Median home price declines by 22.5 percent
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Home price changes
Median single-family home
County Oct. ’08 Oct. ’07 Change
Eagle $839,300 $810,000 +3.6%
Garfield $372,500 $394,950 -6%
Pitkin $4.1M $3.7M +11%
Routt $511,000 $660,000 -22.5%
Summit $657,500 $648,750 +1%
Source: Land Guarantee Title Co.
The average price of single-family homes in Steamboat Springs is holding relatively strong at $996,816, but a 22.5 percent decline in the median home price in Rout County tells a different story.
Land Title Guarantee Co. reports that the median price of a single-family home here dropped from $660,000, based on statistics through the end of October 2007, to $511,000 at the end of October 2008.
The median price reflects the middle of the range and a decline suggests the range widened, either at the high or low end.
Prudential Steamboat Realty’s Pam Vanatta has concluded it was the latter.
“It has slipped quite a bit at the low end,” Vanatta said. “That doesn’t surprise me. There may be some homeowners who are a little leveraged and want to get out of the monthly payments.”
Steamboat’s decline in the median price of housing is in line with the entire western U.S., according to Land Title Guarantee Co., but not with Eagle, Pitkin and Summit counties, which have experienced slight increases in median home value.
The average price of a single-family home here in the second quarter of 2007 was about $890,000.
Vanatta said the new year might bring some changes to the local market.
“There hasn’t been a real price drop in prices here in 2008,” Vanatta said. “I think in 2009, we’ll see some sales that will affect the market. We just haven’t seen it yet.”
Vanatta said she would pay close attention to appraisers next year as they look for comparable sales to use in determining the value of properties. She said she would not be surprised if some appraisals next year are based on a single comparison.
It is difficult to discern a trend in the Steamboat market right now, Vanatta said. Isolated sales range from a modest Chinook Townhome to a luxury home in The Sanctuary.
“Our market is spotty right now, but things are selling,” she said. “I just put a house under contract in Fox Estates. They didn’t give it away.”
Phone volume at Prudential Steamboat has picked up this month, and prospective buyers are being very specific about what kind of property they are seeking.
“They’re asking things like, ‘I’m looking for a condo at the mountain. What’s the best deal on the market right now?’ It’s a great buyer’s market if you’re looking at high-end homes,” Vanatta said.
She is optimistic that sales volume, driven by declining interest rates, will increase in 2009.
— To reach Tom Ross, call 871-4205
or e-mail tross@steamboatpilot.com
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE...............
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Monday, December 29, 2008
Alpin Mountain Ranch & Club in Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Alpine Mountain Ranch & Club is Steamboat Springs’ newest high-end mountainside community encompassing 1,216 acres and 63 homesites. Located only five minutes from the Steamboat Ski Resort, Alpine Mountain Ranch offers unparalleled proximity to skiing and all the conveniences, shopping and dining of Old Town Steamboat. A total of 900 acres of the property has been dedicated to a wildlife preserve and open space providing ultra-private living in a wilderness setting. Family-focused amenities include an Owners Lodge, concierge service, trout-stocked fishing and boating pond, a centrally-located Barn with equestrian services, a Hermitage in the backcountry, and multi-use trails for snowshoeing, hiking and horseback riding. Additional planned amenities include a state-of-the-art pool and fitness center and two luxuriously-outfitted guest cabins. 9 Homesites will be featured this winter. All are 5 acre parcels and each has a unique feel beginning at 1.4 million and topping out at under 2.5 million. If you are considering Steamboat this area is a must see...
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
In celebration of Christmas, the Steamboat Pilot & Today offers one of the most famous newspaper editorials ever, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Written by Francis Church, the editorial originally appeared in the New York Sun in 1897.
“I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?”
— Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE...............
This Christmas my daughter was assigned this article to read to her family on Christmas Eve. It belessed us all. What wonderful teachers and local newspapers we have that will keep hope alive in all of us. Thank you Jesus for your birthday!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
In celebration of Christmas, the Steamboat Pilot & Today offers one of the most famous newspaper editorials ever, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Written by Francis Church, the editorial originally appeared in the New York Sun in 1897.
“I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?”
— Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE...............
This Christmas my daughter was assigned this article to read to her family on Christmas Eve. It belessed us all. What wonderful teachers and local newspapers we have that will keep hope alive in all of us. Thank you Jesus for your birthday!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Steamboat Springs Ski Area Snow Update and Deal of the Week
Ski area to open more terrain Saturday
Pilot & Today staff
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Updated 12:00 a.m., December 18, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Buoyed by more than 5 feet of snow at the Steamboat Ski Area in the past three weeks, ski area officials announced Wednesday a new slate of trail openings for this weekend. By Saturday, about 96 percent of the ski mountain will be open to skiers and riders.
Morningside Park, Rough Rider Basin, the gladed terrain of Pioneer Ridge and the Rabbit Ears Terrain Park are among the openings scheduled for Saturday morning. The Morningside chairlift also will begin operating for the season.
Ski area officials expect to open the Pony Express chairlift Dec. 27. Maverick’s Superpipe and Terrain Park also could open by Dec. 27, weather permitting.
“December has come in like a lion, and Steamboat continues to enjoy the bounty of being in a very snowy weather pattern, which shows no signs of stopping anytime soon,” Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. President Chris Diamond said in a news release.
The ski area reported a 36-inch mid-mountain base and a 40-inch base at the summit as of Wednesday. Snow has fallen on the slopes of Mount Werner for 12 of the 17 days of December. Eight of those days recorded 4 inches or more of new snow.
More snow is on the way. A winter storm warning is in effect until 6 p.m. today for Mount Werner and other higher-elevation areas of the Gore, Park and Elk mountain ranges. According to the National Weather Service, heavy snow could fall today, with 8 to 16 inches falling at higher elevations by this evening.
A second storm system is expected to move into the region Friday night and Saturday.
The snow and expanded terrain openings coincide with the beginning of the ski season flight program at Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden. Wednesday marked the first arrival of the Northwest Airlines route from Minneapolis/St. Paul. Frontier Airlines begins its daily service from Denver this morning, and flights from Dallas, Chicago, New York, Atlanta and other cities begin Saturday.
