Deer Valley delays start of $1.5 billion Snow Park redevelopment

Deer Valley's Snow Park base area. Photo: Inhabit Park City.

PARK CITY, Utah — Deer Valley Resort is delaying the start of its long-anticipated redevelopment of the Snow Park base area, pushing back a project initially expected to break ground this summer.

Resort officials now say no major construction will take place at Snow Park during the 2025 summer season. “Due to the complexity of the Snow Park base project and the many steps and collaborative efforts involved, we do not anticipate any major construction activities in the base area this summer,” Deer Valley Director of Communications Emily Summers said.

Phase one, approved by the Park City Planning Commission in February, includes the transit center and garage, replacing the surface parking lot. Phase two, which is still pending approval, would add hotels, condominiums, commercial spaces and an event venue above the new infrastructure. It will unfold in phases over five years.

Alterra Mountain Company, which owns Deer Valley, has committed $1.5 billion to the redevelopment plan at Snow Park, according to resort officials.

Alterra was formed in 2017 by KSL Capital Partners and an affiliate of Henry Crown & Company. It owns nearly 20 North American resorts and the Ikon Pass. In January, KSL announced it had closed a $3 billion single-asset continuation vehicle for Alterra. A press release said the investment was backed by a group of institutional investors including public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and insurance companies.

While the Snow Park base project is delayed, other expansion efforts are moving forward. This summer, Deer Valley plans to begin construction on new lifts and a lodge at Park Peak as part of the East Village expansion taking place just over the hill in Wasatch County. While MIDA and developer Extell are undertaking the vast majority of the East Village Expansion, including the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley and 6,000 housing units in advance of the 2034 Olympics, Alterra’s commitment is mostly in resort infrastructure investments that will operate on that side of the mountain.

MIDA has issued $650M in bonds to finance their resort infrastructure development in partnership with Wasatch County, Extell and Altera. MIDA Executive Director Paul Morris stated that current bonds have achieved a 6:1 private-to-public revenue ratio, with $6 of private investment for every $1 of public funding.

This puts the total amount of private money invested at approximately $3.9B.

Alongside the announcement of Snow Park’s phase one delay, Deer Valley has announced a full lineup of summer concerts.