the projects that have been constructed or started construction since 2014, including most recently the development of the Piedmont Apartments, the 242-unit Bosk Apartments currently under construction, and the Vail Valley Foundation’s early childcare education facility also under construction, totaling approximately $300 million in development since 2014.”
The Village needs to be able to move forward responsibly with strategic implementation resulting in a variety of successful new projects responding to market demand and capital and equity markets, and the governing documents support this endeavor. While the governing documents are complex, explains Michael Lindholm, the concepts themselves are not.
“Perhaps the most important part of the agreements is the Financing Plan that establishes clear goals and aligned incentives between the Town and Traer,” he says. “Namely, the Town wanted Traer to continue to invest by financing public infrastructure required to bring revenue-generating successful development to increase the tax base, which would in turn allow the Town to begin collecting certain credited taxes within the Village as soon as possible - the more vertical and horizontal construction taking place in the Village, the better for the Town.”
The governing documents also recognize the substantial investment required for the Village project to proceed, some of which has already been constructed, some of which is in the process of being constructed. In order to support the Village development, roughly $84 million in public infrastructure has been constructed to date, including the I-70 diamond interchange Exit 168, Post Boulevard; six roundabouts; a Union Pacific Railroad underpass; and other public infrastructure dating back to the early- and mid- 2000s, which at that time cost roughly $64 million. Of the $84 million, $16 million of public infrastructure investment has been completed since 2014, including extending East Beaver Creek Boulevard in two phases, Wagon Trail Road and Crescent Hill Road, all by way of Traer financing. Another approximately $25 million in additional public infrastructure investment is under way and visible on the valley floor east of Chapel Square, all being financed through Traer advances. (For clarification, Jasmine Development, Inc., a separate development entity run by Michael and Marcus Lindholm, is constructing essentially all public infrastructure within the Village.)
The Traer team is proud of its contributions to the Avon community, and of its commitment to future benefits with patience and careful planning. The public infrastructure investment taking place this fall, 2025, on the valley floor is possible because Traer has expended significant time and funds in updating the master plan with Jerde Architects to ensure smart planning. That planning process began in 2021, and allowed the Town and metro district to finalize infrastructure design and paved the way for the first phase of development, currently slated to include a Whole Foods.
“It has taken more than three and a half years to work through the Jerde Master Plan with all of the different consultants, including working with the Town on master planning design and its impact on road layouts, stormwater, etc., but all the work has paid off,” says Michael Lindholm. “Today we are ready to move forward with a first phase that will bring substantial revenues to the Town and fit within a greater framework of our master plan. And Traer is willing to finance the infrastructure investment that will make this first phase become a reality.”
Jasmine, with advances from Traer, is currently grading the valley floor, including future Lot 10. The $25 million investment includes making permanent East Beaver Creek Blvd. and Chapel Place, as well as connecting Crescent Hill Road up the hill all the way east to the terminus where the Bosk project is currently being constructed.
Moving Forward with 2025 Amendments
And there is much more to be done, and this is why Traer and the Town have embarked on the 2025 amendments that aim to deliver on future mutual goals based on prudent short- and long-term planning.
“All to say, after all that has been completed these last 10 years, we are striving to move forward with right-size planning on a timeline that ensures smart development that benefits the community,” says Marcus Lindholm. “We’re excited to move forward and see the right investments made, responsibly, and in the right amount of time, all to respond to market demand. We are investing in Avon’s future because we believe in its future.”
Three key elements are behind the amendments:
1) The Town and Traer unified in tackling the broader community’s Community Housing needs via land donation and amending the PUD.
2) Updating the agreements to more closely align with the Town’s code, and address certain minor adjustments to building envelopes for the valley floor. This includes clarifying short-term rentals, a large Avon source of revenue, within the Village, and additional building envelope adjustments for residential to accommodate the market while being sensitive to not only the Village, but also surrounding community. This will allow us to move forward with investment and respond to the market today to justify the substantial investments, which Traer is moving forward with today in good faith.
3) Planning Area K, RMF-1 extension of vesting. Traer is asking for some relief by extending its vested rights up on the hillside, where 280 high-end lots will be constructed, due to the market and enormous infrastructure investment required. This has no impact on the Town and the community whatsoever.
Why one application from the Town and Traer Creek?
The Town and Traer Creek have bounced ideas off one another since 2023, and are now comfortable with the application’s substance and believe each party’s asks are appropriate and reflect shared goals. The Town initiated the discussion by pursuing multiple ideas and requests requiring Traer’s consent, including a donation of land by Traer for Community Housing, as well as rezoning some existing Town-owned land previously given by Traer, all at no cost to the Town.
