New construction hasn’t gone crazy here in Mammoth Lakes like the early 2000’s but it is far from stagnant. Since I have lived in Mammoth there have been three “no new construction” periods and they were a clear sign of serious local recession; the early-and-mid 1980’s, the early-and-mid 1990’s and the early 2010’s. The real demolition and reconstruction at Canyon Lodge is a great sign; the Ski Area is finally making substantive capital investment. Hopefully, this is just the beginning. There are new condos being built at Mountainside (Canyon Lodge), Hillside Highlands (the Village), and at Creekhouse (Snowcreek phase 7). In fact, the Creekhouse units having been doing so well they have expanded the future construction. There is even a new five-unit condo project started on Manzanita in “The Ghetto.”
There are also a dozen or so new single-family homes under construction. They seem to be all shapes and sizes. The new Grocery Outlet is a fairly elaborate structure and there is a large effort happening there. And the new Starbucks (the old McDonald’s) looks to be a month or so away from opening. It already looks so much better. The upper Main St. sidewalk project is completed and looks wonderful. The Town just put out bids for another $4 million in (mostly) federally funded sidewalk projects on Main St..
Meanwhile, Mammoth has experienced some pleasant rain events in the past two weeks but one last Friday was a complete deluge — it poured hard for about an hour and there are major debris washouts all over town.