The new terrain openings mean the Steamboat Ski Area will offer 2,863 acres of terrain can be accessed by 12 lifts and 154 trails. The Lower Vagabond and Moonlight trails are expected to open before Saturday.
Pow Pow Platter offered
Intrawest’s three Colorado resorts rolled out their latest special earlier this week.
Called the Pow Pow Platter, the promotion offers skiers and riders a $99 package that includes a day each in Steamboat Springs, Copper Mountain and Winter Park. The deal is available “while supplies last” or until Jan. 31. The platter — a photo ID pass — is unrestricted, and days do not have to be used consecutively. One ticket is valid for one day at each resort. The platter is available at www.powpowplatter.com or by calling 866-763-5958. The pass must be purchased at least 48 hours in advance and can be redeemed at any of the three resorts.
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE...............
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Pilot & Today staff
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Updated 12:00 a.m., December 18, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Buoyed by more than 5 feet of snow at the Steamboat Ski Area in the past three weeks, ski area officials announced Wednesday a new slate of trail openings for this weekend. By Saturday, about 96 percent of the ski mountain will be open to skiers and riders.
Morningside Park, Rough Rider Basin, the gladed terrain of Pioneer Ridge and the Rabbit Ears Terrain Park are among the openings scheduled for Saturday morning. The Morningside chairlift also will begin operating for the season.
Ski area officials expect to open the Pony Express chairlift Dec. 27. Maverick’s Superpipe and Terrain Park also could open by Dec. 27, weather permitting.
“December has come in like a lion, and Steamboat continues to enjoy the bounty of being in a very snowy weather pattern, which shows no signs of stopping anytime soon,” Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. President Chris Diamond said in a news release.
The ski area reported a 36-inch mid-mountain base and a 40-inch base at the summit as of Wednesday. Snow has fallen on the slopes of Mount Werner for 12 of the 17 days of December. Eight of those days recorded 4 inches or more of new snow.
More snow is on the way. A winter storm warning is in effect until 6 p.m. today for Mount Werner and other higher-elevation areas of the Gore, Park and Elk mountain ranges. According to the National Weather Service, heavy snow could fall today, with 8 to 16 inches falling at higher elevations by this evening.
A second storm system is expected to move into the region Friday night and Saturday.
The snow and expanded terrain openings coincide with the beginning of the ski season flight program at Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden. Wednesday marked the first arrival of the Northwest Airlines route from Minneapolis/St. Paul. Frontier Airlines begins its daily service from Denver this morning, and flights from Dallas, Chicago, New York, Atlanta and other cities begin Saturday.
The new terrain openings mean the Steamboat Ski Area will offer 2,863 acres of terrain can be accessed by 12 lifts and 154 trails. The Lower Vagabond and Moonlight trails are expected to open before Saturday.
Pow Pow Platter offered
Intrawest’s three Colorado resorts rolled out their latest special earlier this week.
Called the Pow Pow Platter, the promotion offers skiers and riders a $99 package that includes a day each in Steamboat Springs, Copper Mountain and Winter Park. The deal is available “while supplies last” or until Jan. 31. The platter — a photo ID pass — is unrestricted, and days do not have to be used consecutively. One ticket is valid for one day at each resort. The platter is available at www.powpowplatter.com or by calling 866-763-5958. The pass must be purchased at least 48 hours in advance and can be redeemed at any of the three resorts.
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE...............
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Steamboat Springs City Council News for December 16th, 2008
Steamboat Springs builders will be assessed a new building permit fee from now on. On Tuesday, December 16th City Council unanimously approved the second reading of an ordinance that will create a new building permit fee. The cost will be around $1,100 for a 2,500-square-foot single-family home and $6,520.40 for a 40,000-square-foot commercial property.
The developers of 360 Village who have proposed between 550 to 650 homes on 110 acres 1.3 miles west of city limits are going to begin formatting a pre-annexation agreement with City Council.
The Social Host Ordinance was defeated due to a tie vote.
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
The developers of 360 Village who have proposed between 550 to 650 homes on 110 acres 1.3 miles west of city limits are going to begin formatting a pre-annexation agreement with City Council.
The Social Host Ordinance was defeated due to a tie vote.
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Foreclosures Rare In Routt County
Home foreclosures remain rare in Routt County
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Routt County Public Trustee Jeanne Whiddon confirmed this week that a pair of homes in Steamboat Springs — one on Red Hawk Court and another on Cornice Court — were foreclosed on this fall and returned to the holders of the mortgages, an outcome she seldom sees.
“It’s been very rare,” Whiddon said.
Just how rare was confirmed by third-quarter figures released this week by the Colorado Division of Housing.
Routt and Moffat counties rank among eight Colorado counties with the lowest rates statewide of completed foreclosures as a percentage of total housing units through September. The rate in Routt is .08 percent, and in Moffat, it is .02 percent — the lowest in Colorado. That compares to .34 percent in Summit County and 1.34 percent in Weld County.
Usually, a small percentage of the foreclosure notices filed actually go to completion in the form of a trustee’s sale, because homeowners usually work with their lenders to resolve the delinquency before it goes that far.
Realtor Doug Labor, of Buyers Resource Real Estate, tracks real estate trends for the Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service. He said Steamboat’s market is buffered against foreclosures by the relative prosperity of both its primary- and second-home buyers.
“Steamboat’s generally healthy economy and the financial wherewithal of its real estate owners creates a different demographic than many primary markets,” Labor said.
The two Steamboat homes were among four properties that recently were taken all the way to a completed foreclosure. The others include a home in Hayden and a parcel of agricultural land. Earlier in 2008, a single home on rural land was foreclosed on.
Although Whiddon was prepared to conduct a sale in all four recent cases, neither members of the public nor junior creditors appeared to acquire the properties. The result was that ownership reverted to the institutions holding the primary note recorded on the deed.
