By Alicia Wallace, Camera Business Writer
Music producer Jim Guercio is selling the remainder of Caribou Ranch near Nederland — including the historic recording studio that hosted artists including Elton John, Chicago, John Lennon, the Beach Boys, U2 and Michael Jackson — for $45 million, according to an online property listing.
Breckenridge-based Mountain Marketing Associates listed Guercio’s 1,600-acre portion of the land that sits just outside of Nederland.
Guercio has owned the property since 1971, when he purchased more than 4,000 acres for $11.3 million. Guercio, producer for the band Chicago, converted a barn to serve as a music studio that resulted in best-selling albums for pop and rock royalty.
“The writing and recording that took place at the Caribou recording studio resulted in sales of over 100 million albums,” Mountain Marketing Associates officials wrote in the listing. “The ratio of albums recorded here that charted or went multi-platinum was possibly the highest in the industry.”
After a fire, the studio shuttered in 1985.
In recent decades, Guercio sold more than 2,600 acres to the city and county of Boulder for $15.5 million. The city and county also acquired rights that allowed for certain conservation easements on the site.
According to the listing by Mountain Marketing Associates, development rights on the 1,600 acres include the potential for 19 single-family dwellings ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 square feet; a 5,000-square-foot fishing lodge or clubhouse; a 12-stall horse barn; two 1,250-square-foot cabins; and a 3,372-square-foot caretaker’s unit.
The site currently houses a home, lodge, cabins, barns, a commerical recording studio and out-buildings.
“A conservation easement protects and enhances the ranch while providing the opportunity to construct additional improvements in various locations and in a manner that respects the character of the land,” according to the listing.
Officials for Caribou Ranch and Mountain Marketing Associates could not be immediately reached for comment today.
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