Civitas Capital Group, a leading EB-5 regional center operator and real estate capital partner, has announced the closing of a $104 million senior construction loan to finance The Summit, a 164-unit Class A multifamily community in downtown Avon to be developed by Grand Peaks Development, an affiliate of Grand Peaks.
Located in Eagle County, the project qualifies as a rural Targeted Employment Area (TEA) under the EB-5 program. This designation allows EB-5 investors to participate at the reduced $800,000 investment threshold, compared with $1.05 million for non-TEA projects. Investors may also benefit from priority processing of I-526E petitions and access to the 20% of EB-5 visas reserved for rural projects, potentially accelerating immigration timelines and helping mitigate visa retrogression.
The Summit will deliver 164 residential units, including 144 market-rate units and 20 affordable housing units, along with approximately 5,000 square feet of commercial space on an approximately 1.5-acre site at 130 West Beaver Creek Boulevard. The development will rise five to eight stories over two levels of below-grade parking on one of the last undeveloped parcels in Avon’s town center. Residents will have access to a fitness center, a game room, hot tubs, outdoor courtyards, large balconies, dedicated ski-and-gear storage, and an underground heated parking garage, and ground-floor commercial space along Avon’s Main Street Pedestrian Mall.
Demand is not limited to individual renters. Major regional employers, including Vail Resorts, Eagle County Schools and Eagle County Government, Vail Health, Sonnenalp Hotel, and the Ritz-Carlton, lease housing directly to recruit and retain staff.
The Town of Avon will contribute up to $11.84 million in public financing, reflecting municipal support for the project.
The Summit is Civitas’ sixth rural EB-5 project in Colorado, following Civitas Aspen Fund, Civitas Aspen Fund II, Civitas Aspen Fund III, Civitas Silverthorne, and Civitas Steamboat. Those five rural projects created EB-5 investment opportunities for over 200 families.
“Two things set this transaction apart,” said Xavier Valero, senior associate, Investments at Civitas. “The first is Grand Peaks, a third-generation multifamily firm with more than 11,000 units under management and two decades of development experience in Colorado. The second is the level of local commitment behind it. The Town of Avon has been directly involved in bringing this project forward, which speaks to how seriously local government treats the housing shortage here and how carefully this site was chosen.”
“We chose this site because it puts residents in the heart of everything that makes Avon special,” said Donald A. Simpson, executive of Grand Peaks. “You are steps from the gondola, on the transit line, and right on the pedestrian mall. It is the kind of walkable, connected location you rarely find available for new development in a mountain town, and we felt a responsibility to get it right.”
Simpson added: “Working alongside the Town of Avon on the affordable housing units was a priority for us, because a project like this only works if it actually houses the people who make Avon run: the local employees – ski patrollers, hotel staff, teachers. We are also grateful for our partnership with Civitas, whose EB-5 financing will give us the flexibility to deliver both the market-rate units and other components of the project without sacrificing quality.”
Shaw Construction will serve as the general contractor. The project received Avon Town Council approval in March 2026, and construction is scheduled to begin in Q3 2026.
