Members of the Weber County Commission unanimously voted last month to approve plans for a massive redevelopment around the Nordic Valley Ski Resort in the rural Ogden Valley.
The plans show the redevelopment, called Nordic Village, would bring in roughly 56,000 square feet of commercial building space, 230 hotel rooms, 428 condo units, 159 chalets and 50 employee housing units to the Ogden Valley, according to project plans. In total, the development would span 512 acres in the western edge of the valley.
If executed, the Nordic Village project would transform a largely rural pocket of Weber County into a bustling hub of activity. The Ogden Valley has long been without a large hotel or large commercial developments.
The county’s two other ski resorts — Snowbasin and Powder Mountain — do not have hotels or ski villages at their bases. Powder has a handful of homes, condos and luxury accommodations near its base, as well as Wolf Creek Resort nearby. However, Wolf Creek is roughly 5 miles away from Powder’s nearest base, and it’s largely made up of single-family homes and townhomes.
The Nordic Village land is entirely owned by Nordic Village Venture LLC, and the land is managed by Clyde Capital Group.
Last November, the County Commission voted to create three public infrastructure districts (PID), each carrying the name Nordic Village Public Infrastructure District. A public infrastructure district is an area with taxing authority that can issue debt, which would be repaid through higher property taxes for landowners within the district’s borders, according to Weber County’s economic development department.
A PID can only be created if 100% of the area’s property owners agree to create it. Because Nordic Village Venture owns all of the land within the Nordic Village Public Infrastructure District, it was the only entity required to approve the PID’s creation. The district can also issue bonds to pay for portions of the potential development.
The district intends to issue up to $80 million in bonds, which would pay for the infrastructure needed to support the ski village, including a sewer and water system, along with road construction.
Last week, the Nordic Village Public Infrastructure District held a virtual meeting to hear public input on the bond proposal. Many of the public comments included concerns over adding a high number of housing units to the otherwise rural area.
According to plans adopted by the commission, the Nordic Village development is supposed to generate $160 million in new job wages and generate over $280 million in new resident per capita spending. Those numbers came from Lewis Young Robertson and Burningham, a public finance advisory firm hired by Weber County to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the project.
The Ogden Valley’s recent boom in development spurred local residents to incorporate into a town of their own, done in the hopes of wrestling control away from the county commission and into the hands of valley residents. Valley residents approved the incorporation vote in November.
0 Comments