Vail Resorts to expand affordable employee housing in East Vail

Vail Resorts will construct affordable housing for 165 employees in Vail and provide new employee housing opportunities at three other resorts, the company announced Monday in a news release.

According to the release, the company will spend $17 million on construction of a new building in East Vail on land the company owns. Construction will begin this summer and is expected to be completed by December of 2023.

The other resorts gaining increased employee housing include Park City Mountain Resort in Utah, Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia and Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont. That will be accomplished either by leasing, construction or purchasing property in those communities. In total, the plan is to provide new housing for 875 employees, which the company says is a 10% increase in the affordable housing it currently offers.

In the early days of this ski season, Vail Resorts came under heavy criticism for lack of terrain offerings, long lift lines and other issues related to staffing shortages. Last month the company announced it would increase its minimum wage to $20 for next season.

RELATED: Backlash against Vail Resorts growing among skiers and snowboarders across the country

“As our mountain communities have grown, affordable housing has become increasingly more difficult for our employees to access,” chief executive Kirsten Lynch said in today’s release. “Addressing this must be a top priority for our company and our communities … and we remain focused on aggressively pursuing more opportunities in our resort communities.”

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Adventurist, to get outdoors news sent straight to your inbox.

Source: Read Full Article