Routt County foreclosures filings have trended moderately upward this year from the past eight years, when the number of annual foreclosures tended to hover around 50. Foreclosure filings in 2008 currently stand at 50, compared to 47 in all of 2007.
Foreclosure ins and outs
The Department of Housing, in its report last week, explained the distinction between the number of foreclosure filings and the number of completed foreclosures.
The number of filings provides a view of how many borrowers have become seriously delinquent on their loans, the report says.
Foreclosure sale numbers, or the number of completed foreclosures, reflects how many households have lost all equity in a home as a result of the property being sold to another party — including the mortgage company — at auction.
Whiddon says that although she fields numerous calls from people interested in acquiring foreclosed properties, virtually no one shows up at one of the sales that always are scheduled at 10 a.m. sharp on Wednesday mornings.
Homeowners in foreclosure may lose their homes through a variety of processes; however, losing the home through a foreclosure sale is most damaging to the credit of the homeowners/borrower, according to the Department of Housing.
Labor said the gross number of foreclosure filings in Routt County is much less than in most American cities as a percentage of housing units. When compared to some other Colorado mountain towns, it’s about middle of the pack.
The 47 foreclosure filings here in 2007, when expressed as a percentage of the 14,273 units, works out to 0.33 percent. The 2007 average in Colorado was 1.85 percent, Labor said. The foreclosure rate in Pitkin County, including Aspen, was 0.13 percent last year. It was about 0.5 percent in Eagle and Summit counties.
As of Nov. 1, Whiddon thought the number of foreclosure filings in 2008 was on its way to 60 by year’s end. However, she since has revised that number downward, in part because banks have begun extending the time period they will work with creditors.
“Even with the slowdown, I think I’ll probably have three or four more this year,” Whiddon said. “I’m just guessing, but we might end up at 55.”
Activity is looming
Whiddon said that out of 36 foreclosure notices on the books through the second quarter, 13 already had been withdrawn. And out of seven foreclosure sales her office had scheduled as pending in September and early October, another six had been taken off the calendar because the lender filed notice of its intent to cure the defaulted loans.
Colorado law gives owners of nonagricultural property between 110 and 125 days to cure their default after the public trustee has published notice of foreclosure proceedings. The cure period is longer for ag property — 215 to 230 days.
There already are signs of foreclosure activity that will unfold in Routt County early in 2009.
Whiddon said she has a list of 23 properties with pending sale dates, including some in January and February. There’s still a chance those dates could be postponed as long as six months, she added.
END OF STEAMBAOT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Routt County Public Trustee Jeanne Whiddon confirmed this week that a pair of homes in Steamboat Springs — one on Red Hawk Court and another on Cornice Court — were foreclosed on this fall and returned to the holders of the mortgages, an outcome she seldom sees.
“It’s been very rare,” Whiddon said.
Just how rare was confirmed by third-quarter figures released this week by the Colorado Division of Housing.
Routt and Moffat counties rank among eight Colorado counties with the lowest rates statewide of completed foreclosures as a percentage of total housing units through September. The rate in Routt is .08 percent, and in Moffat, it is .02 percent — the lowest in Colorado. That compares to .34 percent in Summit County and 1.34 percent in Weld County.
Usually, a small percentage of the foreclosure notices filed actually go to completion in the form of a trustee’s sale, because homeowners usually work with their lenders to resolve the delinquency before it goes that far.
Realtor Doug Labor, of Buyers Resource Real Estate, tracks real estate trends for the Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service. He said Steamboat’s market is buffered against foreclosures by the relative prosperity of both its primary- and second-home buyers.
“Steamboat’s generally healthy economy and the financial wherewithal of its real estate owners creates a different demographic than many primary markets,” Labor said.
The two Steamboat homes were among four properties that recently were taken all the way to a completed foreclosure. The others include a home in Hayden and a parcel of agricultural land. Earlier in 2008, a single home on rural land was foreclosed on.
Although Whiddon was prepared to conduct a sale in all four recent cases, neither members of the public nor junior creditors appeared to acquire the properties. The result was that ownership reverted to the institutions holding the primary note recorded on the deed.
Routt County foreclosures filings have trended moderately upward this year from the past eight years, when the number of annual foreclosures tended to hover around 50. Foreclosure filings in 2008 currently stand at 50, compared to 47 in all of 2007.
Foreclosure ins and outs
The Department of Housing, in its report last week, explained the distinction between the number of foreclosure filings and the number of completed foreclosures.
The number of filings provides a view of how many borrowers have become seriously delinquent on their loans, the report says.
Foreclosure sale numbers, or the number of completed foreclosures, reflects how many households have lost all equity in a home as a result of the property being sold to another party — including the mortgage company — at auction.
Whiddon says that although she fields numerous calls from people interested in acquiring foreclosed properties, virtually no one shows up at one of the sales that always are scheduled at 10 a.m. sharp on Wednesday mornings.
Homeowners in foreclosure may lose their homes through a variety of processes; however, losing the home through a foreclosure sale is most damaging to the credit of the homeowners/borrower, according to the Department of Housing.
Labor said the gross number of foreclosure filings in Routt County is much less than in most American cities as a percentage of housing units. When compared to some other Colorado mountain towns, it’s about middle of the pack.
The 47 foreclosure filings here in 2007, when expressed as a percentage of the 14,273 units, works out to 0.33 percent. The 2007 average in Colorado was 1.85 percent, Labor said. The foreclosure rate in Pitkin County, including Aspen, was 0.13 percent last year. It was about 0.5 percent in Eagle and Summit counties.
As of Nov. 1, Whiddon thought the number of foreclosure filings in 2008 was on its way to 60 by year’s end. However, she since has revised that number downward, in part because banks have begun extending the time period they will work with creditors.
“Even with the slowdown, I think I’ll probably have three or four more this year,” Whiddon said. “I’m just guessing, but we might end up at 55.”
Activity is looming
Whiddon said that out of 36 foreclosure notices on the books through the second quarter, 13 already had been withdrawn. And out of seven foreclosure sales her office had scheduled as pending in September and early October, another six had been taken off the calendar because the lender filed notice of its intent to cure the defaulted loans.
