Steamboat Springs Real Estate, Downtown Steamboat Springs Colorado

Local park to be restored - Eagle Scout’s wildlife refuge project faces improvements
Friday, June 13, 2008
By: Kristi Mohrbacher - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — A wildlife refuge built as an Eagle Scout project and impacted by ongoing construction at Sixth Street and Yampa Avenue will be restored, a city official said Thursday.

The area along Butcherknife Creek at Seventh Street and Yampa Avenue is a protected riparian wetland created by Nathan Proper, then 13, in 1999. It took him three years to raise $29,000 — through donations and grants from local groups and companies — and another year to construct the area with the help of 50 to 60 volunteers, Proper said Thursday.

“It was a peaceful and quiet place, but now our ecosystem and river have been impacted by construction,” Proper said.

Riparian wetlands compose 1 percent of the Earth’s surface and support wildlife such as the brown trout, native aquatic life and birds. The area at Butcherknife Creek acts as a natural filter for runoff from downtown — reducing pollutants — before the water flows into the Yampa River, Proper said.

Chris Wilson, the city’s director for Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services, said the Parks and Recreation Committee — the same committee that approved Proper’s request to build the wetland habitat — approved plans for Alpenglow contingent upon restoration of any damage that might be caused during construction.

Wilson said that to receive a certificate of occupancy for the project, Jim Cook, developer for Colorado Group Realty in charge of Alpenglow, would have to prove that the riparian wetland had been restored to its original form.

The final application for Alpenglow submitted to the city planning department by Cook reads, “Great care will be provided in maintaining and improving the riparian areas of Butcherknife Creek that were restored by local Boy Scout Troops in conjunction with Friends of the Yampa. The developer will further grade down the existing bank at the north end of the creek bank to create a more effective run off filtration area.”

“We had meetings with Friends of the Yampa and others before construction even began,” Cook said. “We’ve built around the park and are putting in a more aesthetically pleasing fence instead of that old chain one.”

Cook explained that a retention pond was added to the area to catch runoff from the roof of the nearby condominiums and filter it before the water flowed into Butcherknife Creek.

Wilson said the area has to be re-seeded and restored by the time the developer requests the certificate.

“I’m just worried about the health of our river,” Proper said. “The river can’t speak for itself so somebody needs to.”

Our View - Main Street Worth Funding
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
By: Steamboat Pilot Editorial Board

Private development is fueling unprecedented redevelopment in downtown Steamboat Springs. In the coming years, that transformation should lead to a more successful business district and thus increased sales tax revenues for a city that entirely depends on them.

It’s therefore reasonable for the city to spend as much as $100,000 in 2009 to help market and promote the downtown core. That funding, if approved, would go to Mainstreet Steamboat Springs, which last week made its request to the City Council. Mainstreet officials said the money would help fund the group’s operations, programming and potentially the hiring of a special events coordinator.

But such city funding shouldn’t come without some expectations, including increased membership and events, and an aggressive, comprehensive marketing plan.

Now in its fourth year, Mainstreet Steamboat Springs has grown into a 137-member organization with an annual operating budget of $145,000. Mainstreet Steamboat has membership in a national program aimed at helping communities revitalize their historic commercial districts. The push to create the local group began in 2003 as a result of the rapid growth of new commercial districts on U.S. Highway 40 and a belief that the downtown represents the heart of the community.

Local Mainstreet organizers had to demonstrate three years of funding to be accepted to the Colorado Community Revitalization Association, which administers the state’s Mainstreet Program. The city of Steamboat Springs provided $60,000 in funding in 2006, $63,000 in 2007 and $65,000 this year. The city also provided $30,000 to Mainstreet Steamboat in 2005.

Mainstreet’s most visible efforts are on the marketing and promotions end, with events such as summer farmers markets being the most recognizable. Mainstreet officials, however, say much of their work is done behind the scenes, including efforts to improve the downtown streetscape and parking and congestion issues.

There’s real value to an organization such as Mainstreet Steamboat Springs, particularly given the importance of downtown sales tax revenues to the city’s bottom line. Having a group that advocates solely for the downtown district is needed — even more so now with the extensive construction taking place at the ski area base.

But we’d like to see more downtown businesses sign on to Mainstreet membership. Barnett said only about 50 percent of downtown restaurants are members, and about 80 percent of downtown retailers pay dues to Mainstreet Steamboat. Service businesses have a much lower rate of membership.

Last November, downtown property owners and commercial tenants narrowly rejected a ballot measure that would have taxed themselves to fund improvements in a downtown business improvement district. The measure would have provided as much as $120,000 a year to promote special events, develop marketing and beautify the downtown area, among other things.

A “yes” vote would have sent a powerful message about business owners’ support and dedication to improving and marketing their entities, and would make it easier for the city to sign off on additional funding for Mainstreet Steamboat.

Nonetheless, using city funding to hire a special events coordinator/office staffer could help Mainstreet renew an aggressive membership drive and increase its focus on marketing and event creation.

Mainstreet officials are asking for $65,000 for the city, with a potential $35,000 match of funds Mainstreet is able to raise on its own. The potential total — $100,000 — is just a percentage of what those dollars could realize in sales tax receipts for the city.

But without better business participation and visible accomplishments, it’s going to be more difficult to lobby for such funding in future years.

Editorial Board, May 2008 to August 2008

Edgemont produces $45 million day for Atira Group
Sunday, June 08, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The mood around The Atira Group offices on Oak Street in downtown Steamboat Springs was decidedly upbeat this week after the developers of the slopeside Edgemont condominiums tied up $45 million in sales at their May 30 selection event.

Atira was expecting to go to hard contract on 22 of 42 condominium homes in the initial release of Edgemont Ridge on Friday at the end of a seven-day recision period.

Garrett Simon, vice president of development for Atira, said his company exceeded the threshold it needed to get the go-ahead from financial backers. He called the initial sales an affirmation that the product resonated with buyers and that the right property in Steamboat will attract buyers in spite of the national economic downturn.

“In the last nine to 12 months, nobody has been able to hit all the hurdles we have to move real estate like this,” Simon said. “We are aware of two or three projects that are on hold in Vail.”

The developers are confident their contracts will stick. Buyers were required to supply a hard deposit representing 10 percent of the purchase price of their condominiums. A three-bedroom plus den unit at The Edgemont was priced between $2.5 million and $3 million.

Those buyers will be asked to provide another 10 percent part-way through the construction process.

Sales manager Mark Murrell promised to treat the 22 buyers like royalty during the construction process.

“Those 22 are our best friends,” Murrell said. “They were the first in. They are going to be treated like kings and queens when they visit.”

Simon said his company is working hard to establish itself as a brand in Steamboat Springs, and the initial buyers offer the potential of becoming ambassadors for Atira’s future projects. In addition to the multiple phases of The Edgemont, they will redevelop the Thunderhead Lodge and Ski Time Square in the next few years.

“We have a long ways to go,” Simon said. “This is the first of 10 buildings. We have a phenomenal amount of real estate to sell in the next five to seven years. We can’t afford to trip up here.”

Murrell said the buyers came from all across the United States and no two came from the same state. However, most of them already were Steamboat loyalists who had been coming here for years.

Longtime Steamboat Realtor/developer Joe Brennan was the only Realtor with a priority for his clients. He earned that status by virtue of having taken the original Bear Claw III proposal through the city planning process. That project was sold and morphed into Edgemont.

Peggy Wolfe of RE/MAX Steamboat brought one of the 22 buyers to The Edgemont selection event.

“After showing him several properties, it became clear that Edgemont was what he wanted,” Wolfe said.

The Texas man’s family has been visiting Steamboat for 15 years. Wolfe had been working with him for about a year.

“He specifically wanted ski-in, ski-out, and there aren’t very many of them out there, and some of those are old,” she said.

Wolfe said her perception is that the development team at Atira understands that at their price point, buyers expect a high-level service, and they are prepared to deliver it.

Like Wolfe, Kathy Steinberg of Prudential Steamboat Realty said the two buyers she brought to Edgemont were insistent on a ski-in, ski-out location.

“It was because of Edgemont’s premier location,” Steinberg said. “If they could not have acquired the units they wanted, they would have backed out. It was part luck and part my staying on top of it to get them in there.”

Wolfe said she anticipates that One Steamboat Place, not far from Edgemont, also will deliver luxurious condominium homes and a high level of service. The two projects can be differentiated by location, she said.

One Steamboat Place is in the midst of activity at the ski area base, she said. Her clients wanted to be able to come home to a peaceful location after a day of skiing. Edgemont, just a little farther up the hill, can deliver that quality, she said.

Edgemont offers condominiums from one to two and three bedrooms, plus some three-bedroom plus den units that comprise more than 1,800 square feet.

Murrell said he was pleased with the mix among the 22 units that were placed under contract. They include seven of 14 available two-bedrooms, 10 of 17 three-bedrooms, three of four three-plus bedrooms and one of four single-bedroom units.

A quick glance at the reservation schematic reveals that the condominiums facing the ski slopes on the north side of the building were the most sought after. Of seven unclaimed units on that side of Edgemont Ridge, five are two-bedroom units and two are the larger three-plus bedrooms.

However, Murrell said most of the buyers for the nine units placed under contract on the south side were not settling for second best. Most of them would not change sides of the building for anything, he said.

Buyers on the two sides are different sets of people, Murrell said. Those who contracted to purchase on the south side, he said, valued the sunny winter exposure and the long-distance views that extend to the Flat Tops more than 50 miles to the south. Those buyers also can see the Valley View ski trail out their windows, he added.

Steinberg said both of her buyers are Steamboat regulars who were well aware they were buying on the colder side of the building. She believes buyers on that side were more focused on the investment qualities of their units.

“They thought that being slopeside was the key thing for investment,” she said. “And both are very sophisticated buyers.”

