Exclusive | Just in time for ski season, this famously affluent resort town has plenty of luxury homes in the works

It’s not just winter sports enthusiasts and January’s Sundance Film Festival that make it a busy season in Park City, Utah.

Real estate developers are digging throughout the peaks and valleys of this former 19th-century mining town, with activity expected to bring nearly 1,000 housing units in the coming years.

Nowhere is it more evident than at the new Deer Valley East Village development, which will connect to the fantastic Deer Valley Resort ski village – where chairlifts move skiers through deep valleys and up and down powder-covered slopes of Park City.

Deer Valley East is Park City’s first major resort development since 1981. In addition to the residences, new ski slopes carved over 5,700 acres of terrain, plus 16 new lifts and a 10-person gondola, will be added to the resort main Deer Valley. Developers are betting that wealthy travelers — and those who may own at least one second home — want to be near the action.

In December, Deer Valley East welcomed its first hotel guests and residents to its first fully completed building, the Grand Hyatt Hotel and Residences, by Extell Development in New York City. It adds 55 apartments to this once vacant lot off I-40, overlooking Jordanelle Reservoir.

Then came the announcement of Extell’s luxury Four Seasons Hotel and Residences opening nearby in the Dear Valley East development, eventually adding 123 one- to six-bedroom homes ranging from 1,200 to 7,000 square feet. Pricing for these is yet to be determined.

Also poised to take shape in what is now being called the “East Village” is Cormont, a luxury mountain condominium project developed by REEF. Sales recently began for the 48 one- to five-bedroom ski-in/ski-out units in its first residential tower, which is expected to be completed by summer 2027. Prices range from about $1.7 million to $9.75 million dollars.

Cormont will eventually include five residential buildings in total, adding about 350 units surrounding a plaza lined with dining and shopping, which will form the main ski beach access to the slopes.

“The East Village has a good variety of properties for different home buyers,” said Sheila Hall, associate broker at Summit Sotheby’s International Realty, the lead sales agent for Deer Valley East Village residential properties. “But it’s a luxury price point throughout.”

There are also single-family home lots and townhomes being built in Marcella Landing, a private enclave in the East Village and also developed by REEF. The price there starts at $6.9 million.

However, all this development and more home inventory may not translate into better deals for buyers in Park City.

“Because of the high demand in our market, there is historically low inventory,” Kristen Barber, principal broker for Stein Eriksen Realty Group, told The Post. “Developments sell before they’re finished and that’s been the case historically for the last 10 or 15 years here.”

Barber oversees sales at the new Stein Eriksen Estates, a gated luxury single-family enclave within the premier Deer Valley resort, where three of the 15 planned homes are under construction. The price for a seven-bed, nine-bath home is more than $20.9 million.

That said, as in most luxury housing boom towns, affordable housing is disappearing; most people who work in hotels and ski resorts live in Salt Lake City.

“Affordable housing has become a concern. Everything has gotten so expensive,” said Charlie Taylor, managing partner of The Agency Park City. Taylor is the lead agent for Studio Crossings, a five-phase development of 50 apartments and 50 townhomes, plus about 200 affordable units, near Utah Film Studios, all developed by Crandall Capital.

Studio Crossings is expected to be completed by spring 2026, with sales starting in spring 2025. Pricing for the market-rate homes is expected to be $1.37 million to $1.7 million.

It’s not just snow sports that bring in residents, Taylor said — Park City is for all seasons: “I think people move here for the beautiful mountains, the fresh air, the active outdoor lifestyle and the high quality of life. There is also ease of access, being 30 minutes from Salt Lake International Airport.”

Barber said this has been a steady influx of new residents for decades, with many choosing to live in Park City year-round. “A lot of second-home owners tell me they now spend most of the year here,” she said.

Still, Taylor thinks Park City’s expansion will level off.

“The development is nearing completion. “There are not many development plots left,” he said.

For now, though, Park City’s once-pristine hills are alive with the hum of excavators and power tools. Even developments with firmly planted footprints are still expanding.

The long-established Canyons Village at Park City Mountain, which dates back to 1968 and won the hospitality trust when the newest Pendry Hotel opened in 2022, is also expanding. Construction began on Elevation Townhomes in the summer of 2024, with completion expected in the fall of 2025. Pendry currently has five residences for sale ranging from a two-bedroom at $1.89 million to a four-bedroom at $4.8 million.

Nearby, White Pine Canyons Village is in its final stages, Phase Two of Slopeside Village is underway, and the 15-year-old St. Regis Deer Valley at Snow Park will complete its final phase by the end of 2025. Notably, this final phase brings Park City’s largest condos to market, an expansion from about 2,000 square feet on average, to 3,000 square feet.

“Demand for larger luxury homes is part of it,” said Michael Zaccaro, chief operating officer for developer Falcon Investors. “But we also had a design change from the original hotel residences. These apartments have a great room, dining room and kitchen of about 1,200 square feet, which go front to back with large windows that look out into the open space. This is very desirable.”

From the final of 12 St. Regis apartments for sale, only two are unsold. These three-bedroom residences are priced at $5.95 million and $6.25 million.

“Park City has developed significantly over the past 15 years and it’s somewhat surprising that the area continues to absorb all this product,” he added. “Real estate remains very strong here.”