The PUD consists of thousands of acres, unlike any other in Avon’s limits. This size requires significant additional public infrastructure to serve the areas of development the Town cares the most about. Traer estimates an additional roughly $30 million to build out the valley floor, which Traer is committed to moving forward and investing in, as well as roughly $35 million to reach the next water tank up on Planning Area K and RMF-1. The total cost to construct all the infrastructure on Planning Area K is expected to be about $55 million when fully completed.
Current vested rights for the PUD terminate in 2039, which may seem like a long time from now, but is considered short for investors needing to fund significant public infrastructure, especially on Planning Area K and RMF-1. That said, Traer has agreed to proceed with substantial public infrastructure investment on the valley floor now, without additional vested rights on the valley floor, and move forward with the first phase; Traer anticipates having the ability to extend vested rights sometime in the medium to long term to complete the valley floor, if needed. This has happened in other areas in the community, including East West’s projects at the Riverfront.
When it comes to Planning Area K and RMF-1, the site for 280 lots similar to Mountain Star, Traer needs extended vested rights due to the substantial investment and market demand risk.
“This is important,” explains Marcus Lindholm, “because the $55 million in total cost includes constructing a water tank that will ultimately service land adjacent to Planning Area I and owned by the Colorado State Land Board, as well as other Town properties. Traer needs assurances that any advances for public infrastructure will be paid back when the time comes.”
The Amendments are specifically broken down as follows:
1) The Town’s ask: Rezone two Planning Areas that were previous dedications from Traer – Planning Areas E and PF1 will change to Planning Area E (“PAE”), CH1 and CH2. These properties were previous exactions for a public works facility and a school site/daycare site.
a. CH1 will become the western half of what is now PAE, and the eastern half of PAE is where the daycare facility broke ground this fall. In addition, Traer would donate roughly .5 acres adjacent to CH1, and the new CH1 would allow for the construction of 36 units of Community Housing. Traer is donating land and providing the water for domestic consumption for the Community Housing.
b. CH2 would replace PF-1. PF-1 was a 2003 exaction from Traer, and in fact, was originally a joint site for the fire district and Town. However, Traer, in listening to the Town, separated out the dedications and dedicated a separate parcel to the fire district north of the freeway. PF-1 would become CH2, and CH2 would allow for the construction of 40 units of Community Housing. Traer is providing the water for domestic consumption here as well.
In total, upon processing of this application, Traer will have facilitated the delivery of 320 units of Community Housing up to this date, far more than any other PUD in Avon, and representing a total of roughly 40% of all housing units constructed so far in the Village.
c. Traer agrees to adopt the Town’s administrative Community Housing policies, bringing the processes closer together.
i. Rental - up to 120% AMI
ii. For sale – up to 140% AMI
2) Traer’s ask: Traer is looking to update the agreements to more closely align with the Town’s zoning documents. This includes:
a. Allow Community Housing in all planning areas.
b. Responding to market needs and existing construction methods to facilitate additional housing on the valley floor.
i. Planning Areas C and D increased Building Height up to 60’ from 48’ to accommodate more podium parking type projects and attractive architecture, as well as an increase in density to allow for more multi-family housing.
ii. Planning Area A – making a Special Review Use (“SRU”) building heights taller than 55’, but no taller than 60’, within 250’ of the southern boundary line. The extra 5 feet can be helpful in allowing more attractive architecture.
iii. Planning Area A – allowing an SRU for residential taller than 80’, but no taller than 125’, so long as the project is more than 250’ from the southern boundary line.
c. Clarifying Short Term Rentals as an allowed use within the valley floor and Planning Area J, and adopting the town’s parking standards for short-term rentals. This is consistent with the town code for the entire valley floor, and short-term rentals boost the revenue base to the town.
d. Clarifying certain Town code changes do not impact the Planning Area K, RMF-1, I areas which are located on a cul-de-sac. The Town inadvertently passed some changes that could have been interpreted contrary to the PUD.
e. Modifying the Community Housing requirements to more closely align with the Town’s existing regulations, including adopting the Town’s administrative procedures, and allowing up to 85 of the remaining units to be resident occupied, enhancing the mix of Community Housing to meet the varying demands within the valley.
f. Allowing for administrative subdivision for Planning Area K, RMF-1
3) Extended vested rights – Planning Area K and RMF-1
a. Currently, vested rights last until 2039; Traer has requested an additional 20 years on Planning Area K and RMF-1 with the following reasoning:
i. Significant upfront infrastructure investments will be required, and Traer needs certainty in the Town process, including zoning. Using preliminary numbers, Traer is looking at $50 million in infrastructure investment. The absorption could take over 20 years based on market projections.
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