Colorado law gives owners of nonagricultural property between 110 and 125 days to cure their default after the public trustee has published notice of foreclosure proceedings. The cure period is longer for ag property — 215 to 230 days.
There already are signs of foreclosure activity that will unfold in Routt County early in 2009.
Whiddon said she has a list of 23 properties with pending sale dates, including some in January and February. There’s still a chance those dates could be postponed as long as six months, she added.
END OF STEAMBAOT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
One Steamboat Place Update - Steamboat Springs, Colorado
One Steamboat Place tops out
Completion still 1 year away for condo project at ski base
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Steamboat Springs — Skiers and snowboarders arriving at the base of the Steamboat Ski Area this season are apt to comment on the size of the construction project that recently topped out just off the southern edge of Gondola Square.
If they only knew.
“It’s huge,” Chris Burden agreed. “It’s almost 500,000 square feet. There are more than 300 people working here today. When you think of it, this is a world-class resort that sees 1.1 million skiers every winter, and we’re here building in the middle of it.”
Burden is project director for Timbers Resorts at One Steamboat Place, a luxury condominium project whose three wings have filled up the old gondola parking lot.
In the midst of a recent tour of the building, Burden gestures upward and casually remarks, “We’re walking directly underneath the swimming pool right now. That’s 1 million pounds of steel and concrete above our heads, and we’re in a parking garage that’s underneath it.”
One can’t fully appreciate just how large One Steamboat Place is without touring it. And in the midst of a tour, one might lose a sense of direction.
Burden knows every passageway and every corner of the big building that still has a full year of construction ahead of it. He strides past the employee cafeteria where One Steamboat Place staff eventually will be served meals. He motors past the five rentable employee housing units and proudly shows off a giant boiler room so complex, it will necessitate its own staff engineer.
Over in the west wing of One Steamboat Place, a 2,000-square-foot fitness gym is taking shape just a few steps from the 6,000-square-foot spa with space for 10 treatment rooms. A separate motion studio for yoga classes is next door.
A gathering area for members, the slopeside space for the Truffle Pig restaurant, and a large private lounge with towering ceilings all are taking shape.
‘For the community’
Chris Burden’s father, David Burden, is CEO and founder of Timbers Resorts. The company’s portfolio of resorts includes The Orchard in Napa, Calif.; Botany Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands; Castello di Casole in Tuscany; The Rocks in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Esperanza near the tip of the Baja Peninsula; and The Timbers at Snowmass.
David Burden said one of the notable differences between The Timbers, near Aspen, and One Steamboat Place is the degree to which One Steamboat Place engages the public. The Timbers is essentially a private enclave, Burden said, but the proximity of One Steamboat Place to the existing Gondola Square and the need to function well with existing condo projects and the ski area necessitated a different approach.
“We aren’t building One Steamboat Place just for our owners and guests,” Burden said. “We’re building it for the community, as well.”
One Steamboat Place will significantly add to public gathering areas in Gondola Square and engage the skiing public through inclusion of ski school offices within OSP.
When One Steamboat Place finally opens, pedestrians will make use of a new pathway through the giant condominium project, passing underneath a glass-walled bridge to emerge into the sunlight at the base of the ski trails.
The bridge links the central One Steamboat Place building with its east wing. However, for the public, it will be one of the ways they arrive at the future promenade that will border Burgess Creek and ring the edge of the ski trails. For example, people arriving at the ski area for free summer concerts from surrounding condominiums and neighborhoods are apt to walk beneath the bridge.
Burden said the initial design for the pedestrian walkway showed a pedestrian tunnel with a low ceiling. But a member of City Council urged the taller, more airy bridge, and now Burden believes that suggestion has enhanced the project.
“You want to listen to all of the input you get no matter who it’s from,” Burden said. “This is an idea that worked. It’s that kind of arrival (to the ski area) that’s huge.”
Financing secure
In response to a direct question about the financial health of One Steamboat Place in an economic downturn, David Burden offered assurances that financing for the completion of the project is “absolutely” secure, and said he’s optimistic that its slopeside location in Steamboat will continue to make it attractive in a difficult marketplace.
“This is where our philosophy of always doing projects in a great location comes into play,” Burden said. “We’re front row and center.”
The financing for construction of One Steamboat Place comes from multibillion-dollar real estate investment groups in London, Atlanta and a large German bank. He said he would not name the bank without prior approval from the institution.
“The money is in place,” Burden said. “It’s not coming from Wall Street. We’re not out searching for money. None of this is depending on income.”
One Steamboat Place has already sold 36 of 38 whole-ownership units in the project at prices in the range of $1.5 million to $2 million for condominium homes averaging 2,600 square feet. The success of the whole-ownership units has led the sales and marketing team to focus more intently on the membership club and the fractional ownerships it offers.
Of 176 one-eighth memberships, 148 have sold in the range of $600,000.
The more recently released one-twelfth fractionals sell for $370,000 and entitle members to a prime week in both summer and winter, plus a floating week and the privilege of visiting more frequently on a space-available basis.
“We lead with our one-eighth membership because that’s our bread and butter,” Burden said.
Burden said he’s seen very little evidence that purchasers already under contract will not execute those contracts when the project is complete.
“For a handful, they may be saying, ‘Oh, oh, How am I going to pay for it?’” Burden said. “But we’ve seen very little of that. People who decide to buy $1.5 million to $2 million vacation homes are very wealthy people.”
The Timbers/One Steamboat Place staff isn’t taking anything for granted, however.
“We study our demographics all the time and survey our owners in a fun way,” Burden said.
Very soon, Timbers will begin streaming on-site video progress reports into the computers of its contracted buyers as a means of reassuring them that things are steadily progressing.
And by February, a model unit in the heart of One Steamboat Place will be completed. It will allow buyers to see and touch the interior finishes of one of the luxury homes that is changing the skyline at the base of Mount Werner.
END OF STEAMBOT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE........................
