With road and waterline infrastructure work recently starting for a $5 billion expansion at the Eastern U.S.’s largest ski resort, the project team is navigating strict state regulations and difficult site grading on one of the largest developments in Vermont history. 

The master-planned residential community at Killington Ski Resort in Killington, Vt., known as LiveKillington, will create a base village linking Killington Mountain and Pico Mountain, a ski area located three miles north and is planned as a phased buildout over the next two decades.

Michael Sneyd—president of Great Gulf Resort Residential, the project’s Toronto-based developer, told ENR, “the area has long lacked a central hub where people can gather, stay, and play” despite the fact that it already has “1,950 skiable acres, a 3,000-ft vertical drop and a growing reputation for world-class mountain biking and year-round adventure.”

The master-planned residential community at Killington Ski Resport in Killington, Vt. includes includes a panoramic pool.
Rendering courtesy Safdie Architects
Phase one of the public-private partnership project between the town and Great Gulf includes more than 200 ski-in/ski-out residences and some 720 condos and townhouses, in addition to homes. The full buildout of the masterplan envisions building 2,300 residential units. 

Since buying 1,095 acres of land in 2023 for $43 million, Great Gulf’s goal has been to develop a community that includes “immersive year-round events and amenities,” including a swimming pool with an indoor/outdoor roof, a fitness facility/spa and conveniences to be found along walking and mountain biking trails. Sean Scensor, Safdie Architects senior partner, says the design “captures the spirit and character of a Vermont village with access to nature and views of the surrounding mountains.”  

The walkable village will also include more than 111,000 sq ft of retail and dining space; and waterfront upgrades to the pond near Snowshed Lodge, including a retail promenade and the largest “ski beach” in the East, or a flat area of snow making it easier for skiers to get around. 

Existing Snowshed and Ramshead lodges will be replaced with an 85,000-sq-ft lodge designed by architect Moshe Safdie, founding partner of Boston-based Safdie Architects, 

The village’s vertical construction is expected to start in the spring of 2027, pending market conditions and presales, Sneyd says.

“We’ve designed this project with a long-term horizon and are approaching its rollout strategically,” he says.  

The project’s scope is “historic and transformational” for the town, says Abbie Sherman, the town’s public works director. 

A conceptual rendering shows the Fitness Grove in a setting rooted in nature’s vitality.
Rendering courtesy of Safdie Architects

Enabling Infrastructure

For three decades, the ski resort owners considered an infrastructure plan, but it wasn’t workable because Killington didn’t have “a townwide public water system,” Sherman says.

The town plans to spend nearly $87 million in two phases over 10 years building a new municipal water system and reconstructing Killington Rd., the access road to the ski resort that 5,000 vehicles use daily in winter, says Sherman.

Municipal water improvements, including installing a 6.2-mile water line from Great Gulf’s land to two 750,000-gallon storage tanks near the top of Shagback Mountain about two miles east of Killington Mountain “will ultimately serve the village,” Snyed says.

Markowski Contracting conducted mass excavation and rock removal before reconstruction of 1,300 linear ft of new road could begin.

Photo courtesy of Markowski Excavating

A new pumphouse will pump water 1,425 ft. up the mountain to two planned storage tanks, before gravity feeding it back down to the village, says Jeffrey Chase, project manager for Winchester, N.H.-based Casella Construction, contractor for the water line. “Four 400-horsepower pumps will pump under 625 lb of pressure,” he says.

Municipal water line work began in December 2023 and is set for completion by October, Chase says. In late May, the town hired S.U.R. Construction to the deliver the distribution lines, Sherman says. 

Road work to construct 1,300 linear ft of new road began last April with a construction shut down in winter. Crews encountered more rock ledge than expected during excavation, which took longer to remove, says Mike Falk, surveyor and foreman for Markowski Excavating contractor for phase one road work.   

He added that Capital Rock, a New Boston, N.H.-based drilling and blasting contractor, conducted blasting, leaving 40,000 yds of loose material and rock “that we removed to achieve the design’s road grade.” 

Once crews remove the last communication line, the team will have two weeks left for final grading and ditch work, he says. Final touch up is expected in June. 

Phase two road work, expected to begin next spring, will complete a bike path, bus turn off, multiuse path, lighting and curbing, Sherman says. 

Big Puzzle

The ski village’s base area will be completely reconstructed during phase one, including many grade changes. The new proposed road at its deepest will be about 16 ft below the existing grade. As the road is built, parking and phased removal of the lodges to build the new lodge will require much coordination since the resort will remain open. 

The challenge is to blend the estimated 2,200 ft of elevation required at the snow front and allow skier circulation to ski lifts while also achieving the required road grades for cars and creating level slopes into the pedestrian-friendly village,” says Peter Smiar, Vermont director of land development for VHB, the project’s civil engineer. 

The VHB team also must construct a ski trail crossing of Killington Rd. that provides appropriate road grades while also allowing ski grade trails to have the required slopes. 

“It’s a big puzzle to solve,” Smiar says, “which is fun from an engineering and planning perspective. We need to accommodate cars, bikes, skiers, pedestrians and shuttles—all while thinking about natural resource protection and permitting.”

The ski resort was originally designed to be constructed by the developer, but in 2022, the town assumed design and construction of the new water system and roadway through the village, Smiar says. Managing the project split between the town and the resort took much communication with permittees and state agencies, but “ultimately it has had a positive impact on phasing since the town was able to move ahead with the road [construction] while Great Gulf finalizes their first phase of design,” Smiar says. “But facilitating the town and the developer on two different schedules requires extra coordination,” he adds. 

The infrastructure work will be supported with nearly $90 million in funding, including state Tax Increment Financing (TIF), a $2.3 million American Rescue Plan (ARPA) grant, a $3 million Northern Border Regional Commission Catalyst grant, an $18.4 million U.S  Dept. of Agriculture loan, a $2.5 million Vermont Bond Bank loan and a $25 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation for road infrastructure improvements and stormwater processing upgrades, Sherman says.

Many of the municipal water-related loans will be forgiven because many of the water systems are contaminated by PFOAs (Perflurooctanoic Acid), a carcinogenic forever chemical, Sherman says.  

“The project will help resolve those issues,” she adds.   

Permitting 

Beyond the land acquisition, Sneyed says Great Gulf is committed to including investments in design, planning, permitting, and site logistics.  Since buying the land for $43 million in 2023,  “we inherited an approved master plan for the preliminary project phase, Snyed says. “We are now moving forward with amending those approvals to reflect Great Gulf’s updated vision for what will become the new phase one,” he says.

Smiar adds that permitting is progressing positively with few natural resource concerns in the resort’s existing base area. “Overall, the town has been supportive,” he says. 

With construction underway, Great Gulf is prioritizing sourcing materials from within the U.S., when possible, Sneyd says. But when the team was unable to find suitable American-made pipes for the ultra-high-pressure water line, “we got a waiver from Washington, D.C. for pipe coming from Austria,” Chase says. “It’s one of the first applications for use with such high pressure,” he says.

“At this stage, we’re planning for a range of scenarios and remain focused on delivering a best-in-class, four-season resort community with a thoughtful and resilient approach,” Snyed says.