Remonov Unveils Plans for Cutting-Edge Edwards Condominiums

Residences Designed by Renowned Architect Daniel Libeskind to Serve as Visual Centerpiece

EDWARDS, Colo.– May 23, 2007 – Vail has its signature Clock Tower building framed by the majestic Gore Range; Beaver Creek is defined by its public plaza enveloped in classic alpine architecture; and now Edwards is on the verge of obtaining a landmark structure to visually punctuate its post-modern downtown core. 

Critically acclaimed and internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind designed the project, which local developer Remonov & Company is proposing to build on a 4.5-acre tract of land just south of Remonov’s existing Edwards Corner commercial and office complex. 

As currently proposed, the Edwards condominiums will include 56 residential units ranging from one to three bedrooms for a total of 140,000 square feet. A preliminary sketch plan was formally submitted on Friday, May 18. 

Situated at the intersection of Edwards Village Boulevard and U.S. Highway 6, the project will literally be at the epicenter of the lively shopping and social hub that Edwards has become over the past decade. To the west and just across Edwards Village Boulevard, Remonov’s Edwards  Village  Center has become a local and regional draw, as is the Riverwalk complex across Highway 6 to the north. 

“We strongly feel our latest project will truly complete the mountain-chic motif Edwards has come to exemplify over the past decade as well as enrich the cultural fabric of the community,” said Remonov principal and Edwards resident Bobby Hernreich. “Along with Richard Meier and Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind is one of the top three contemporary architects working today, and his contribution to the valley’s design palette would be monumental.” 

Additionally, the project comes with an innovative affordable housing component which would exceed current  Eagle  County guidelines. 

“Besides providing on-site employee housing, this project would provide a significant boost to the local stock of affordable housing,” said Rick Mueller, another Remonov principal and Edwards resident. 

The relationship between Libeskind and Remonov stems from a shared vision of high-quality, functional contemporary design. Libeskind and his wife Nina also have a love for the Vail area, and those two elements led to a meeting of the minds between Libeskind, Mueller and Hernreich.

Libeskind’s design of the Denver Art Museum expansion and the adjacent Museum Residences was largely praised as a tour de force and a bold statement on the previously conservative Denver skyline. His urban aesthetic and use of sharp angles and seemingly impossible structures will be a decided coup in Eagle County where devotion to lodge-style architecture tinged with Tyrolean touches has long been the norm. 

Libeskind garnered headlines as the winner of the 2002 master plan competition for the replacement of the World Trade Center at Ground Zero in Manhattan, and first made his name by winning competitions to design the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, England. 

His work often evokes strong emotions, as do the dramatic natural surrounding of Edwards, framed as it is by the northern most peaks of the Sawatch Mountain Range. Edwards, a rapidly growing community just 15 miles west of the top-ranked North American ski resort of Vail and 10 miles west of its tony sister resort of Beaver Creek, has carved out its own niche in the Vail Valley, recently earning recognition in Ski Magazine as one of the best family ski towns in North America.

Libeskind has completed or is currently designing structures around the world, including Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Toronto, Padua (Italy), Tel Aviv, London, Oslo (Norway) and San Francisco. His projects range from residential complexes to war memorials to museums to casinos and other commercial ventures (for a complete listing visit www.daniel-libeskind.com). 

The design for the Edwards project calls for two buildings (east and west), each comprised of two separate, four- or five-story, dramatically arc-shaped structures that will be entirely residential. These structures will all stand atop underground parking, main lobbies, storage and elevator lobbies.  

The landscaping for the project, conceived by industry leader Design Workshop of Denver, will be comprised of private gardens atop the podium buildings and a main public space for residents that will be densely landscaped and wrap around the south and east sides of the building. The only access road and an adjacent buffer zone will define the north side of the complex. 

Materials for the project were selected to strike a contemporary balance between the dramatic architectural forms and the surrounding rugged mountain landscape. Remonov & Company is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for green building, only the second project in Edwards to pursue such a rating. 

“It’s extremely important to us to assume a leadership role in the Edwards area in the arenas of both green building and affordable housing,” said Hernreich. “Those two things will have more to do with sustaining our high quality-of-life in this Central Rocky Mountain community than anything else we can bring to the table.”

Public meetings at the county, as well as community meetings held throughout Edwards, will be held on the project in the near future. Remonov & Company hopes to obtain approval from the Eagle County Board of Commissioners and break ground by spring of 2008.

Media Contact: 

Kristin Kenney Williams, Commfluent LLC, 970-479-1182