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Completion still 1 year away for condo project at ski base
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Steamboat Springs — Skiers and snowboarders arriving at the base of the Steamboat Ski Area this season are apt to comment on the size of the construction project that recently topped out just off the southern edge of Gondola Square.
If they only knew.
“It’s huge,” Chris Burden agreed. “It’s almost 500,000 square feet. There are more than 300 people working here today. When you think of it, this is a world-class resort that sees 1.1 million skiers every winter, and we’re here building in the middle of it.”
Burden is project director for Timbers Resorts at One Steamboat Place, a luxury condominium project whose three wings have filled up the old gondola parking lot.
In the midst of a recent tour of the building, Burden gestures upward and casually remarks, “We’re walking directly underneath the swimming pool right now. That’s 1 million pounds of steel and concrete above our heads, and we’re in a parking garage that’s underneath it.”
One can’t fully appreciate just how large One Steamboat Place is without touring it. And in the midst of a tour, one might lose a sense of direction.
Burden knows every passageway and every corner of the big building that still has a full year of construction ahead of it. He strides past the employee cafeteria where One Steamboat Place staff eventually will be served meals. He motors past the five rentable employee housing units and proudly shows off a giant boiler room so complex, it will necessitate its own staff engineer.
Over in the west wing of One Steamboat Place, a 2,000-square-foot fitness gym is taking shape just a few steps from the 6,000-square-foot spa with space for 10 treatment rooms. A separate motion studio for yoga classes is next door.
A gathering area for members, the slopeside space for the Truffle Pig restaurant, and a large private lounge with towering ceilings all are taking shape.
‘For the community’
Chris Burden’s father, David Burden, is CEO and founder of Timbers Resorts. The company’s portfolio of resorts includes The Orchard in Napa, Calif.; Botany Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands; Castello di Casole in Tuscany; The Rocks in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Esperanza near the tip of the Baja Peninsula; and The Timbers at Snowmass.
David Burden said one of the notable differences between The Timbers, near Aspen, and One Steamboat Place is the degree to which One Steamboat Place engages the public. The Timbers is essentially a private enclave, Burden said, but the proximity of One Steamboat Place to the existing Gondola Square and the need to function well with existing condo projects and the ski area necessitated a different approach.
“We aren’t building One Steamboat Place just for our owners and guests,” Burden said. “We’re building it for the community, as well.”
One Steamboat Place will significantly add to public gathering areas in Gondola Square and engage the skiing public through inclusion of ski school offices within OSP.
When One Steamboat Place finally opens, pedestrians will make use of a new pathway through the giant condominium project, passing underneath a glass-walled bridge to emerge into the sunlight at the base of the ski trails.
The bridge links the central One Steamboat Place building with its east wing. However, for the public, it will be one of the ways they arrive at the future promenade that will border Burgess Creek and ring the edge of the ski trails. For example, people arriving at the ski area for free summer concerts from surrounding condominiums and neighborhoods are apt to walk beneath the bridge.
Burden said the initial design for the pedestrian walkway showed a pedestrian tunnel with a low ceiling. But a member of City Council urged the taller, more airy bridge, and now Burden believes that suggestion has enhanced the project.
“You want to listen to all of the input you get no matter who it’s from,” Burden said. “This is an idea that worked. It’s that kind of arrival (to the ski area) that’s huge.”
Financing secure
In response to a direct question about the financial health of One Steamboat Place in an economic downturn, David Burden offered assurances that financing for the completion of the project is “absolutely” secure, and said he’s optimistic that its slopeside location in Steamboat will continue to make it attractive in a difficult marketplace.
“This is where our philosophy of always doing projects in a great location comes into play,” Burden said. “We’re front row and center.”
The financing for construction of One Steamboat Place comes from multibillion-dollar real estate investment groups in London, Atlanta and a large German bank. He said he would not name the bank without prior approval from the institution.
“The money is in place,” Burden said. “It’s not coming from Wall Street. We’re not out searching for money. None of this is depending on income.”
One Steamboat Place has already sold 36 of 38 whole-ownership units in the project at prices in the range of $1.5 million to $2 million for condominium homes averaging 2,600 square feet. The success of the whole-ownership units has led the sales and marketing team to focus more intently on the membership club and the fractional ownerships it offers.
Of 176 one-eighth memberships, 148 have sold in the range of $600,000.
The more recently released one-twelfth fractionals sell for $370,000 and entitle members to a prime week in both summer and winter, plus a floating week and the privilege of visiting more frequently on a space-available basis.
“We lead with our one-eighth membership because that’s our bread and butter,” Burden said.
Burden said he’s seen very little evidence that purchasers already under contract will not execute those contracts when the project is complete.
“For a handful, they may be saying, ‘Oh, oh, How am I going to pay for it?’” Burden said. “But we’ve seen very little of that. People who decide to buy $1.5 million to $2 million vacation homes are very wealthy people.”
The Timbers/One Steamboat Place staff isn’t taking anything for granted, however.
“We study our demographics all the time and survey our owners in a fun way,” Burden said.
Very soon, Timbers will begin streaming on-site video progress reports into the computers of its contracted buyers as a means of reassuring them that things are steadily progressing.
And by February, a model unit in the heart of One Steamboat Place will be completed. It will allow buyers to see and touch the interior finishes of one of the luxury homes that is changing the skyline at the base of Mount Werner.
END OF STEAMBOT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE........................
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Steamboat Sheraton Receives Face Lift - 3 Saddles
Sheraton unveils new look
By Tom Ross (Contact) - Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Twenty million dollars later, the Sheraton Steamboat Resort has an elegant new look and — if everything goes as planned — a new identity.
General Manager John Curnow comes from Aspen’s trendy Sky Hotel, which can lay claim to making Forbes Traveler’s list of top 10 après ski bars. He’s hoping the refurbished 3 Saddles lounge will attract Steamboat residents to come mingle and sip designer cocktails with his guests at the Sheraton.
“It’s important to re-invite the local community,” Curnow said. “We want Steamboat to be comfortable here. You have to embrace the community. That’s been my background.”