Simon said the initial success of Edgemont Ridge is encouragement to move on to the second phase of the project. They hope to advance the timetable relative to Edgemont Ridge and break ground on The Landing in April or May 2009.

Murrell said there were many more prospective buyers for Edgemont Ridge than the 22 who wrote checks, and he is hopeful that a number of them will take action in the future.

Average prices grow despite volume downturn
Sunday, June 08, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The number of sales of single-family homes, condos, townhomes and building lots are significantly down in the first four months of 2008. However, average price per sale is up substantially in all three categories.

Bart Kounovsky, chief operating officer for Colorado Group Realty, reported that the number of single-family home sales in the first four months of 2008 dropped to 15 from 42 in the same period in 2007. Yet, the average sales price rose from $1.175 million to $1.544 million. The price per square foot also rose from $355 to an average of $485.

“Inventory is up and sales volume is off, but there’s still enough momentum for the average price to grow,” said Randall Hannaway, one of Kounovsky’s colleagues at Colorado Group. “The inventory gives buyers the opportunity to take their time and find the property that is just right for them. We are starting to see some discounting, but it’s very minimal, particularly in the high end. For condos priced between $500,000 and $1 million, we’re seeing more correction than in other markets.”

Kounovsky’s figures show that the number of condos and townhomes that sold during the first third of 2008 dropped to 108 from 183 in 2007. At the same time, the average sales price grew from $488,000 to $575,000. The price per square foot grew from $341 to $409. That’s a rate of about 20 percent.

There were just 22 sales in condos and townhomes priced less than $300,000 in January through April. That compares to 57 during the first four months of 2007.

There were 16 sales of building lots in the city of Steamboat Springs during the first four months of 2008 — just more than half of the 30 that sold during the same time period in 2007.

New generation processes rapid changes in Steamboat
Saturday, June 07, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — I was reminded this week that change is constant. My lesson came at the hands of a group of iPod-wielding fourth-graders.

I have to say I was taken aback this week when I learned a group of students from Strawberry Park Elementary School was taking a field trip to the Yampa Street offices of Colorado Group Realty to learn about changes to our community.

When I was in fourth grade, we went to the turkey farm, the fire station and the zoo.

However, this group of fourth-graders, taught by Barb Gregoire and Diane Maltby, is reaching the culmination of a yearlong project documenting the visible changes taking place in Steamboat Springs. They used a grant from the Legacy Foundation to purchase digital cameras that allowed them to make a record of what they saw taking place around them.

The students wanted to hang out with developer Jim Cook this week to quiz him about his downtown development projects for half an hour. I didn’t have the heart to tell them I get paid to do that.

The students were confronted by change every day of the school year that ended Friday, as construction crews labored through a record winter to build an addition onto their school.

There were days when the floor shook and many days when they couldn’t open the sliding glass doors for ventilation. If they had the misfortune to get sent to the office, that office was housed in a plywood shack in the arcade that resembled the forts I used to build in the vacant lot back in fourth grade.

The fourth-graders became even more aware of change, Gregoire said, during an outing in the fall to the Soda Spring in Lincoln Park. Walking past the construction site at the Bud Werner Memorial Library, one of the students called out, “Hey, what happened to that really big tree!”

“They’re definitely aware that their community is changing. But for them, it pretty much is what it is,” she said. “Many of them have had discussions at home about the changes they see taking place.”

When the students arrived at the Colorado Group offices, they had their game faces on.

Cook explained his goals for Alpenglow and Howelsen Place, and he expressed his wishes that someday in the near future, many public celebrations would take place on a revitalized, pedestrian-friendly Yampa Street.

The students had questions to ask. One boy was holding a brightly colored iPod cradled in a microphone dock. He reached over his head to hold it closer to Cook’s chin and gather sound bites for a future Podcast.

“Won’t these buildings bring more people here?” one little girl asked. “I think there are already too many people in Steamboat.”

Cook gently replied that short of putting a gate on Rabbit Ears Pass, there’s no way to prevent people from moving here to enjoy all of the things we enjoy already.

One boy asked, “Why are businesses always moving from one place to another place?”

Finally, a fourth-grade girl asked Cook, “What’s your favorite project of all?”

“My favorite project is the one that’s successful,” he replied with a smile.

Later, Maltby said that during a yearlong unit about Colorado history, her students learned about how the early pioneers coped with changes in their lives. The lessons they were taught serve as reminders that they, and the rest of us, are making history right now.

Streetscape consultants plan revitalized downtown
Sunday, May 25, 2008
By: Brandon Gee - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — Yampa Street could become a festival hub, Lincoln Avenue could have wider, plaza-like sidewalks, Oak Street could get greener and side streets could be revitalized under recommendations consultants are considering.

Kristin Cypher of Britina Design Group presented a range of possibilities in a presentation Thursday at the Steamboat Springs Chamber Economic Development Council’s 2008 Economic Summit. Britina is studying downtown streetscapes in Steamboat Springs.

“You have the ability with your downtown streets to have a different experience on each street,” Cypher said.

After a series of public meetings last year, Britina’s study looking at a revitalization of streetscapes was put on hold while a separate firm conducted a traffic analysis to make sure Britina’s Downtown Streetscape Improvement Plan — a $439,000 project — would fit needed pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle improvements. Now that the traffic analysis is complete, development of the streetscapes plan will continue.

Cypher said that at public meetings last year, residents overwhelmingly said they don’t want to see typical mountain resort commercialization in Old Town Steamboat.

In an exercise where residents identified their favorite downtown locations, Cypher said those places were almost invariably green — unless it was a downtown business owner marking their own business.

Cypher said more emphasis is needed on key downtown locations such as the Routt County Courthouse lawn. She also said Steamboat needs gateway elements that make a strong statement to motorists that they’ve arrived in downtown. Cypher said sidewalk bulb-outs at intersections would make for easier crossings and the widening of sidewalks in places could create linear plazas for people to gather. On-street parking would have to be eliminated in these locations.

“When you’re designing Main Street, you’re making a statement of your values as a community,” Cypher said.

Cypher also suggested design elements that would celebrate downtown connections to the Yampa River and Howelsen Hill.

Yampa Street is envisioned in the plan as a more pedestrian- and bike-friendly area, conducive for on-street festivals. Cypher said it could make sense to move festivals currently held on Lincoln Avenue to Yampa Street to eliminate the need to close down Steamboat’s main thoroughfare for events.

“Festival, natural and artistic is really where we are going with Yampa Street,” Cypher said.

Cypher described Yampa Street as underutilized and unorganized. She said design elements should be used to make the street more permeable, which also would invigorate Old Town’s side streets.

Cypher’s suggestions for Oak Street include making it as green as possible with trees and the daylighting of creeks, punctuated by mid-block gathering places. The residential and family elements of Oak Street should be emphasized, Cypher said, to make it clear that this is where downtown comes to an end.

Resort Group Streamlines
Sunday, May 04, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Resort Group, which manages more than 3,000 resort properties in Steamboat Springs, has restructured its business to streamline operations.

Resort Group’s nightly rental property lineup has folded three existing firms into two entities. The inventory of Colorado Resort Services, acquired by the company in September 2007, is being integrated into Mountain Resorts and Pioneer Ridge Management.

Mountain Resorts, under the leadership of Steve Frasier, will manage the nightly rental inventory of resort-oriented condominiums. Pioneer Ridge Management will handle nightly rentals of private homes and unique condominiums. Mark Wilson will oversee that business.

The founding owners of Colorado Resort Services, Kathy Connell and Renea Cowman, are working with Resort Group to ensure a smooth transition.

Resort Group has formed Steamboat Association Management to work effectively with the residential homeowners associations currently represented by Mountain Resorts and CRS. Jim Landers will lead the new company.

Resort Group has formed Colorado Commercial Services to increase its focus on the growing commercial and mixed-use property sector being developed in Steamboat.

Resort Group Streamlines
Sunday, May 04, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Resort Group, which manages more than 3,000 resort properties in Steamboat Springs, has restructured its business to streamline operations.

The founding owners of Colorado Resort Services, Kathy Connell and Renea Cowman, are working with Resort Group to ensure a smooth transition.

Resort Group has formed Colorado Commercial Services to increase its focus on the growing commercial and mixed-use property sector being developed in Steamboat.

One Steamboat Place to begin building steel structure June 3
Saturday, May 03, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The hive of construction activity at the One Steamboat Place site at the base of the ski area this week was in preparation for large concrete pours in the week ahead. But the most dramatic action begins in early June, when workers begin erecting structural steel on the 482,000-square-foot project.

“You’ll see us go vertical on June 3,” Project Manager Chris Burden said. “You’ll look up there in the air when those cranes start swinging steel.”

One Steamboat Place isn’t scheduled for completion until fall 2009. When finished, it will include 80 residential units, public plazas, underground parking garages, a new ski school facility and almost 17,000 square feet of commercial space, including a fine dining restaurant.

Original plans called for the upper terminal of the Wildhorse Meadows gondola to be located in the public plaza at One Steamboat Place. However, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. President Chris Diamond told the Steamboat Today in late March that the terminal could shift to the north in Gondola Plaza. He said his company is in talks with Wildhorse Meadows to collaborate on a faster gondola.

Burden said despite having to build throughout a record winter of snow, the crews from Haselden Resort Constructors are on schedule.

“We were able to accomplish what we needed to,” Burden said. “It was a big winter, but they’re mountain builders, and this stuff doesn’t phase them.”

Burden said the foresight Haselden showed in bringing a snow melter onto the site reduced the number of truck trips needed to remove snow on the tight construction site and keep the work on pace.

Current work at One Steamboat Place includes pouring caissons and building elevator and stairwell cores, Burden said. Two on-grade concrete slabs recently were poured where the parking garage will be. A 2-foot slab to support the swimming pool is scheduled to be poured Wednesday.

