KETCHUM — The giant Warm Springs Ranch Resort, approved by the city of Ketchum earlier this year, won’t be quite as giant as developers had hoped, at least not in the near future.

The developer came before the city on Monday asking that the project phasing plan be adjusted to reflect the bad economy, effectively reducing the square footage that will be built first. Stan Castleton, CEO of DDRM Greatplace, LLC, said that no matter the economic situation, he is committed to creating an impressive facility that the city and the neighbors will like.

“What if you ran out of money for a while, or phase one is all we get for a while?” asked City Councilman Charles Conn, noting that scenario isn’t unlikely. He questioned whether the site would be iconic and visually appealing if the project isn’t completed.

“We’ll do it so phase one is really cool. It’ll be impressive,” Castleton said.

Phase one would include: 51 condos, 21,730 square feet of “public space” such as a restaurant, gift shop and lobby; 39,000 square feet of back-of-house space such as storage, kitchens and housekeeping; 24,000 square feet of townhomes; 46,100 square feet of villas; an unspecified number of estate lots; a golf course; and stream restoration that was promised by the developer.

These are intended to “support social interaction with members of the local community” as well as match the cost of construction to expected sales value of “a Founders Member program that can be pre-sold,” the developer wrote in a document presented to the council.

The council agreed to the phasing agreement, allowing up to 10 percent change on each of the phase’s elements to be done with only the approval of a subcommittee of the planning and zoning commission. Any more significant changes would have to come back to the council.

“I can guarantee you this isn’t exactly how it will work, but this is designed to be a minimal approach to phasing,” Castleton said.

He said he would be unwilling to provide his financing estimates to the council because they would then be public information, but he assured them that he is confident phase one will get built as proposed.

Ariel Hansen may be reached at ahansen@magicvalley.com or 208-788-3475.