To make it easier for Steamboat residents to check out the redesign of the public spaces at the Sheraton Steamboat — and hang out at 3 Saddles in the Sevens fine dining restaurant — Curnow will begin offering complimentary valet parking this winter.
Steamboaters who haven’t ventured beyond the Sheraton’s grand ballroom for a couple of years will be taken aback by the new lobby, the more inviting furniture groupings in 3 Saddles and the cybercafé the Sheraton mothership has branded The Link@Sheraton.
The design aesthetic melds playful ’60s-retro fixtures, ski history and ranching artifacts repurposed in glass-covered shadow boxes and designer lighting fixtures, including some that resemble icicles. You have to wander through the place for half an hour to soak it in.
Designers under contract to the Sheraton Steamboat’s parent company, Starwood Hotels, cleverly used a large waiting area at the entrance to Sevens to create two distinct areas for wireless warriors. The first provides stools around the arc of a counter in front of a fireplace. It is meant for people who have their own laptops in tow. It’s also strategically located next to a large window that overlooks the ski slopes.
Next door is a semi-enclosed circular room with a centerpiece round desk studded with large flat screen computer monitors.
The Link denizens are encouraged to order a bagel or a snack, Sheraton Director of Sales and Marketing Joan Morrison said.
The warm red color of persimmon permeates the redesign of dining rooms, the lobby and all the public spaces at the Sheraton Steamboat, because it’s a color that makes people feel good, Morrison said.
The intent is to reinvent the old hotel workstations as a social hub where guys and gals can sip cocktails or hot drinks.
A sophisticated touch
Curnow is determined that 3 Saddles (if you abbreviate the name to just plain Saddles, everybody will know what you mean) lays its rightful claim to being one of the premier après ski spots in Steamboat based on its unbeatable location at the edge of the slopes. He doesn’t want to deter a young crowd, but he’s aiming for adults seeking a sophisticated touch.
The music from the new sound system in the lounge is modern soft rock, and the programming is very deliberate. The two flat screens in the lounge will be tuned to adventure ski films, not basketball games. And the menu from Executive Chef Jon Demel promises creativity. His kitchen will put out elk sirloin chili, wine-braised bison short ribs, achiote marinated bone-in chicken breast and rack of wild boar.
The designers have succeeded in creating 15 to 20 intimate seating areas on soft furniture in the lounge.
Rooms get updated, too
The guest accommodations also have undergone a transformation at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort. All of the rooms, including the original small-format hotel rooms, have been refurbished with creamy leather on the walls behind the headboards, premium beds and bedding, flat panel televisions and nice touches like freestanding vanities. The small hotel rooms still are limited by their dimensions, but they are decidedly contemporary.
But the showplaces of the hotel’s west wing are four new two-bedroom suites created from four original hotel rooms. They feature a nontraditional central living area bracketed by a king suite and two queens on the other side.
The living area resembles a home theater with a large sectional couch backed by the equivalent of a breakfast bar in a custom home.
There is a microwave kitchen robust enough to satisfy anyone’s late-night food cravings.
Starwood Vacation Ownership is actively selling fractional vacation ownerships at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort in the previously existing Morningside tower. In fact, Morrison said, it was a key factor in Starwood’s decision to purchase the hotel.
Starwood was able to undertake the luxury refurbishing of the condominiums in Morningside into new vacation villas beginning in April and complete the first 21 two- and three-bedroom units of the eventual 45 in seven months. They are now open and hosting guests.
The best way to describe them is to compare the Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas to some of Steamboat’s best ski-in/ski-out condominiums with all of the luxuries of a full-service hotel, including room service and concierge service.
The project continues
The $20 million spent on the public spaces and nightly accommodations at the Sheraton Steamboat are part of a larger $50 million project that continues through next summer with the creation of more suites in the original portion of the Sheraton.
And the work is part of the Sheraton brand’s wide investment of $4 billion in new hotels, upgrading 100 exiting U.S. hotels and renovating 50,000 guestrooms and 100 lobbies.
Curnow is excited for his employees and guests to enjoy the new feel of the Sheraton Steamboat Resort. But he knows it’s not the end all. After seeing his property reduce its number of rooms from 315 to 205, he’s confident his staff can offer more individual attention to its guests.
“The design only gets you so far,” Curnow said. “We want to offer the personal service of a boutique hotel.”
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE.........................
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
By Tom Ross (Contact) - Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Twenty million dollars later, the Sheraton Steamboat Resort has an elegant new look and — if everything goes as planned — a new identity.
General Manager John Curnow comes from Aspen’s trendy Sky Hotel, which can lay claim to making Forbes Traveler’s list of top 10 après ski bars. He’s hoping the refurbished 3 Saddles lounge will attract Steamboat residents to come mingle and sip designer cocktails with his guests at the Sheraton.
“It’s important to re-invite the local community,” Curnow said. “We want Steamboat to be comfortable here. You have to embrace the community. That’s been my background.”
To make it easier for Steamboat residents to check out the redesign of the public spaces at the Sheraton Steamboat — and hang out at 3 Saddles in the Sevens fine dining restaurant — Curnow will begin offering complimentary valet parking this winter.
Steamboaters who haven’t ventured beyond the Sheraton’s grand ballroom for a couple of years will be taken aback by the new lobby, the more inviting furniture groupings in 3 Saddles and the cybercafé the Sheraton mothership has branded The Link@Sheraton.
The design aesthetic melds playful ’60s-retro fixtures, ski history and ranching artifacts repurposed in glass-covered shadow boxes and designer lighting fixtures, including some that resemble icicles. You have to wander through the place for half an hour to soak it in.
Designers under contract to the Sheraton Steamboat’s parent company, Starwood Hotels, cleverly used a large waiting area at the entrance to Sevens to create two distinct areas for wireless warriors. The first provides stools around the arc of a counter in front of a fireplace. It is meant for people who have their own laptops in tow. It’s also strategically located next to a large window that overlooks the ski slopes.