Skiers coming down the bottom of the trails when the 2008-09 ski season begins should see the complete steel shell of the building, Burden said. It’s also possible that the exterior skin on a portion of the building’s west side, near the transit center, also will be installed.

One Steamboat Place is the first of a series of projects expected to modernize the resort village at the base of the Steamboat Ski Area.

City Councilman Steve Ivancie put the project in historical perspective when City Council voted to approve the project in July 2007.

“We are transforming our base area from a 1970s and 1980s base area into a base area of 2008, 2009 and 2010,” Ivancie said. “It’s way overdue.”

On the market for April 20
Sunday, April 20, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

The average price of a single-family home here increased to within $25,000 of $1 million during the first two months of 2008.

Land Title Guarantee Co. reported that Routt County and Steamboat Springs ranked third among five nearby counties affected by the resort economy.

The average single-family home price here was $975,418 during the first two months of the year. That compares to $907,835 in 2007.

Garfield County and Glenwood Springs were the most affordable at $534,294. However, that number had increased by 17 percent from the first two months of 2007.

Summit County also saw a substantial percentage increase in single-family home prices, up from $798,889 in 2007 to $893,026 this year. That’s nearly a 12 percent jump.

The average price of a single-family home in Eagle County was $1.57 million compared to $1.42 million for the same period in 2007.

Real estate dollar volume was down across Colorado ski country during the first two months of 2008, but in some cases still substantially stronger than the first two months of 2006.

Eagle County recorded $124.25 million in sales in January and $207.08 million in February. Those numbers compared to $173.4 million and $253 million in 2007.

Eagle County’s February numbers was stronger than 2006, when the market did $149.7 million, but those didn’t rise to the level of January 2006, when the market did $138.3 million.

Routt County was down from the record numbers of January and February 2007, but it was still notably higher than 2006.

Land Title Guarantee Co. reports that Routt County saw gross dollar volume of $85.5 million in January of this year and $59.8 million in February. Those figures compare to $100.38 million in January 2007 and $74.8 million in February.

New Strings Pavilion will offer space, keep intimacy
Sunday, April 13, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Performances at Strings in the Mountains this summer are apt to make your heart soar like never before — thanks to the soaring ceiling in the new Strings Pavilion, set to open June 28.

The $3 million-plus pavilion was under construction throughout one of the snowiest winters in Steamboat Springs history. The new facility gives the 21-year-old music festival a stage large enough to seat a full orchestra — something not possible in Strings’ first two decades. And all the more is that the pavilion is accomplishing that without sacrificing any of the intimacy for which the festival has become known.

If anything, the new performance space will create the perception that the musicians are closer than ever to their audience. Strings President and Executive Director Kay Clagett quickly points out that the concrete risers that form the foundation for the music festival seating have remained virtually unchanged through the construction process.

So why does the stage appear to be so much closer to the seating area? For one, there’s a new proscenium that traces a graceful new boundary to the front of the performance area.

“The proscenium is perfect. The piano is going to be right there,” Clagett said.

However, the true answer lies in human psychology, Clagett said. In short, it’s an illusion.

“The taller roof changes your perception and makes the horizontal plane look closer,” Clagett said. “And the roof seems to float.”

And if you think the stage appears close from the middle of the seating area, try standing at center stage and imagine the seats filled. It’s almost scary to realize how directly the artists will observe the individual members of the audience.

To be certain, the architectural design of the soaring ceiling, evoking the neck, bridge and even the strings of an instrument, will cause Strings patrons to gaze upward, but it’s the music happening in front of them this summer that matters most.

Strings Operations and Non-Classical Music Programming Director Betse Grassby said her organization has taken a bold step this year and commissioned a new piece of music by renowned pianist Mike Garson. It is scheduled for its world premiere Aug. 2 with five-time Grammy-winning vocalist Nnenna Freelon and clarinetist Mark Nuccio.

Both artists have performed at Strings many times throughout the years, and that reassures Grassby and Clagett that they will produce a new piece of music that will resonate with the Strings audience.

“They’re both familiar with Steamboat — they have a concept. The idea is that we choose the composer and players and let them take it away.”

Grassby said she’s confident Garson will produce a signature composition for Strings that is accessible to a diverse audience.

The new Strings performance pavilion will offer many less glamorous advantages that will benefit artists, organizers and audiences. Start with the availability of air conditioning and heat and continue to a large backstage area with room for two rehearsal pianos and much-improved dressing rooms.

Many Strings regulars may worry that the new concert hall will sacrifice the open feeling the old tent offered. They need not fret. The huge glass doors ringing the seating area telescope to open wider than the tent flaps ever did. Even better, they were designed with acoustic glass.

Clagett and Grassby say the width and breadth of people donating to their capital campaign has been gratifying.

“We have more than 500 donors,” Clagett said. “I can’t tell you how many $25 gifts we’ve received. It’s incredibly broad-based. There has been a lot of pride that has gone into this from start to finish.”

Clocktower proposal debated - St. Cloud Resort & Spa seeks major height variances
Friday, March 28, 2008
By: Brandon Gee - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The St. Cloud Resort & Spa development proposed for the current sites of Clocktower Square, Xanadu Condominiums and the Ski Time Square parking structure received mixed reviews in its first appearance before the Steamboat Springs Planning Commission on Thursday.

The 4-acre, 781,339-square-foot project is being developed by Steamboat Springs developer Jamie Temple and Colgate Holmes, founding partner and former president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., and a former president of Hyatt International Corp. Temple developed Storm Mountain Ranch in Steamboat with his brother Jeff as well as Water Dance in Frisco and Uptown Broadway in Boulder. Holmes’ background includes operation and development of resorts and hotels form Beverly Hills, Calif., to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The St. Cloud project proposes significant height variances from what is allowed under city codes for the site. With underground parking, which the project is slated to include, the city allows a height of 63 feet on the site. As proposed in its pre-application, the St. Cloud is as tall as 126 feet.

“Not only are all (four) of the buildings in excess of the height requirements,” city planner Jonathan Spence said, “but also almost all components of all the buildings are in excess of the height requirements.”

Temple and his consultants justified the requested variances by noting that city area plans call for increased density than currently exists at the base area, but most planning commissioners disagreed with that explanation.

“I do agree that the plan says higher densities than current use,” Commissioner Rich Levy said. “But almost anything would be higher density than current use. … I don’t really see the need for anything quite as tall as this.”

One concern with height is the resulting shadowing on steep Burgess Creek Road. Burgess Creek Road resident Bill Jameson encouraged the Planning Commission not to ignore that problem.

“It’s hazardous now,” Jameson said. “It’s will be more hazardous when it’s shadowed. … When you shadow that, you’re going to make it a skating rink.”

The St. Cloud project includes 201 residential units and approximately 49,000 square feet of commercial development in addition to circulation and amenity space, as well as three stories of underground parking to both accommodate the development and also make up for the loss of the Ski Time Square parking structure.

The development team noted many public benefits, including a commitment to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. LEED is a rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council as a voluntary program to define and measure “green,” or environmentally friendly, buildings. Also proposed are a ski history wall and park, public restrooms, public parking, restaurants, bars and meeting rooms.

When weighing the public benefits against the project’s proposed variances, commissioners were very supportive of some items — especially LEED certification — but were unwilling to count such items as the parking and meeting rooms because Temple said there would be a fee to use them.

Commissioners unanimously approved a development plan and final development plan for an expansion to Yampa Valley Medical Center. The project proposes 10,704 square feet of additions to be built on two open courtyard areas internal to the existing hospital campus.

“It’s very central to the existing campus,” Spence said, “and there is very little impact to surrounding properties.”

“We are planning on beginning the project (this) spring when the snow melts, and it’s a 15-month project,” YVMC Chief Executive Officer Karl Gills told the Steamboat Pilot & Today in November.

Gills said the expansion is needed because of growth in services and fewer patients having to go out of town for health care. In the expansion, five rooms will be added to the hospital’s maternity ward, doubling its size. The other major part of the expansion will add a fourth operating room and expand the hospital’s endoscopy abilities, Gills said.

The Rules of the Game - Understanding mountain real estate during a national downturn
Sunday, March 23, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — A business professor at the University of Denver who happens to own resort property in Silverthorne said this week the real estate markets in Colorado’s mountain towns are relatively immune to the current national economic downturn.

“In our resort communities, you don’t have to count on the people who live there and their jobs,” Professor Glenn Mueller said. “You count on people who are wealthy enough to own second homes.”

He teaches courses in real estate feasibility and management and real estate capital markets at DU’s Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management.

Mueller was quick to acknowledge the secondary market comprising resident buyers but said, even in that sector, strong incomes for business owners and people in fields related to construction mean they have strong buying power.

Paul Clavadetscher, president of Millennium Bank in Steamboat Springs, disagreed with Mueller in one regard.

“I do think the national economy does have an impact on Steamboat,” Clavadetscher said. “With all of the negative news in the marketplace, the buyers are being more cautious.”

Still, he acknowledged that his bank is ahead of 2007 in terms of its mortgage lending business.

Realtors in Steamboat Springs acknowledge that a real estate slowdown began here last fall, and inventory — the number of properties on the market — has increased since then. But they aren’t so sure it isn’t a good thing.

“Things began slowing down in September 2007, but that’s off of 2006 and 2007,” Realtor Ulrich Salzgeber of Buyer’s Resource Real Estate told a small group of vacationers at a seminar Thursday night.

“We’ve seen a slowdown in purchases, and we have larger inventory, but we really haven’t seen a decline in prices,” Clavadetscher said. “I don’t see that we’re in a serious decline at all. I do think (prices) are settling in.”

Clavadetscher, who will observe his 15th year in banking here in June, said sellers’ expectations in Steamboat may be a little unrealistic given the rapid price escalation experienced last year.

While current bank appraisals do not indicate a downturn in prices, he said appraisals based on comparable sales recorded four to five months ago could be skewed.

