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Sun Communities offers $5 million for 273-acres of Shorefox

Negotiations are moving forward on the Shorefox property.

During the Sept. 13 Granby Board of Trustees meeting the Board approved moving forward with negotiations for development of the Shorefox property with Sun Communities, Inc. According to statements made by Granby Mayor Paul Chavoustie during the Board meeting Sun Communities, Inc. has offered to pay Granby $5 million for 273-acres of land within the larger 1,500-acre property.

Sun Communities is a publicly traded real estate investment company based in Southfield Mich., a suburb of Detroit. According to Chavoustie Sun Communities is the second largest owner of RV resorts in the US.



Along with Sun Communities’ proposal to purchase 273-acres for $5 million Chavoustie said the company has also offered to pay upwards of $7.4 million in infrastructure costs to connect infrastructure networks. The figure was based upon an engineer’s upper end estimate for the cost of the work associated with connecting and initiating infrastructure on the property. Chavoustie indicated Sun Communities has asked to receive some form of reimbursement incentives from the Town, possible in the form of taxation.

Citizens can view a presentation on the proposal from Sun Communities, which was recently presetned to town residents during a Public Workshop on Sept. 9, by going to http://www.granbytrails.com and looking in the subsection titled “Vision”.

The proposal from Sun Communities is in the development stages and negotiations are ongoing but a rough outline detailed an initial development of 970 recreational lodging sites to include some RV, tent and cabin locations. Sun Communities has apparently also proposed the creation of an indoor water park. Other amenities have been proposed as well such as a zip-line course and an equestrian center. Chavoustie said Sun Communities told the Town they estimate the development will create between 50 and 70 full time jobs at the site. Information from the Town of Granby states the expected investment cost for constructing the amenities suggested would total around $75 million.



Granby purchased the Shorefox property in early June this year for a total price tag of $4,388,131.57. Making the proposal from Sun Communities over half-a-million-dollars more than the original cost to the Town of the entire property; or as Mayor Chavoustie put it, “We are selling 17 percent of the land for $500,000 more than we paid and we keep the water rights.”

No formal up or down vote on the proposal from Sun Communities has been made and the decision last week merely allows the Town to move forward with the negotiation process. Almost the entire scope of any development proposal is up for negotiations and the ending contract could, potentially, look very different from the initial proposal from Sun Communities.

Citizens can view a presentation on the proposal from Sun Communities, which was recently presetned to town residents during a Public Workshop on Sept. 9, by going to http://www.granbytrails.com and looking in the subsection titled “Vision”.

The Town of Granby recently began seeking proposals to develop the Shorefox property, also referred to as Granby Trails, and sent out requests through a process known as Request For Quotation (RFQ). The only proposal received by Granby was from Sun Communities.

The Shorefox property is located north of Granby proper in a large wedge of land between US Highway 34 and US Highway 40. The property is bisected by the Colorado River. Certain sections of the Shorefox property have already been opened for public use under the name Granby Trails.

To find Granby Trails and the larger Shorefox property head west out of Granby on US 40 and turn east onto US 34, heading towards Grand Lake. The turnoff to the Granby Trials network is located just a few short miles down the road from the intersection of US 40 and 34, on the north/west side of US 34.


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