Gypsum's Costco Corner Is Becoming a Place, and Its Future Hotel Taxes Will Stay in Town
"Lodging taxes from Gypsum's new hotels will be collected regardless," Mayor Scott Green wrote in an August column for the Vail Daily. "The question for our community is whether that money should leave Gypsum or stay here to help invest in Gypsum's future."
Gypsum voted on Nov. 3, and according to unofficial results, the answer is to keep it here. That vote finishes a year in which the town rebuilt the stretch around Costco, McGregor Drive and the airport. For most of Gypsum's history this was a place for errands. It is now becoming a place where you can spend an evening, and the people who will soon sleep there are set to pay for parks, roads and holiday events on the other side of town.
Gypsum has asked this question before. Voters turned down a similar municipal lodging tax in November 2024. As the Town of Gypsum's ballot explainer puts it, "there were no hotels under construction in Gypsum" at the time. Two years later there are two hotel projects, and the measure passed. The Colorado Municipal League's fall 2026 election summary lists Gypsum's "new 4% lodging tax for public services and special events" among the measures that passed. VoteColorado's Gypsum page shows 2,091 yes votes out of 3,185 cast, about 66%. Counties have until Nov. 25 to certify, so these numbers are still unofficial.
Overnight guests won't pay more. Gypsum's tax replaces the 4% Eagle County lodging tax that already applies inside town limits, at the same rate. What changes is where the money goes.
| Eagle County's 4% lodging tax | Gypsum's new 4% lodging tax | |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays | Overnight guests in hotels, motels and vacation rentals | The same guests, at the same rate |
| Where the money goes | 10% to tourism marketing by state law, the rest to county voter-approved uses such as affordable housing, childcare and public safety | Gypsum's roads, parks and recreation facilities, and special events the town sponsors, funds or assists |
| Spent in Gypsum? | Not required to be spent proportionally in Gypsum | Stays in Gypsum |
The town's preliminary estimate is about $200,000 a year once the first hotel opens, rising as business grows and the second hotel opens. Residents don't pay it unless they book a room in town. Short-term rentals under 30 days are supposed to pay the county lodging tax now, and the town's FAQ says those payments should go to Gypsum once the measure takes effect. All of this is general information, not tax or legal advice. If you own a rental in Gypsum, check your own filing obligations with the town and a tax professional.
As recently as 2023, Gypsum had no hotels at all. That year the Vail Daily reported on a Wyndham project expected to become the town's first. That project is the 124-room Echo Suites by Wyndham at the northeast corner of Cooley Mesa Road and McGregor Drive, in the Airport Gateway area. Vail Daily's 2023 coverage named IJM Capital Partners as the developer group. In his August column, Mayor Green described it as under construction and scheduled to open in 2027.
The second hotel is a few blocks away at 135 Lindbergh Drive in the Airport Gateway Business Center. It is a 140-room dual-brand Hilton that pairs a Hampton Inn & Suites with a Home2 Suites. The Vail Daily reported in July that Gypsum Hotel Partners is building it, Crestline Hotels and Resorts will run it, and construction is expected to finish in early 2028. Chris Manley of Denver and Bryan Desmond of Eagle lead the development. Desmond has been developing residential and commercial projects in Eagle County for nearly 25 years. The plans call for an indoor pool, a fitness center, about 1,100 square feet of meeting space, an outdoor deck with firepits and mountain views, and local beer and wine on tap in a two-story lobby. All 78 Home2 Suites rooms will have full kitchens for stays of seven to 30-plus days.
"We are thrilled to announce one of the first new hotels down valley in more than 25 years," Manley said in the same Vail Daily report. The Vail Valley Insider reported that the Hilton broke ground in late June.
Before any guest checks in, Gypsum has already rebuilt the road they'll arrive on. Last spring, Cooley Mesa Road between Costco and Buckhorn Valley was torn down to road base starting in mid-March. Kyndal Emerick, the town's communications and marketing coordinator, told the Vail Daily that the narrow section "was starting to bottleneck." The town awarded the widening contract to Scofield Excavating in December 2025 for $3,712,196.20.
The town's Fall 2026 update says the corridor is now a four-lane road with turn lanes into Siena Lake, an upgraded bus stop and a new water line. Major construction is done and only punch-list work remains. The same update says the town recycling center has moved from Ridley's Market to the Eagle County Road & Bridge Facility at 3289 Cooley Mesa Road. That means another regular errand now happens on this corridor.
The turn lanes serve new neighbors. Siena Lake, the residential community next to the business park, has homes going up around a seven-acre lake and its first residents moving in. The Vail Valley Insider reports that plans still call for live-work units and mixed-use commercial space along Cooley Mesa Road.
The hotels are still months or years away. The first reason to drive out to McGregor Drive in the evening is already pouring. Vail Brewing Company started in 2015 as a taproom in EagleVail and later opened a tavern tasting room in Vail Village. Its third location is a 15,000-square-foot production brewery and tasting room at 55 McGregor Drive. It wasn't a smooth build. Co-founder and head brewer Garrett Scahill told the Gypsum Town Council in March that unexpected soil problems cost $300,000 and tariffs pushed building costs over budget, according to the Vail Daily. He also said he was doing the tile work himself, brewing in the morning and tiling "until like six or seven at night."
According to the Vail Valley Insider, it poured its first pints on June 1. Here's what the brewery's Gypsum page lists:
There's more up Highway 6 from Costco near Trail Gulch Road. The Vail Valley Insider reports that 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Co. and 808 Distillery are both pouring there, although neither serves food. Between the brewery, the coming hotel guests and Siena Lake filling in, the newsletter predicted this corner could get its first real restaurant within a year or two.
The ballot measure names special events that the town sponsors, funds or assists as an allowed use of the lodging tax. The first hotel isn't open, so this season's events don't depend on that money yet. They are the kind of events it can pay for once guests start checking in.
| Event | Date and time | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Home for the Holidays | Thursday, Dec. 3, 5 to 7 p.m. | Gypsum Library & Park |
| Holiday Lighting Contest | Entries due Dec. 11 at 3 p.m., public voting Dec. 14 to 18 | Gypsum homes |
| New Year's Eve Fireworks | Thursday, Dec. 31, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., fireworks at 6 p.m. | Gypsum Recreation Center, launched from the Gypsum Sports Complex |
Home for the Holidays is free, with Santa, reindeer, the park lighting, carols, crafts, hot chocolate, cookies and a gingerbread contest. The New Year's Eve fireworks start at 6 p.m., early enough for families with young kids. Gypsum's parks were also part of this year's capital work. Over the summer, Public Works put up new split-rail fencing at Estes Park, the Gypsum Sports Complex, York View Park and Spring Buck Park, and rebuilt the horseshoe pits at Second Street Park. Roads, parks and events like these are exactly what the lodging tax can now fund. Once the Echo Suites opens, some of that money will come from guests staying on Cooley Mesa.
If you want to know how the new businesses, hotels and road work on Cooley Mesa could affect your part of Gypsum, Bloom Group Vail follows these projects from approval to opening and is glad to walk you through it. Request a market consultation and we'll go over what's open, what's being built and what's next on the corridor.
Her vast knowledge of the area coupled with her international experience allows her to assist all local, second homeowner and international clientele alike. Contact her today!
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