The dollar volume of real estate sold in Routt County in 2006 topped $1 billion for the first time and then increased by 41 percent to $1.587 billion in 2007. At the same time, the number of transactions dropped from 3,477 in 2006 to 2,555 last year.

January 2008 dollar volume was off 2007 levels by 20 percent. But at that level, Routt County still projects to a $1 billion market in 2008, Clavadetscher said.

“That would be the third-highest year in the history of Steamboat Springs,” he said.

Doug Labor, Salzgeber’s colleague at Buyer’s Resource Real Estate, uses historical data to gauge where the market may go. He graphs supply (listings) and demand (transactions) for a decade then draws a straight line that chops off the highs and lows to produce a trend line. That approach takes out anomalies like the post Sept. 11, 2001, downturn and the surge attributable to the purchase of the ski area by Intrawest last year.

“Using this theory suggests that in 2008, the Steamboat Springs real estate market will see about 1,500 transactions. Total dollar volume will be $800 million with an average sales price of $533,000,” Labor said.

Realtors are watching closely to see if things pick up this spring. A steady stream of national news about the increasing number of home foreclosures tied to the sub-prime lending crisis and the waves being created throughout the economy add to the suspense.

Mueller said because buyers of expensive vacation homes in the mountains earn incomes that rank among the top 10 percent nationally, waning consumer confidence is not an issue.

“The top 10 percent typically have money to do a lot of different things,” Mueller said.

They are individuals (not households) who earn $80,000 or more annually, and news of waning consumer confidence don’t necessarily apply to them.

“For people buying a $1 million property in Steamboat, it really doesn’t matter.”

Clavadetscher said there is good news this month for homebuyers in Steamboat — as a result of a federal economic stimulus package, the threshold for a jumbo loan here has been raised from $417,000 to $625,000. The change means loans that comply with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae standards could be made at more favorable interest rates than before.

Labor believes the 1,425 listings currently found on the Multiple Listing Service — a number comparable to that of 2005 — represent a positive for buyers. It gives them more choices within different product categories and price points, he said.

On the Market
Sunday, March 23, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

I know the above headline sounds redundant. Just check out the number of 2007 year-end real estate listings in a variety of mountain towns as reported by the Rocky Mountain Resort Alliance.

Neighboring Grand County had far and away the most listings at the end of 2007, with 4,176. Of those, 1,784 were single-family homes. The average sales price was $497,500, compared to Steamboat’s average sales price of $803,000.

Other year-end listings totals included: Aspen, 1,041; Whistler, B.C., 599; Park City, Utah, 2,902; Summit County, 3,240; Sun Valley, Idaho, 1,611; Telluride, 629; Teton County, Wyo., 409; and Vail, 1,782.

The Federal Reserve slashed the Fed Funds rate by three-quarters of a point to 2.25 percent last week. But don’t expect mortgage rates to go down as a result.

“This action is likely to drive up mortgage interest rates,” said Gibran Nicholas, chairman of the CMPS Institute, an organization that certifies mortgage bankers and brokers.

When the Fed lowers interest rates, they encourage more borrowing and spending in the economy. This has the potential to artificially drive up asset prices and cause money to lose its purchasing power, Nicholas said. This phenomenon is known as inflation and scares bond market investors.

“Fixed mortgage rates are tied to the mortgage-backed bonds that trade on the bond market,” Nicholas said. “Inflation erodes the value of bonds by reducing the purchasing power of the income stream associated with the bonds. This causes bond investors to sell out, which drives up bond yields and mortgage interest rates.”

The good news, however, is that the bond market has already priced in an inflation premium as mortgage rates have ticked higher in recent weeks. “Mortgage rates started their upward climb in January after reaching a two-year low point, and they are unlikely to go much higher from their current levels,” Nicholas said. “Of course, if inflation fears persist, the markets will react accordingly.”

Steamboat hits 450-inch mark - Ski season reverses November doldrums in record style
Saturday, March 22, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The climatologists had it all wrong back in November 2007. Steamboat was supposed to experience a mild January and February with no better than an even chance of average snow.

Instead, skiers and snowboarders here gorged themselves on a record 450 inches of powder.

Steamboat Ski Area officials announced Friday morning that the old season snowfall record of 447.75 inches set in the winter of 1996-97 had been toppled. The 4 inches of snow that fell late Thursday afternoon pushed this winter’s total to a new record.

Two weeks of ski season remain for the mountain to push that record out further.

The ski area has recorded monthly snowfall totals only since the winter of 1979-80, and only in recent years has October and early November snowfall been included in the season totals.

Nevertheless, the record book will reflect 450 inches — or whatever the total is April 6 — as the new benchmark for the ski area.

“With each additional flake over the next two weeks, a new snowfall record will be set,” Chris Diamond, president and chief operating officer for the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., said in a news release.

For many local and visiting skiers and riders, the period from mid-December to mid-February will long be remembered for its abundance of snow.

Former Olympic bronze medalist and Steamboat Springs resident Nelson Carmichael said the first week in February sticks out in his mind.

“There were definitely some days in February when we had 10 inches followed by 12 inches followed by 8 inches — and it was cold,” Carmichael recalled.

In fact, it snowed 14 inches at the summit Feb. 1 and 15 inches at mid-mountain Feb. 5.

“I went up Pony Express in the morning instead of heading to the Closets or Shadows,” Carmichael said. “I snowboarded a couple of days, and I skied a couple of days.”

Many people still overlook Pioneer Ridge, Carmichael said. He and his crew were able to make a series of runs down untracked trails in relative solitude.

“I had great powder runs right under the lift,” he said. “We moved one run over, then one run over and another run over. It was a blast to make a few runs with my friends.”

The ski area announced Nov. 15 that insufficient natural snow and mild temperatures that didn’t permit snowmaking forced it to postpone opening day from Nov. 21 to Nov. 30.

Meteorologists were saying that the warm ocean current known as La Niña was making a mild winter a likelihood.

“The odds strongly favor above-normal temperatures this winter close to the Wyoming border,” National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Pringle said Nov. 20.

Local weather observer Art Judson reported a high temperature of 65 degrees Nov. 20. Strangely, that was the day the weather pendulum began to swing back to its typical arc.

The ski area recorded 10 inches of snow at mid-mountain Nov. 21, and although eager skiers and snowboarders could not have known, Steamboat had launched its assault on the record books.

November finished with a modest 23 inches at mid-mountain, but December 2007 saw measurable snowfall on 26 of 31 days, including streaks of 11 days from Dec. 6 to 16 and 13 days from Dec. 19 to 31.

Although no single daily snow event surpassed 11 inches in December, it ranked as the third-snowiest December on record, ski area spokesman Mike Lane said.

January typically is the snowiest month in Steamboat, and January 2008 produced the biggest powder day of the season thus far. Twenty-five inches of absolute fluff was measured at the summit of Storm Peak on Jan. 10.

The snow didn’t stop falling, and longtime Steamboat skier Andy Hogrefe remembers Jan. 11 as the day John Kole, owner of One Stop Ski Shop, offered to close the store for a powder day.

“I wanted to go up on the mountain, but I knew I had a chance to ski with my son on Saturday,” he said.

That second week in January marked a remarkable period in which Steamboat recorded 7 feet of fresh snow in 7 days from Jan. 8 to 14.

Jared Daniel, 22, of Auburn, Mass., and Mark Joseph Stout, 45, of Ottsville, Pa., both died of apparent suffocation in separate incidents in Park. Both men died after they fell into tree wells filled with light snow. The two fatal incidents happened within 10 days of one another.

February completed back-to-back-to-back 100-inch snowfall months for Steamboat with 104 inches of snowfall and the second-snowiest February on record.

March has unfolded at a more measured pace in spite of 14 days of snow in the first three weeks of the month. The monthly total as of Friday was 51 inches at mid-mountain.

During the old record season of 1996-97, February supplied just 36 inches of snow and March chimed in with a skimpy 24 inches. April 1997 rebounded with 55.5 inches to break the previous record.

Steamboat skiers and riders have just six days in April to enjoy this year, but if this winter has taught them anything, it is to keep the faith.

It's official! - Steamboat Ski Area sets single-season snowfall mark
Friday, March 21, 2008
By: Brent Boyer - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Ski Area received 4 inches of snow Thursday afternoon and evening — and in the process set a single-season snowfall record.

The mountain is reporting 450 inches of cumulative snowfall since October. That eclipses the previous mark of 447.75 inches set in the winter of 1996-97.

“The hardest 4 inches we ever got,” ski area spokesman Mike Lane joked this morning.

Ski area employees are giving away candy and hot chocolate to skiers and riders this morning, and some of the early-risers who were near the front of the gondola line received T-shirts, Lane said.

“There were quite a few people — a lot trying to get their last few turns before they head home for Easter, and of course the die-hards who are always here pressing glass,” he said.

Local musician Randy Kelly and his band Sun Dog also are performing in the gondola platform this morning.

This winter has seen other snowfall milestones for the ski area. The winter of 2007-08 is the first time Mount Werner received 100 inches of snow or more in three consecutive months — December, January and February.

Since Nov. 21, snow has fallen 91 out of 122 days — almost 75 percent, with 51 of those days recording 4 or more inches, according to the ski area.

December’s 126 inches was the resort’s third-snowiest December on record; January’s 129 inches was the resort’s second-snowiest January on record; and February’s 104 inches was the resort’s second-snowiest February on record. March has received 51 inches of snow.

The ski area has been tracking monthly snowfall totals since the 1979-80 winter. The resort first opened in the early 1960s.

Only six seasons since 1979-80 have totaled 400 inches of snow or more: 1992-93 (415.5 inches), 2005-06 (432 inches), 1995-96 (441.25 inches), 1983-84 (447.5 inches), 1996-97 (447.75 inches), and 2007-08 (450 inches and counting). However, the ski area has counted October and early November snowfall totals only in recent years.

