Taking shape
Aspens at Walton Creek in pre-construction sales
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Sunday, October 7, 2007


Steamboat Springs — The Aspens at Walton Creek townhomes are under construction, and the first potential resale is already on the market. The $668,000 asking price could set a new “low end” for residential housing at the base of Steamboat Ski Area.
The three-bedroom townhome is listed by Heather Ruggiero of Old Town Realty. At 1,521 square feet, a $668,000 price is the equivalent of $439 per square feet.
The three-level townhomes (including a raised basement) are manufactured structures with pitched gabled roofs. The developers’ specifications promise high-end finishes with marble slab counter tops, maple cabinetry, hardwood floors, slate entries and 9-foot-tall tongue and groove ceilings. The exteriors are clad in cedar siding.
“Right now, as far as new construction, it’s difficult to find anything like it,” for the price, Ruggiero said. “It’s close to the Yampa River Core Trail, it’s on the bus route, and it’s only a few blocks from the mountain.”
The Aspens at Walton Creek, when completed, will include 24 three-bedroom units.
The six units in the first two buildings are under contract. Sales consultant Shawn Donnelly said there are five units still to be released this year. They include three townhomes with three bedrooms, three and a half baths, a single one-bedroom deed-restricted unit and one handicap accessible unit.
Two more buildings are set to be released in February 2008, followed by two more in March of next year.
Donnelly is coordinating the in-house pre-construction sales process. Her contact information, along with floor plans, can be accessed at theaspensatwaltoncreek.com.
Ruggiero pointed out that the townhomes offer a single-car garage and 3.5 baths.
Ruggiero’s colleague at Old Town Realty, Loui Antonucci, said the scarcity of undeveloped land and high construction costs resulting from high wages are contributing to the cost of entry-level resort housing.
“In this kind of market, the entry-level product goes up in price disproportionately to more expensive homes on a percentage basis,” Antonucci said. “Right now, there is no condo on the mountain at this price.”
Antonucci cited the long track record of the nearby Whistler townhomes as a case study. Originally built in the 1980s, those two-bedroom, one-bath units once sold for less than $50,000. Antonucci would know — he lived in one.
As recently as two years ago, they could be purchased for prices between $125,000 and $140,000, he said. Nine months ago, original Whistler Village units sold for about $240,000. This fall, asking prices are bumping $330,000.