Traer Creek is a land investment company based in Avon, Colorado. We invest in the community by partnering with businesses, municipalities and individuals to make Avon a vibrant place to live and work.
Traer Creek History
The Village was originally ranch land, homesteaded by Oscar Traer in 1891; ownership passed through several family’s hands, including Willing Nottingham in 1945. Our company’s name “Traer Creek” comes from a small creek north of I-70 and across the Eagle River from Eagle Vail. The Avon Short Take-Off and Landing Airport (STOLport) once operated on the property by Rocky Mountain Airways.
In 1992, Bill Nottingham sold the property to a Traer Creek affiliate. Additional land bordering the northern side of the STOLport site was also acquired. This additional land straddles I-70 and encompasses the south-facing mountain slope overlooking I-70, Avon, Beaver Creek and Eagle Vail. In total, the STOLport property and the additional land acquired from Bill Nottingham cover approximately 1,800 acres situated, at the time of purchase, in unincorporated Eagle County.
In 1998, the Avon Town Council voted unanimously to annex the land into the Town.
The below image captures Arthur Erickson’s inspiration for the Walmart and Home Depot canopies, which was the Avon lettuce sheds from 1920.
Arthur Erickson drew inspiration from the old Avon lettuce sheds when designing the colonnade canopies in front of Walmart and Home Depot.
Historic Milestones
2002-Present - Traer Creek Metropolitan District (a quasi-municipal entity with its own board and a fiduciary to its constituents) either constructs, conveys, or provides compensation for i) New I-70 full-diamond [M1] interchange (exit #168); ii) Post Blvd; iii) six (6) roundabouts; iv) the Union Pacific railroad underpass; v) Chapel Place connection; vi) East Beaver Creek Blvd Phases I-II; vii) Swift Gulch Road; viii) Highway 6 trail exaction.
2003 - Walmart Supercenter and Home Depot open a quarter mile from the newly completed I-70 interchange. Buffalo Ridge Affordable Housing opens and provides 244 deed restricted affordable housing units.
2004 - The Arthur Erickson designed colonnade canopy that diffuses the “big box feel” of Walmart and The Home Depot shopping center is one of twelve projects in the world honored in the 2004 Wood Design Awards offered through Wood Design and Building and Wood Le Bois magazines.
2004 - Traer Creek begins providing, at no cost, a site for Eagle Valley Sustainability Alliance's recycling center in Avon.
2005 - The “colonnade canopy” wins acclaim in Architectural Magazine for “redesigning the big boxes.”
2005 - Traer Creek welcomes the Beaver Creek Rodeo to the Village. The Rodeo would remain for 16 years until COVID-19.
2006 - In the fall of 2006, Traer Creek Plaza opens and becomes the Valley’s first LEED certified mixed use (retail and office)commercial building. The McGraw-Hill Companies’ Colorado Construction awards Traer Creek Plaza with the Gold Hard Hat prize for Outstanding Mixed-Use Project. Traer Creek Plaza wins a Building of America Award presented by The Real Estate & Construction Review – Colorado Edition. Traer Creek is also nominated for the Vail Valley Partnership’s Green Business of the Year Award and is selected as one of the three finalists.
2008 - The Eagle County Health Service District’s Ambulance Response Station opens, completing construction of an architecturally unique and LEED Silver-certified building, following Traer Creek’s lead in its concern for the environment and innovative design. Traer Creek donated the land in 2006 to end the District’s 10-year search for a desperately needed and strategically located site in the Town of Avon.
2011 - Traer Creek provides the Salvation Army with Traer Creek’s trailer for operations at no cost. Salvation Army would stay until the fall of 2024, having to relocate due to development moving forward in the Village.
2021 - The Piedmont opens, adding 240 needed rental units to a depleted housing supply. The Piedmont is fully occupied at opening and remains so today.
2023 - Maverik gas and convenience station opens at exit 168 off of I-70.
2024 – JMA opens the dual brand, 243 room Marriott hotels for business at exit 168 off of I-70.
2024 – Prime West Development begins construction on Bosk apartments, a 242-unit, market rental project adjacent to the Piedmont and with an estimated completion date of 2026.
Future – Following a public PUD Amendment process in conjunction with the Town of Avon, construction of Planning Area A, the Village’s core, as well as certain areas north of I-70, is expected to begin. Planning has undergone many iterations, but the Village Core is designed to fully integrate commercial and residential uses. Construction of the eastern edge of the valley floor will consist of mostly residential uses.