Groundbreaking Ceremony for Military Hotel Set for June 9
MAYFLOWER, Utah – June 9, 2021 – A tremendous milestone in the creation of North America’s first new ski resort since 1980 will occur Wednesday, June 9, with a groundbreaking ceremony for the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) conference hotel.
The MWR hotel will be the first of the project’s three planned hotels and is a key component of the Mayflower Mountain Resort development, located on 6,800 privately owned acres in Wasatch County, west of Utah Highway 40 and overlooking the Jordanelle Reservoir.
The private-public partnership among the State of Utah, EX Utah Development LLC (EX Utah), the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) and Wasatch County is bringing the construction of the Mayflower Mountain Resort’s infrastructure, the MWR hotel and skier services to fruition. MIDA facilitates positive, new economic impact through private-public partnership opportunities that distribute legislative appropriations and issue bonds.
“We are creating the only new ski area in the past 40 years with thoughtful and exceptional development principles,” says Extell Development Founder and Chairman Gary Barnett. “The Extell team and I are so proud to be a part of this unique and successful partnership with MIDA, Wasatch County and the State of Utah.”
MIDA Executive Director Paul Morris added: “The Mayflower Mountain Resort Development is the second largest economic development project in the State of Utah. Economic development by way of a new, world-class resort community that remarkably includes a hotel for our heroes and the ability to provide much-needed infrastructure are all significant examples of progress to celebrate.”
The history behind the MWR hotel coming to life is a storied one. A small military Moral, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) ski lodge near Snowbasin Resort in Huntsville, Utah, closed in the late 1990s in preparation for the 2002 Winter Olympics. In 2001, Congress passed legislation granting a federally-owned, 26-acre parcel in Park City, Utah (the Red Maple parcel) to the Air Force on which to either construct a new MWR facility or trade for other property of equal value. Written into the legislation was a requirement to partner with a private or governmental entity for construction, as no monies were appropriated for the project.
Simultaneously, Wasatch County was engaged in strategic master planning to develop 4,700 acres surrounding the Jordanelle Reservoir. The Air Force approached MIDA for assistance in finding a suitable location for the new MWR facility, and, in 2017, Wasatch County reached out to MIDA with a proposed parcel that ultimately Extell agreed to donate. With MIDA facilitating the land trade, the opportunity arose to partner with Wasatch County and Extell, the ideal three-way partnership to pursue the county’s vison for development. Once the exchange with the Air Force has occurred, MIDA will sell the Red Maple parcel to Park City for $2 million.
“All funding is in place to build out the Mayflower Resort infrastructure and continue construction on the Pioche apartments as well as commence the MWR hotel,” says Barnett. “Two other cornerstone hotels, Skier and Five-star, are in design with excavation planned for the spring of 2022.”
In addition, estate lots and townhomes within two communities, totaling approximately 300 residences, are being platted. Ski lifts and snowmaking are engineered, and grading and clearing will begin in the fall of 2021.
Jacobsen Construction, the general contractor, expects to complete construction of the MWR conference hotel in 30 months, with the opening slated for December 2023. The hotel construction is expected to cost about $390 million. Highlights include:
A short walk from the ski-beach, the four-star, 642,000-square-foot conference hotel on a 4.78-acre lot is fully designed and permitted; the soil-nail wall has been initiated; and the foundation excavated.
The conference hotel includes a block of 100 rooms that will be available on a preferred rate basis for our nation’s service men and women, whether on active duty or retired. A military concierge will be on site.
The conference hotel will be branded and has been designed to include 387 hotel rooms and suites, 55 private residences, and more than 60,000 square feet of pre-conference, banquet space and conference services. Amenities include restaurants, a coffee shop and deli, a fitness center, a pool, ski lockers, and underground parking.
Extell donated the land to MIDA and is leasing it back long-term.
Design firms are OZ Architecture and Garrison Hullinger Interiors, working alongside one of Utah’s premier general contractors, Jacobsen Construction.
A mountain modern design.
Primary construction will consist of concrete and steel.
Private residences will be sold fee-simple.
Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony is expected to feature pomp and circumstance with remarks from Stuart Adams, President of the Utah Senate and MIDA Board Chairman; Extell
Development Founder and Chairman Gary Barnett; Wasatch County Councilman and MIDA Board Member Steve Farrell; Former Utah Governor Gary Herbert; and Colonel Jenise M. Carroll, Commander, 75 th Air Base Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
Renderings: https://extell.sharefile.com/d-sa53e4355878e4fac9c0fe4073346ff25