Next door is a semi-enclosed circular room with a centerpiece round desk studded with large flat screen computer monitors.
The Link denizens are encouraged to order a bagel or a snack, Sheraton Director of Sales and Marketing Joan Morrison said.
The warm red color of persimmon permeates the redesign of dining rooms, the lobby and all the public spaces at the Sheraton Steamboat, because it’s a color that makes people feel good, Morrison said.
The intent is to reinvent the old hotel workstations as a social hub where guys and gals can sip cocktails or hot drinks.
A sophisticated touch
Curnow is determined that 3 Saddles (if you abbreviate the name to just plain Saddles, everybody will know what you mean) lays its rightful claim to being one of the premier après ski spots in Steamboat based on its unbeatable location at the edge of the slopes. He doesn’t want to deter a young crowd, but he’s aiming for adults seeking a sophisticated touch.
The music from the new sound system in the lounge is modern soft rock, and the programming is very deliberate. The two flat screens in the lounge will be tuned to adventure ski films, not basketball games. And the menu from Executive Chef Jon Demel promises creativity. His kitchen will put out elk sirloin chili, wine-braised bison short ribs, achiote marinated bone-in chicken breast and rack of wild boar.
The designers have succeeded in creating 15 to 20 intimate seating areas on soft furniture in the lounge.
Rooms get updated, too
The guest accommodations also have undergone a transformation at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort. All of the rooms, including the original small-format hotel rooms, have been refurbished with creamy leather on the walls behind the headboards, premium beds and bedding, flat panel televisions and nice touches like freestanding vanities. The small hotel rooms still are limited by their dimensions, but they are decidedly contemporary.
But the showplaces of the hotel’s west wing are four new two-bedroom suites created from four original hotel rooms. They feature a nontraditional central living area bracketed by a king suite and two queens on the other side.
The living area resembles a home theater with a large sectional couch backed by the equivalent of a breakfast bar in a custom home.
There is a microwave kitchen robust enough to satisfy anyone’s late-night food cravings.
Starwood Vacation Ownership is actively selling fractional vacation ownerships at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort in the previously existing Morningside tower. In fact, Morrison said, it was a key factor in Starwood’s decision to purchase the hotel.
Starwood was able to undertake the luxury refurbishing of the condominiums in Morningside into new vacation villas beginning in April and complete the first 21 two- and three-bedroom units of the eventual 45 in seven months. They are now open and hosting guests.
The best way to describe them is to compare the Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas to some of Steamboat’s best ski-in/ski-out condominiums with all of the luxuries of a full-service hotel, including room service and concierge service.
The project continues
The $20 million spent on the public spaces and nightly accommodations at the Sheraton Steamboat are part of a larger $50 million project that continues through next summer with the creation of more suites in the original portion of the Sheraton.
And the work is part of the Sheraton brand’s wide investment of $4 billion in new hotels, upgrading 100 exiting U.S. hotels and renovating 50,000 guestrooms and 100 lobbies.
Curnow is excited for his employees and guests to enjoy the new feel of the Sheraton Steamboat Resort. But he knows it’s not the end all. After seeing his property reduce its number of rooms from 315 to 205, he’s confident his staff can offer more individual attention to its guests.
“The design only gets you so far,” Curnow said. “We want to offer the personal service of a boutique hotel.”
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE.........................
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
HAYDEN, COLORADO - THE MEADOW - 29 LOTS
Hayden subdivision features mid-range homes with solar panels
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs homebuilder Paul Flood is determined to show mid-level buyers in the Yampa Valley that “green” homes can fit within the budget of working families.
“I’m a little hardheaded,” said Flood, who builds structures including exceptional insulation and solar panels. “But I just think it’s where we’ve got to go. We absolutely have to start using alternative energy. Given a chance, people can be shown that the math works.”
Flood is the principal in P.T. Flood Construction and developer of The Meadow subdivision in Hayden, where he is not selling lots, but slowly rolling out spec homes he says he can take pride in.
The town of Hayden has approved The Meadow for 29 lots, and Flood has built seven homes in the first phase of 15 lots.
Of the seven homes, five sold. Sale prices have ranged from $255,500 in 2006 to $386,000 in late 2007.
One home, the largest in the neighborhood, recently was finished, and another is due to be finished in April.
Lots range from 6,000 square feet — or about one-seventh of an acre — to between 14,000 and 15,000 square feet — almost one-third of an acre.
The most recently completed home offers 2,300 square feet, four bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. Priced at $489,900, it is the largest home in the neighborhood and isn’t typical of the slightly smaller homes to come, he said.
Building bungalows
Flood said he is contemplating going back to town government to see if he can get the second phase approved for 30 or 31 lots, so that he can build compact cottage homes in the future.
For now, Flood says he wants to keep close control of the type of housing built so that he can establish the theme of the neighborhood.
“I’d rather build spec homes right now, because I can establish the arts and craft, bungalow look,” Flood said.
Flood has contracted with Matt Wagar, of Moonhill Designs, the same designer responsible for Cook Chevrolet and The Victoria in Steamboat, to help him create some of the existing homes at The Meadow. They include covered front porches with detached garages in the rear.
Flood strongly thinks that any green approach to meeting a home’s energy needs has to be two-pronged.
“The whole has to start with energy efficiency,” Flood said. “I use Styrofoam forms for the foundation, and we have Corbond insulation sprayed into the homes. It costs more, but I won’t build a home without it anymore.”
Start early
Flood tells prospective buyers that the construction phase is the time to invest in a home’s efficiency, reminding them that there are many aspects of a home that can be upgraded throughout time, but you’ll never re-do its exterior walls.
Realtor Scott Eggleston, of ReMax Steamboat, said Flood’s homes are among the most energy-efficient he has seen.
“The house is so tight, he has to put air exchangers in there,” Eggleston said.
Flood’s green building practices don’t end with exterior considerations. He also installs Energy Star appliances and favors renewable bamboo wood flooring.
However, for homes priced from the low $300s to the low $400s, the four solar panels on the back of the garage might be the most intriguing feature.
