Plans for a new building on Hopkins Avenue advanced Monday night. Elected officials gave their blessing on developer Mark Hunt’s project. Aspen Public Radio’s Carolyn Sackariason reports.
The building at 517 E. Hopkins Ave. will be torn down and replaced with a smaller one but it will have more uses. Aspen City Council reviewed the project after the Historic Preservation Commission approved it conceptually last month.
Hunt says he plans to put as many local businesses in the new building as possible. Those could include a yoga studio, locker rooms and sports-oriented retail. On the second floor, a bar like a brewery and offices for small businesses.
Dwayne Romero is Hunt’s development consultant. He shared the vision with council members.
“The entry of the building, we envision is like a Red Brick Center mini me. We want to literally have local art on display. This all ties back to the communal, the shared space, social interaction, and this underscore of local,” he says.
The project still has to get final design approval from the HPC.