Plans for restaurants emerging
Sunday, March 16, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Traditional Indian cuisine and “Get and Go” comfort food are coming to Wildhorse Marketplace as Resort Ventures West begins to deliver on its goal of pumping up the dining scene in the commercial center on Mount Werner Road.

Harjinder Gill, who says he has opened more than 30 Indian-themed restaurants, many of them on Colorado’s Front Range, confirmed he has an agreement to lease a 2,700-square-foot space just west of the Ben & Jerry’s store and hopes to open Bombay Grill as soon as June.

Longtime Steamboat Springs chef Ben Stroock also confirmed plans for his new food establishment, The Drunken Onion Get and Go Kitchen, in a smaller spot between Tall Tulips floral shop and Quiznos. He is the former operator of The Main Dish in downtown Steamboat and most recently oversaw deli food at Market on the Mountain.

Both businesses will open this year in previously unoccupied spaces in Wildhorse Marketplace.

“We’re very excited about both new tenants,” said Kerry Shea, director of sales for Resort Ventures West. “We took a step back and did a full analysis of the marketplace. We’ve reaffirmed our intent to build Wildhorse as an entertainment restaurant destination.”

He pointed out that Wildhorse Stadium Cinema and the opening this spring of the nearby Strings in the Mountains pavilion enhance the commercial center in that regard.

The existing Porches residential development with the coming expansion of the Village at Steamboat by 175 units and the luxury condominiums and homes within walking distance at Wildhorse Meadows all bode well for the center, he said.

He remains intent on finding two more restaurant operators for two larger spaces that remain empty in Wildhorse Marketplace and says two or three parties are in discussions about both spaces.

Wildhorse Marketplace was approved by the city of Steamboat Springs in summer 2003 and opened the Sports Authority (then Gart Sports) sporting goods store in December 2004. The theater opened in July 2006. Despite the traffic created by those anchor tenants, the center has never been full.

Outside the entertainment realm, Millennium Bank President Paul Clavadetscher confirmed his business has a contract on an approved development pad just west of the theater, where Millennium intends to build a freestanding bank. Millennium opened in a large storefront in Wildhorse Marketplace in July 2006.

“We were profitable in our seventh month, and we are over $42 million in assets,” Clavadetscher said. “In historical terms, we are three or four years ahead of where a normal bank should be, so we’re moving things up a couple of years.”

The new bank building would allow Millennium to offer its customers things it cannot now — drive-through banking and safe deposit boxes, for example.

Clavadetscher said Wildhorse Marketplace has proven to be a strong location for his bank.

Shea said Stroock’s proposal to establish a food service business where people can pick up prepared meals and take them home stood out among other proposals for the 1,399-square-foot space.

Stroock said the Drunken Onion (named after his favorite pizza at the Main Dish), will offer limited seating and a small lunch menu (hearty soups and prepared sandwiches). The emphasis will be on dinners — items that can be pulled out of a refrigerator case, nightly specials and customer “catered to go” entrées for families.

Gill opened the Bombay Bistro in Boulder, which is now operated by a nephew. Bombay Grill will feature traditional Northern Indian cuisine including a variety of curries and vegetarian dishes.

There will be a luncheon buffet as well as dinner entrées. The restaurant will offer a bar and outdoor seating.

Shea said Resort Ventures West is intent on its plans for the existing space but that when it comes time to develop the already approved second phase to the east of the completed buildings, the focus is likely to return to developing more retail.

Uniting downtown - Mainstreet wants to get residents, businesses talking
Sunday, March 16, 2008
By: Blythe Terrell - Steamboat Pilot and Today

The formula for the future of downtown Steamboat Springs is pretty clear: more residences will equal more people. More people will equal more cars. More people and more cars are likely to equal more entertainment, noise and traffic.

Mainstreet Steamboat Springs has its own formula to address these issues: more dialogue.

The group plans to use materials from the nonprofit Responsible Hospitality Institute to get people talking after ski season and “before it gets crazy” for summer, Mainstreet Manager Tracy Barnett said.

“I really want this to be a collaborative project and a positive process,” Barnett said. She said she’d like to get businesses, residents and others involved in the discussion.

A development boom is well under way downtown. Several complexes are going up between Lincoln Avenue and Yampa Street, including Alpenglow and Howelsen Place, which Jim Cook is developing.

“Downtown will be an exciting place to be,” Cook said. “With that brings some growing pains.”

Current residents said they have had problems with parking and noise, particularly associated with restaurants and bars.

“We want people to enjoy eating and drinking downtown, but they can’t act a fool,” said Paul Montoya, who lives on the first floor of the Residences of Old Town across from Sunpie’s Bistro on Yampa Street. He said he has had to ask people outside to quiet down late at night.

Mike Miller, one of Sunpie’s owners, said the restaurant hasn’t heard from neighborhood residents. He said he would be open to talking about any issues that arise.

“We try to keep a pretty good lid on it,” Miller said about noise from customers. “We want to be good neighbors, just like everybody else.”

Barnett said it was important for people heading downtown to realize the value of entertainment and restaurants — and to know what to expect in a more urban environment.

“There’s conflict on both sides; it’s not the big bad restaurants that are the problem,” she said. “If you move into this district, you need to understand that this sort of thing will be going on.”

Past conflicts

Issues have surfaced between late-night establishments at Ski Time Square and people staying at the Torian Plum, Steamboat police Capt. Joel Rae said.

He said incoming downtown businesses, particularly those that will have music, should plan for the noise and be sure to adequately soundproof their establishments. But there often will be patrons leaving bars and restaurants between 1 and 2 a.m., Rae said.

“What we ended up doing in Ski Time Square when we were going through noise complaints is we’d have one to two officers there from 1:15 in the morning till those

bar crowds would disperse,” he said. “But it’s kind of hard when you have 50 to 75 people laughing, yelling and having fun — it’s difficult to say, ‘Could you please keep it down here?’”

The city’s municipal code has this to say: “No person shall recklessly engage in, or be responsible for, conduct which is so loud that it materially interferes with or disrupts another individual in the conduct of lawful activities at such individual’s home.” That section of code

does not apply to special events, however, many of which take place downtown — the rodeo, festivals and parades, for example.

People have the right to not have their peace disturbed at any time of day, Rae said.

At the same time, he said, a little research could go a long way toward preparing downtown homeowners for their environment.

“I think that is their responsibility as property owner,” Rae said. “If they think they’re going to be buying a condo that’s right above or right next door to a clothing store that closes at 7, it’s a lot different from being right above or right next door to a nightclub. Doing their homework could alleviate some potential problems.”

Kenny and Holly Day, who live on the first floor of the Residences of Old Town, said they expected to deal with downtown’s noise, traffic and parking issues when they moved in. The two said they love the convenience of living near the Yampa River and Howelsen Hill.

They watch the skiers on the hill while eating breakfast, Holly Day said, and Kenny said they head across the street in the summer to tube down the river.

“You can walk anywhere you want to go, and there are all these great events,” Kenny Day said.

Holly Day described the parking squeeze as a “bummer.” Old Town residents get one parking space per unit, the Days said, which means some juggling is required when there are two cars.

Parking is an ongoing issue, Cook said, citing figures indicating that employees of downtown businesses use 1,800 of the 2,800 available public parking spaces.

“That is the axis of the problem,” he said, adding that the issue will not go away as more businesses and events hit downtown.

Getting a jump-start

Allison Harnden, vice president of the California-based Responsible Hospitality Institute, praised Barnett’s group for taking on the issue early in the game.

“Mainstreet Steamboat Springs really should be commended for acknowledging that they’re on that path and doing something beforehand,” she said. “It’s so much easier to plan ahead than to try to turn back the clock.”

Harnden suggested getting a variety of groups involved in the dialogue. She cited a situation in Scottsdale, Ariz., where art galleries open during the day were affected by trash left over by the late-night crowd.

“I would just say that you might be surprised at the number of people who have an interest in the outcome of this,” she said.

Builders want to acquire garage
Sunday, March 09, 2008
By: Tom Ross (Steamboat Pilot)

Steamboat Springs — The founding partner and former president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is partnering with Steamboat Springs developer Jamie Temple to propose a 781,339-square-foot development that would redefine the entrance to Ski Time Square.

The project is called St. Cloud Resort & Spa. It would add 201 residential units in multiple buildings. The formal name of the development company is Momentum Steamboat LLC, Temple said.

He was the developer of Storm Mountain Ranch in Steamboat with his brother Jeff as well as Water Dance in Frisco and Uptown Broadway in Boulder.

Partner Colgate Holmes’ background includes operation and development of resorts and hotels including the Grand Wailea Resort and Spa, the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Wigwam Resort and Country Club in Phoenix, and the Palace of the Golden Horses in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A statement prepared by the St. Cloud developers says they intend to enhance the Steamboat hotel experience with services including day care, a full service spa, restaurants, ballroom and conference facilities, a ski shop and related commercial space.

The Steamboat Ski Area has written a letter of permission giving the developers the ability to enter the city of Steamboat Springs planning process with a plan that would replace the existing Ski Corp. parking garage with new buildings and underground parking.

“We’re aware that they have contemplated that parking structure in the pre-application and have acknowledged that we have no objection,” Ski Corp. Vice President of Development Doug Beall said. “We haven’t consummated a deal.”

They also have stated their intention to develop a green project and pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accreditation, something that has not been pursued with so large a project in Steamboat.

The nearly 4-acre site of the St. Cloud would occupy parcels including the existing Clocktower Square Penthouse Condominiums, Xanadu Condominiums, the site of the old octagon buildings as well as the industrial-looking concrete parking garage.

St. Cloud has been through the city’s technical analysis process, and the developers are scheduled to deliver a re-worked plan next week in time for a public hearing before Planning Commission on March 27.

The public and private sector are in the midst of investing in the redevelopment of Ski Time Square and the proposed development of the St. Cloud represents a significant opportunity to make the entrance of the longstanding commercial strip at the base of the ski area more prominent and inviting.

