|
 Welcome Center Moves Forward
March 21, 2008
Dear Black Butte Ranch Property Owner,
In our recent March 15th
meeting, the BBR Association Board of Directors voted unanimously to
proceed with Welcome
Center
construction by authorizing the Facilities Implementation Task Force
(FITF) to enter into a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) contract with our
general contractor. The purpose
of this letter is to provide additional background and information
related to this decision.
For several years, management,
staff, and a succession of owner task forces and boards of directors
have agreed there is a compelling need to improve our access and
registration at Black Butte Ranch.
Our current approach, with staff divided between the Lodge and
access building, is operationally inefficient and detrimental to our
goal of improving customer service.
The existing access facility is literally falling apart and does
not, by any standards, reflect the quality experience defined by our
Mission Statement. With their
approval of the MIP projects in 2005, property owners voted to address
this situation through construction of a new facility.
The Welcome Center
design has been more thoroughly considered than any other new
construction in the history of the Ranch. The proposed solution is the result
of significant homeowner input, multiple traffic studies and other
professional analyses, and hundreds of hours of task force
consideration. The building has
been downsized to minimize costs while still providing a first-class
entry experience. Dozens of
potential locations were considered in terms of this experience, impact
on traffic, operational efficiency and flow of visitors throughout the
Ranch.
In particular, the Lodge was
closely evaluated as a potential alternative for access and
registration. Unfortunately,
this facility does not meet many of the requirements necessary for this
function. One of the largest
challenges relates to the Lodge's inability to accommodate high volumes
of visitors. During peak summer
weekends, the Ranch receives over 400 cars and trucks each day that
require access and registration.
This volume would easily overwhelm the Lodge facility, creating
difficult traffic, parking and customer service problems. The Board recognizes the value in
attracting visitors to the Lodge area, but believes there are other
more practical options for accomplishing this goal.
With property owners' approval
of the dues increase, there is sufficient short- and long-term funding
to begin construction immediately, with the objective of project
completion in early 2009. This
timeline assures continuity of architect, general contractor, project
manager and the FITF, and best leverages the $200,000 already expended
to get to this point. Fortunately,
we are experiencing one of the most favorable construction environments
in recent years. While we
continue to look for potential additional cost savings, the current GMP
proposal provides a forecasted project completion at $116,000 below
budget. We are very optimistic
the completed Welcome
Center will make
property owners proud by greatly improving the entry experience at
Black Butte Ranch.
Thank you.
Lynn Stafford
Chair, BBR Association Board of
Directors
|
