The city of Aspen is still working with the Centennial Homeowners Association on meeting the terms of a settlement agreement that was first approved by the Aspen City Council, Aspen-Pitkin County Housing Authority and the HOA last September.
The settlement followed nearly a decade of litigation over building defects. Under its terms, the city plans to purchase two parcels of undeveloped land from Centennial for $7.5 million, funds the HOA will use to complete repairs outlined in a 2010 Building Science Corp. analysis of condominiums and a 2024 cost of repair opinion from Charles Taylor Engineers.
But the terms require all Centennial homeowners with outdated deed restrictions to execute updated APCHA deed restrictions, and will require a professional appraisal of the two parcels the city plans to purchase before the settlement is final, among several other terms.
City Attorney Kate Johnson said the city is negotiating with Centennial on completing those terms, and is “still working through the details of those agreements.”
Johnson did not provide more details because the negotiations are still ongoing.
It is unclear how long it will take to complete the terms of the agreement. Johnson said the city does not know when it may reach an agreement with the HOA, and it did not have a timeline in mind when the settlement was first approved in September 2025.
“Our desire is to obviously get it done as quickly as it’s possible, but we still have to get all the parties involved on board and work through some of these details,” Johnson said.
The settlement agreement also includes provisions that require the HOA to waive claims on behalf of its unit owners, “as well as any claims that could have been asserted arising out of the physical defects of the Centennial HOA units and common areas.”
A representative for the Centennial HOA board did not provide a comment by press deadline.
The settlement comes nearly 10 years after Centennial owners sued the city, APCHA and Pitkin County in December 2015. The lawsuit was an attempt to get the entities to pay for repairs the owners association claimed would cost between $3.5 million and $10 million.
The HOA argued that APCHA, the city and county were liable for damages related to water infiltration issues at the buildings that were constructed in 1985 at the base of Smuggler Mountain.
Once the terms of the settlement are met, the city plans to purchase about 0.9 acres on Teal Court and 1.35 acres on Free Silver Court with the intent to develop new affordable housing in the future, the Aspen Daily News previously reported.
If that payment exceeds Centennial’s repair costs, the HOA must place the surplus in a capital reserve account limited to future common-element work or structural and envelope repairs tied to safety and livability. The money cannot be distributed to individuals or used for upgrades inside private units.
If the payment falls short, Centennial must cover the remaining repair costs.
The city may not develop the land while any of the current owners own and occupy their units, or 40 years from the date of the property acquisition, whichever comes first. The final purchase contract will be reviewed by the city council and the APCHA board again once the appraisal and a survey to determine the final acreage of the parcels are complete.