“Certainly (planning) staff feels that the intersection of Mount Werner Circle and Ski Time Square Drive calls for a special level of treatment,” senior city planner Jonathan Spence said.

The developers say in their prepared statement that they intend to redefine the intersection as a “portal that provides a grand entry to the new base village experience at Steamboat.”

Spence said tentative plans for the St. Cloud call for 91 units to be devoted to a “condo-tel,” another 50 units would be marketed on a fractional basis, and 60 would be marketed as whole ownership units where owners would be encouraged to rent them out on a short-term basis.

Of the gross square footage in the project, 377,820 would be devoted to residential space and 48,649 to commercial uses.

Momentum Steamboat’s submittal to city planning is in the form of a pre-application. Public hearings are scheduled before Planning Commission on March 27 and City Council on April 15. No formal votes will be taken during those hearings.

Ski Time Square demolition scheduled for summer
Thursday, March 06, 2008
By: Blythe Terrell - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — It’s official: Demolition of Ski Time Square will happen all at once, and it will start this summer.

Businesses were notified Friday that they’ll have to be out — some next month, some a few months later. The Atira Group and Washington, D.C.-based Cafritz Interests are partnering to raze and redevelop the buildings around the base of the Steamboat Ski Area.

Although the groups had talked about demolishing the properties in phases, that is no longer under consideration, said Jane Blackstone, a development manager with Atira. She cited concerns with the sprinkler system used in Ski Time Square buildings that has required tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs and, in at least one case, 24-hour surveillance from local fire employees.

“This sprinkler issue is a safety issue, and our first priority is to keep the buildings safe,” Blackstone said. “We have made what we believe is a responsible decision to take all the buildings down this summer, roughly a year before they would come down in a phased approach.”

Steamboat Trading Co. owner Erich Esswein said he had expected the phased approach to go through. He figured that he could have about $200,000 in inventory to get rid of come the end of ski season.

To address that issue, Ski Time Square retailers are planning a garage sale the first week of April, Esswein said. The Butcher Shop will be selling decades’ worth of photos, antiques and collectibles, he said.

“I think it’s a sad time in Steamboat history, just seeing Ski Time Square go,” Esswein said. “Just the cast of characters who own the businesses here and work here — it’s a big change.”

Tenants will leave at different times during the next few months, depending on the terms of their leases and whether any decide to leave early, Atira officials said. All businesses will be out by September, said Mark Mathews, vice president of development at Atira.

Mathews and Blackstone stressed that the community has pushed for the changes at Ski Time Square.

“I do think that all of this redevelopment was encouraged and embraced by the city and the community,” Blackstone said.

She said the developers are not yet to the point where they can start talking about what will go into the new mixed-use property. Current tenants might have options in the new development, Blackstone said, but there will be a time gap between demolition and completion of construction. The groups also are redeveloping Thunderhead Lodge.

The city of Steamboat Springs is sponsoring a study to determine the retail needs of the base area.

“What we’re excited about is really using an integrated approach to having a vibrant, mixed-use property, looking at how all these are going to flow together,” Mathews said.

The Atira officials said Steamboat needs to improve the area to improve its status as a tourist destination.

“We have a world-class mountain; now we want a world-class base area,” Blackstone said.

Sales tax exceeds projections
Sunday, February 17, 2008
By: Melinda Dudley - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — After the Steamboat Ski Area’s delayed opening cut lodging and mountain area sales by nearly half in November, December’s snowfall ushered in a recovery that helped bring a more than 8 percent increase in the city’s sales tax revenue in 2007.

In 2007, Steamboat Springs collected $19.7 million in sales tax revenue, compared to $18.1 million the year before, according to sales tax figures released Wednesday.

“We took a very conservative approach to budgeting last year’s sales tax — we projected a 3 percent increase,” said Kim Weber, revenue supervisor for the city of Steamboat Springs. “We were happy to see that we came in over 8 percent for the year. It’s a good sign.”

Lodging saw a slight downshift in December, dropping 2.1 percent from 2006 figures, a loss Weber attributed to the ski season’s slow start.

“December was kind of a slow snow month at the beginning, although it certainly picked up later,” Weber said.

Early December’s relatively mild weather also contributed to the slow growth in utilities tax revenue, which rose less than half a percent from 2006 figures, Weber said.

The lodging slump was the major factor in the mountain area’s small decrease in sales tax collections, Weber said. The mountain area took in $731,176 in sales tax revenue in December, a 2.21 percent decrease from $747,684 in 2006.

The mountain area and lodging were hit hard in November by ongoing construction projects and the postponed opening of the ski area. Sales tax collection in the mountain area was cut by nearly 48 percent, dipping to $71,681 compared to $137,797 in 2006. December was the third straight month of decreasing sales for the mountain, which suffered a nearly 13 percent revenue decrease in October.

Revenue from the city’s building use tax nearly tripled in 2007, due to the city’s ongoing construction. Collections rose from $2 million in 2006 to $5.7 million in 2007.

“As expected, our building use tax was way up because of the large projects going on,” Weber said.

Building use tax revenue tends to fluctuate from month to month, depending on when payments come in for each development. In October, the city’s building use tax collection increased by more than 4,000 percent — from $64,832 in 2006 to $2.7 million.

Retail figures for December confirm that holiday season sales were strong for local merchants, Mainstreet Steamboat Springs Executive Director Tracy Barnett said.

Miscellaneous retail sales jumped nearly 9 percent from 2006 levels in December, bringing in nearly $1.2 million in sales tax.

that sales were disappointing early in the holiday season, everything really kicked in the weekend before Christmas, Barnett said.

The downtown area saw sales tax revenues rise 6.11 percent, from $803,549 in 2006 to $852,617 in 2007. December marked downtown’s sixth straight month of sales tax gains, after a four-month slump in spring and early summer.

Compared to other Colorado resort communities, Steamboat posted the second highest annual revenue gain, bested only by Breckenridge’s 9.15 percent increase. Winter Park, Aspen and Vail trailed with year-to-date gains between 5 and 7 percent.

With its 6.82 percent increase, Steamboat also posted the second highest sales tax gain for the month of December, trailing Winter Park by about 2 percent. Vail posted a 0.2 percent loss in sales tax revenue from its December 2006 levels.

On the market for Feb. 10
Sunday, February 10, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

A quick $100 million

Steamboat Springs — Outgoing Intrawest CEO Alex Wasilov told a Steamboat audience Jan. 30 that in the approximately 15 months since Fortress Investments Group acquired Intrawest, the parent company of Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., Intrawest has been able to add the equivalent of $100 million in profitability to the company’s balance sheet.

Wasilov will return to Intrawest’s board of directors June 1 when Bill Jensen, currently Vail Mountain’s COO, assumes the role of Intrawest’s CEO.

Wasilov said he, his staff and the current board took $100 million in expenditures out of the company’s operations, reinvested $40 million in the company’s growth platform, then rebalanced the product portfolio for another $40 million in savings.

What does it mean? Those strategic moves helped give Fortress the confidence to invest in the growth of Intrawest.

Hayden insiders

There’s a distinctly local vibe in Colorado Group Realty’s new office in Hayden. Broker/owner Vonnie Frentress has been living in the Yampa Valley for more than two decades. Her involvement in ranching and water management brings value to her clients.

Associate broker Amy Williams is the former Routt County Assessor and knows property values inside and out. She also operates both a family farm and a car wash in Hayden.

Associate broker Mark Dudley grew up in Steamboat Springs and is a former soccer star at Steamboat Springs High School. He’s networked into the community.

“We are delighted to welcome three new brokers along with their knowledge of the Hayden market to our team,” said Bart Kounovsky, chief operating officer for Colorado Group. “These brokers have been working in Hayden for several years, and we are excited to tap into their local expertise.”

Luck of the Irish?

Downtown developer and Colorado Group Realtor Jim Cook shared some encounters he had this winter with international visitors looking for Steamboat real estate.

One Australian couple sought Cook, looking for a condo on the banks of the Yampa River. They already have a second home in Tokyo, but wanted new digs that overlooked the ski trails at Howelsen Hill so they could monitor the progress of their favorite ski racer.

Since one million Euros would buy $1.48 million in Steamboat real estate this month, you might consider that to be the luck of the Irish.

The year of multi-million-dollar home sales
Sunday, February 10, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — One year after the Routt County real estate market exceeded $1 billion for the first time, the market has dusted $1.5 billion. And the market pushed through that threshold while the number of transactions was declining.

The dollar volume for 2007 “is 141 percent over 2006, while the amount of units sold went from a total of 3,477 for 2006 to 2,555 for 2007,” Bruce Carta of Land Title Guarantee Company said. Carta tracks month-by-month real estate trends and compiles them at the end of the calendar year. His figures are based on closings, so monthly figures are generated by contracts four to six weeks earlier. Consequently, contracts written in December 2007 are not immediately reflected in his year-end totals.

Thanks to a couple of large ranch sales in December, Carta said, the local real estate market finished strong and reached $1.587 billion by year’s end.

Of all the statistics one could pull out of 2007, one seems to explain how Routt County saw dollar volume make such a leap while the number of sales was dropping: the sales of multi-million-dollar homes. In 2007, 45 homes priced at $2.5 million or more were sold. They represent an aggregate value of $167.8 million.

If one includes all of the homes valued at $1 million that sold last year, the number of transactions jumps to 214, with an aggregate value of almost $416 million.

It would be wrong to assume that all of the 2007 action in Routt County was at the high end of the price spectrum. There were 107 improved residential units that sold for less than $200,000, and another 281 priced between $200,000 and $300,000. In terms of unit volume, the biggest price point resided between $300,000 and $500,000, where 426 residential units were sold last year.

There are signs that the availability of homes priced at less than half a million dollars will be tight in the future.

“For December 2007 we had 48 sales of residential improved units of $500,000 and below, compared to 66 last December,” Carta said.

“You wonder where some of these people are going to be displaced to,” Doug Labor of Buyers Resource Real Estate said.

Labor said the price of entry-level real estate in Routt County’s smaller communities also is increasing dramatically.

Most of the condominiums in Stagecoach date to the 1970s, but the median price for a condo in that unincorporated South Routt neighborhood increased by 47 percent last year to $184,000. Similarly, sales prices of Stagecoach townhomes increased by 36 percent from $199,000 to $270,000, Labor said.

In Steamboat, the price of townhomes increased by a comparable percentage, but the jump was from a median sale price of $450,250 to $629,500. The price of land in Steamboat is driving that increase, Labor said.

“The size of townhomes here has grown substantially,” he said. “Land costs have gone up so much you have to maximize” the opportunity.

Ski area surpasses 300-inch mark
Saturday, February 02, 2008
By: Brandon Gee - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — It was the type of day when strangers exchange knowing looks and wide grins. It was the type of day when a favorite terrain feature simply can’t be found because of the depth of snow. It was the type of day you seriously consider bringing a snorkel.

It was a powder day Friday on Mount Werner, and the hills were alive with the shrieks of skiers and riders laying down fresh, deep lines at Steamboat Ski Area. It was yet another powder day in a season that’s quickly becoming as memorable as any winter in the past decade.

“I bet some stores didn’t open on time today,” joked ski patroller Terin Petersen, who claimed to see some Steamboat Springs locals on the slopes for the first time in months, if not years. “They’ve come out of the woodwork. Locals make a point to get out on powder days.”

On a ride up the Pony Express lift at about 9 a.m., a local contractor and skier fielded calls from friends hoping to park at his job site near the Thunderhead Express lift. A snowboarder described his thought process when he stepped outside for the first time Friday morning: “Champagne … waist deep … get in the car!”

If the Steamboat Ski Area is going to make it three straight months with more than 100 inches of snow, it got a heck of a start to February on Friday. Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. officials reported 13 inches of new snow in the 5 a.m. report, with 14 inches at the summit — pushing the ski area past 300 inches of mid-mountain snowfall this winter.

And skiers and riders who loaded the first lifts at 8:30 a.m. had a sneaking suspicion there had to be more.

Those thoughts were confirmed as further snow reports rolled in. By 11:30 a.m., an additional 11 inches had fallen at mid-mountain, with an additional 6 inches at the summit. According to Ski Corp., snow has fallen 58 out of 73 days — or 80 percent — since Nov. 21. Thirty-two of those days recorded 4 inches or more.

“This is probably my best day, for sure,” snowboarder Brian Bonsell, an employee at the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel, said on his way up the Sundown Express lift. “This is the most powder I’ve ever been in.”

Before moving to Steamboat two weeks ago, Bonsell hadn’t been on a snowboard in six years. He moved from Maui, and he said Friday’s deep, feather-light snow made the snowboarding feel more like surfing.

“In order to leave there, I had to come to a place like this,” Bonsell said. “I always wanted to live where it just snows every day.”

On his way up the Storm Peak Express lift, Denver University student Zachary Henak screamed, “It’s awesome!”

Snowboarder Tyler Conquest, a Colorado Mountain College student riding with three skier friends, said the group was finding the best snow off the Pony Express lift. They were sticking to the trees, where there are less “gapers.”

“It’s hella good,” Conquest said. “It’s great skiing. We got some first tracks and blazed down.”

Speaking from near the bottom of the Closet and Shadows trails, local real estate agent Mark Dudley was taking the morning off for what he called “the best day this year, for sure.” Dudley said this season has been a pleasant surprise, considering its shaky start.

Citing warm and dry conditions, Ski Corp. delayed its Nov. 21 opening nine days. At that time, Vice President of Mountain Operations Doug Allen made a reassuring comment that has proved clairvoyant: “History says when winter arrives, it arrives in earnest.”

While joy overwhelmingly set the tone for Friday, not everyone on the mountain was ecstatic for the powder. Despite being one of the first people into Morningside Park when the ropes dropped at about 11 a.m., Kansan Bob Wakefield said only that the skiing was “all right.”

“I’m not really to the point where I can ski in the deep snow like this,” Wakefield said. “Powder days are not my favorite.”

Morningside Park opened late due to the large amount of work the deep snow created for the Steamboat Ski Patrol. Ski area spokesman Mike Lane said patrollers did avalanche work in Morningside Park, the Chutes and East Face on Friday morning.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into getting the mountain open, from avalanche work to digging out lifts,” Lane said.

There were no serious injuries Friday, Lane said, and snow work was Ski Patrol’s major focus. Petersen said there are “definitely less severe injuries on powder days because of the soft landings.”

Intrawest poised to grow - Steamboat Springs area a model for airline success
Thursday, January 31, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — Intrawest ULC, the corporate parent of the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., has launched a new growth era and intends to expand real estate development at its existing mountain resorts even as it seeks new acquisitions.

Fortress Investments, which acquired Intrawest in 2006, is prepared to fund the growth, Intrawest CEO Alex Wasilov told an audience of more than 200 airline executives at the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel and Conference Center on Wednesday.

“We’re just pleased that we have them on board because they have a hell of a lot of capital and they’re putting it behind us

and it’s going to be our fuel to continue to grow and prosper,” Wasilov said at the Ninth Annual Airline Partners’ Summit, hosted by the Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp.

Asked if his company would seek to acquire more resorts in Colorado, Wasilov demurred at first, then said: “We will look at and pursue aggressively any opportunity that fits our model of experiential destination resorts, assuming the resort is for sale.”

Wasilov told representatives of five airlines that operate flights to the Steamboat area that Intrawest intends to work more closely with them and drive greater numbers of airline passengers to its resorts.

Fortress Investments paid $2.8 billion for Intrawest, the Vancouver, B.C, resort developer and operator, in late 2006. Intrawest in turn acquired Ski Corp. in March 2007 for $265 million.

Wasilov said the success that Steamboat, its vice president of marketing Andy Wirth (now marketing chief for Intrawest) and his staff have had in working with the airlines was a benefit resulting from the acquisition.

“Only at Steamboat,” Wasilov said, “have we packaged flights. We want to take what that team has done with you and spread it across all of our properties.”

More players, more projects

Wasilov said Intrawest wants to grow its existing resorts in four ways: by increasing customer demand with more effective marketing, real estate expansion, fostering more year-round activities at the resorts and creating better access to its destinations.

Experiential destination resorts, Wasilov said, provide memorable vacations that create an urge to return among guests.

“We want to create places where amazing experiences take place,” Wasilov said. “It’s not the ski lifts or the quality of the snow. It’s how you feel after you leave the resort in comparison to the amount of money you shelled out to be there.

“Are you thrilled? Do you want to come back? How quickly? And how many friends do you want to bring with you?”

Following his speech, Wasilov turned his attention specifically to Steamboat. Although he did not specify real estate development plans that are in the works, he said Intrawest looks forward to taking on new projects while cooperating with other developers who already have begun redeveloping the base of the ski area.

“When you look around Steamboat right now you see five projects that are already under way. If we had tackled them all ourselves, it would be different. Our history has been to develop it all ourselves, but now we want to make things happen more quickly. We intend to partner with other developers to make it happen sooner.

“There is more happening at Steamboat today as a result of there being multiple players.”

Family appeal

Wasilov said Intrawest finds there are three main customer groups for its mountain resorts, and Steamboat’s customer base varies from that of most resorts.

First, he said, there are the people who love to ski and are prepared to search the world for the best Champagne Powder. Second, he said, is the group he fits into: people who are not good enough skiers to justify searching the world for the ultimate powder, but want their children to have that experience. Steamboat hosts a disproportionate number of people who fit into the second category, Wasilov added.

Finally, there are a significant number of vacationers for whom the nightlife at a ski area is highly important. They come to resorts to meet their future spouses — they’re looking for some action, Wasilov said.

“The ski business has a large segment of consumers who come for nightlife,” Wasilov said. “If we didn’t think about all those things, we wouldn’t be successful.”

Does that mean Intrawest’s plans for Steamboat include building new nightclubs and bars? Not likely.

“I don’t think we can make that happen,” Wasilov said. “I don’t think Steamboat needs to change in the way it appeals to families.”

U.S. tough on foreign travelers

Roger Dow, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association, told an audience at the Airline Partners Summit in Steamboat Springs on Wednesday that the United States is missing out on a big piece of the international travel boon generated by a weakened dollar.

“We’ve got a job to do,” Dow said, “to really light the fire and paint the picture for people who have never been here.”

While the U.S. travel industry spent the five years following Sept. 11 recovering, travel among other international destinations was booming, he said.

Why aren’t more foreign travelers coming to the U.S? In many countries, obtaining a U.S. visa is a bear, Dow said. He is a former Marriott executive and a Steamboat homeowner.

There are 27 countries whose citizens do not need visas to travel to the U.S. However, in Brazil, people wait 1,200 days for a visa appointment at an office in one of just four cities in that vast country, Dow said. They pay $131 apiece just to apply for a visa. Travelers from India face similar hurdles, he said.

Dow recalled a business lunch with a Shell Oil executive who said his company does not host meetings in the U.S. because too many of its foreign executives must wait to obtain visas.

Further, the No. 1 fear of travelers to the U.S. from abroad, Dow said, is not crime, but the hassles they will face in the customs line at U.S. airports.

Intrawest at a glance

Total revenues: $1.61 billion USD

Skier visits: 8 million +

Acres of terrain: 20,000 +

Total number of lifts: 177

Number of high-speed lifts: 55

Golf courses: 15

Restaurant seats: 30,000 +

Lodging units: 8,200 +

Number of Employees: 22,000

River projects planned - Redevelopment trend grows on south side of Yampa Street
Sunday, January 27, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The Spanish word paseo is figuring prominently in three mixed-use redevelopment projects that have been proposed for the riverfront on the south side of Yampa Street.

The latest is Whitewater Run, being developed by Nebraska building contractor Rick Fauss, who is purchasing the riverfront property owned by Dick and Paulette Mills. The sale is expected to close next month. Whitewater’s site is planned for the lawn adjacent to the Yacht Club restaurant, 811 Yampa Ave. The restaurant building would remain standing.

All three of the projects — including plans for 751 Yampa proposed by Steamboat Realtor and developer Jim Cook, with Green Courte Partners; plans for 655 Yampa; and Whitewater Run — include an open-air pedestrian pathway leading from the street, through the building to the river.

“The trendy word in development right now is ‘paseo,’” Cook said. He also is representing Fauss in the Whitewater Run project.

Cook said the shallow building lots on the south side of Yampa Street preclude building public trails above the 50-foot water setback required by the city. But he’s optimistic the paseos will become extensions of the numbered city side streets across from them and pull pedestrians into public restaurant seating along the river.

The paseos at all three sites should break up their building’s mass and scale while providing view corridors to the riverbank, he added.

Whitewater Run recently entered the pre-application process with Steamboat Springs city planners. It would include eight residential units on the second and third floors above a mix of retail and restaurant space on street level, Cook said. A well-established Steamboat business already has committed to a 2,500-square-foot retail space, Cook said.

The site comprises two existing buildings, plus an open lawn attached to the landmark Yacht Club restaurant, and the metal building currently housing Backdoor Sports.

The Yacht Club building would remain standing, but the rectangular building that houses the sporting goods shop would come down. At one time, the building housed Dodd Diesel mechanics shop.

Backdoor Sports owner Peter VanDeCarr said he would prefer to remain right where he is, but he has the option to relocate into 655 Yampa.

That project is being developed by Howard Ulep and Dennis Frank of Annapolis, Md. It was designed by Steven Eggleston of SCE Studio in Steamboat, and was approved by the Steamboat Springs City Council in November 2007. It would replace a large white house on the site.

Cook’s other project, 751 Yampa, would replace three small buildings including Colorado Group Realty’s sales center, Hell’s Wall sporting goods and the building that houses Sweet Pea Produce in the summer and Sunpie’s Bistro.

Yacht Club operators Morton and Ellen Hoj have already announced their plans to open a new restaurant, The Diplomat, in The Victoria, under construction at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and 10th Street.

Cook said Fauss intends to sell the Yacht Club building with the expectation it would remain a restaurant.

Fauss is the principal in a construction firm, R.L. Fauss, headquartered in Fremont, Neb., outside Omaha. The company also has offices in Conway, S.C., and Sierra Vista, Ariz.

The company’s completed projects include public schools, convenience stores, apartment buildings and hotels.

Ski Time Square shift discussed - City, developers hope realignment will accompany redevelopment
Monday, January 21, 2008
By: Brandon Gee - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — Developers are making progress in negotiations that could result in a major realignment of Ski Time Square Drive. The realignment would be part of the impending redevelopment of Ski Time Square and Thunderhead Lodge at the base of the Steamboat Ski Area.

The Atira Group is expected to begin the massive redevelopment project after the ski season. The Atira Group has been hired on behalf of Washington, D.C.-based Cafritz Interests, which purchased the base area properties in April.

“They haven’t got any kind of a deal done at this point,” Steamboat Springs Planning Services Manager John Eastman said Friday about the realignment proposal. “But I think they feel they’re getting closer.”

The city’s Mountain Town Subarea Plan calls for Ski Time Square Drive to be relocated to the north to allow for a more pedestrian-friendly plaza in the space currently occupied by the road. The Atira Group’s initial submittal to the city did not include a realignment of the road. In its first review by the Steamboat Springs Planning Commission, commissioners made clear their disappointment with plans that did not include the realignment.

“When I see the Ski Time Square Drive in the same place it’s always been, that’s a real bummer,” Scott Myller said at the Nov. 8 meeting. The meeting was Myller’s last as a planning commissioner before joining the Steamboat Springs City Council.

“It looks really good,” Eastman said. “It’s a significant improvement over the current proposal.”

Mark Matthews, a vice president of development with The Atira Group, confirmed that progress has been made.

“We are still in negotiations with the two (condominium) associations that the proposed road would be going over,” Matthews said Friday. “It’s moving along, and I’m happy about that.”

Matthews noted that negotiations with homeowner associations tend to take longer than others.

If its negotiations are successful, The Atira Group has floated the idea of having the realignment paid for by the Steamboat Spring Redevelopment Authority, an urban renewal authority formed by the city in 2005. The authority receives property taxes and sales taxes over a base amount established in 2005 to fund infrastructure projects at the base of the Steamboat Ski Area.

Matthews said the realignment is exactly the type of project the URA was formed for, but Eastman said the proposal to use authority funds received a mixed reception from the Urban Redevelopment Authority Advisory Committee.

“There’s a big range of opinion,” Eastman said. “It’s not a simple answer.”

Eastman said some on the advisory committee sided with Matthews, particularly because the realignment is called for in a city area plan.

The project would be consistent with other URA projects, said Eastman, who noted the other road and sidewalk improvement projects completed this year with authority funds.

Others thought the developer should fund the project as part of the overall redevelopment’s public-benefit requirements.

Eastman said all base area projects are required to provide “community amenities” valued at 0.5 percent of their overall construction value. Things such as public art or enhanced pedestrian corridors can be considered community amenities.

Also, developers must provide “public benefits” to offset any exceptions to city codes. This projects requests such exceptions, including height variances for buildings as high as 10 stories.

The result of the URAAC meeting was a consensus that more information is needed before the commission can make a recommendation. Eastman said the city will have a better understanding of where the redevelopment stands in terms of public benefit and community amenities when it has had a chance to go through more of the planning process.

“It’s conceivable that Ski Time Square Drive wouldn’t move for a couple years,” Eastman said. “That’s a long time out in the future to figure that one out.”

In midst of record year - Credit crisis, scarce inventory constrict November dollar volume
Sunday, January 06, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

The dollar volume of November real estate transactions in Routt County was off 35 percent from sales in November 2006. Nonetheless, the $89.8 million still represents the second biggest November on record.

According to a market analysis done by Bruce Carta of Land Title Guarantee Co., November marked the third straight month dollar volume has declined, and the amount by which it has declined has grown in each of those successive months. Despite the declines, 2007 transactions will smash last year’s all-time record of $1.12 billion.

Routt County breezed past the $1 billion plateau — for only the second time in history — in July 2007 and is on pace to reach $1.5 billion when December totals are tallied.

The next biggest November was recorded in 2005, when November dollar volume was $75.75 million. As recently as November 2003, the monthly total was $34.2 million.

Carta said one trend that leaped out from the November market analysis was the sharp decline in unit volume in entry-level improved housing units of $500,000 and below. Last November saw 109 residential units below the half-million threshold. That number dropped to 53 this year and does not include fractional or interval sales.

The declines in the number of transactions at the entry level mirrors the broader trend that saw the overall number of transactions decline from 262 in November 2006 to 159 this year.

Thirty-year real estate veteran Ken Gold of RE/MAX Steamboat said he’s missing something he calls “the churn factor.”

“This isn’t typically a time of year when we’re real busy because the condos are full and you can’t get in them, and land is covered in snow. We’re all finding we’re a little slow right now,” Gold said. “The number of listings is down, and a lot of the buyers want to spend less than $300,000. When you show property in that range, it’s older product.”

The “churn factor” that has turned properties over in Steamboat for decades isn’t in effect, Gold said.

“We’ve always had opportunities to take incremental steps,” Gold said. “Someone might buy an inexpensive unit at Meadowlark or at The Lodge and then, two years later, decide they’re ready to move from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom unit. Two years ago, you could buy a Walton Village condo for $80,000. Now, it would cost $215,000. That’s good on one hand because people can realize a nice return, but now, the cheapest two-bedroom units are $400,000.”

The churn of units moves a growing family into a bigger unit and opens up an entry-level unit for someone just starting out.

Gold thinks Steamboat has begun to feel the effects of the national credit crunch.

“It would be silly to think that at some point we weren’t going to feel the implications,” Gold said. “We’ve been in a little bubble for a while, while the rest of the world has been going through severe changes. People are coming here from markets where the housing industry is down, and it’s hard to borrow. On the positive side, the dynamics here are a lot better than in most places.”

Cam Boyd of Prudential Steamboat Realty said the dollar volume for November 2006 was influenced by a large number of sales closing nearly simultaneously as pending contracts from new developments were consummated. November 2007 saw development sales from Emerald Lodge, but overall, fewer of those types of transactions took place, he said.

November 2006 also saw the $20 million sale of the real estate for One Steamboat Place, Boyd pointed out. His office closed a $20 million sale in late December involving the parcel on the tailwater fishery along the Yampa River below Lake Catamount. That transaction will give 2007 one last bump at the end of a record year.

Boyd said that because one large transaction can skew the picture, he tends to look at transaction volume rather than dollar volume to gauge the market.

“I don’t think there was one single month in 2007 that matched the same month in 2006 for transaction volume,” Boyd said. “But if you compare 2007 to 2005, we were on par right up until the fall, when it began to slip.”

Boyd’s observation is on target. Carta’s figures show that beginning in September, transaction volume dipped below 200 units monthly and slipped below 2005 and 2006 levels.

Boyd said he thinks that trend can be attributed to a lack of inventory and hesitancy on the part of buyers who come here from other markets.

“A lot of inventory is priced above market value,” Boyd said. “I think we’re getting expensive, and some inventory is priced above what the market is willing to absorb.”

Boyd said determining listing prices is easier now than it was two years ago because there’s less concern about underpricing property in a buying frenzy, subsequently leading to seller’s remorse.