The system that Flood installs heats water in a holding tank by circulating glycol through coils in the panels and then running it through a small heat exchanger. Solar heat stored in the glycol is transferred to water for bathing and laundry, for example, but it also supplies the home’s in-floor heating system. A natural gas-fired boiler augments the heat.
The Meadow is in a quiet Hayden neighborhood, across the street from the new Dry Creek Park. It conveniently shares a property line with Hayden Valley Elementary School.
Flood said he is proud of some of the custom features he has been able to build into the homes.
“These homes are neat on the inside,” Flood said. “They’re not just big boxes. They have things like build-in window seats and kitchen nooks. There are also some bonus rooms that could be used as offices.”
Eggleston said he has worked with Flood for a long time and has admired his willingness to work with buyers to find terms that will help them acquire a new home.
“I’ve known Paul for 28 years, and he has always been very conscientious and concerned with doing the right thing,” Eggleston said.
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs homebuilder Paul Flood is determined to show mid-level buyers in the Yampa Valley that “green” homes can fit within the budget of working families.
“I’m a little hardheaded,” said Flood, who builds structures including exceptional insulation and solar panels. “But I just think it’s where we’ve got to go. We absolutely have to start using alternative energy. Given a chance, people can be shown that the math works.”
Flood is the principal in P.T. Flood Construction and developer of The Meadow subdivision in Hayden, where he is not selling lots, but slowly rolling out spec homes he says he can take pride in.
The town of Hayden has approved The Meadow for 29 lots, and Flood has built seven homes in the first phase of 15 lots.
Of the seven homes, five sold. Sale prices have ranged from $255,500 in 2006 to $386,000 in late 2007.
One home, the largest in the neighborhood, recently was finished, and another is due to be finished in April.
Lots range from 6,000 square feet — or about one-seventh of an acre — to between 14,000 and 15,000 square feet — almost one-third of an acre.
The most recently completed home offers 2,300 square feet, four bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. Priced at $489,900, it is the largest home in the neighborhood and isn’t typical of the slightly smaller homes to come, he said.
Building bungalows
Flood said he is contemplating going back to town government to see if he can get the second phase approved for 30 or 31 lots, so that he can build compact cottage homes in the future.
For now, Flood says he wants to keep close control of the type of housing built so that he can establish the theme of the neighborhood.
“I’d rather build spec homes right now, because I can establish the arts and craft, bungalow look,” Flood said.
Flood has contracted with Matt Wagar, of Moonhill Designs, the same designer responsible for Cook Chevrolet and The Victoria in Steamboat, to help him create some of the existing homes at The Meadow. They include covered front porches with detached garages in the rear.
Flood strongly thinks that any green approach to meeting a home’s energy needs has to be two-pronged.
“The whole has to start with energy efficiency,” Flood said. “I use Styrofoam forms for the foundation, and we have Corbond insulation sprayed into the homes. It costs more, but I won’t build a home without it anymore.”
Start early
Flood tells prospective buyers that the construction phase is the time to invest in a home’s efficiency, reminding them that there are many aspects of a home that can be upgraded throughout time, but you’ll never re-do its exterior walls.
Realtor Scott Eggleston, of ReMax Steamboat, said Flood’s homes are among the most energy-efficient he has seen.
“The house is so tight, he has to put air exchangers in there,” Eggleston said.
Flood’s green building practices don’t end with exterior considerations. He also installs Energy Star appliances and favors renewable bamboo wood flooring.
However, for homes priced from the low $300s to the low $400s, the four solar panels on the back of the garage might be the most intriguing feature.
The system that Flood installs heats water in a holding tank by circulating glycol through coils in the panels and then running it through a small heat exchanger. Solar heat stored in the glycol is transferred to water for bathing and laundry, for example, but it also supplies the home’s in-floor heating system. A natural gas-fired boiler augments the heat.
The Meadow is in a quiet Hayden neighborhood, across the street from the new Dry Creek Park. It conveniently shares a property line with Hayden Valley Elementary School.
Flood said he is proud of some of the custom features he has been able to build into the homes.
“These homes are neat on the inside,” Flood said. “They’re not just big boxes. They have things like build-in window seats and kitchen nooks. There are also some bonus rooms that could be used as offices.”
Eggleston said he has worked with Flood for a long time and has admired his willingness to work with buyers to find terms that will help them acquire a new home.
“I’ve known Paul for 28 years, and he has always been very conscientious and concerned with doing the right thing,” Eggleston said.
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Steamboat 700 Facts
Steamboat 700 by the numbers
Size: 700 acres
Buildout: 10 to 25 years
Residential units: 1,827 to 2,243
High-density residential units (condos, townhouses, apartments): 45 percent
Small, single-family lots (under 8,000 square feet) or duplexes: 36 percent
Square footage of commercial/nonresidential uses: 272,000 to 331,000
Affordable housing target: 80 percent to 150 percent AMI (area median income)
Permanently deed-restricted housing provided by developer: 20 percent (367 to 448 units)
Topography: Most slopes 5 percent to 15 percent, some 30 percent or more on bluffs and hillsides
“Village centers:” three to four stories
Open space: 221 acres (32 percent)
Trails: 10+ miles
Infrastructure cost: $103 million
Additional off-site automobile trips a day generated: 14,000
— Source: Steamboat 700 Initial Submittal, November 2007 via Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Size: 700 acres
Buildout: 10 to 25 years
Residential units: 1,827 to 2,243
High-density residential units (condos, townhouses, apartments): 45 percent
Small, single-family lots (under 8,000 square feet) or duplexes: 36 percent
Square footage of commercial/nonresidential uses: 272,000 to 331,000
Affordable housing target: 80 percent to 150 percent AMI (area median income)
Permanently deed-restricted housing provided by developer: 20 percent (367 to 448 units)
Topography: Most slopes 5 percent to 15 percent, some 30 percent or more on bluffs and hillsides
“Village centers:” three to four stories
Open space: 221 acres (32 percent)
Trails: 10+ miles
Infrastructure cost: $103 million
Additional off-site automobile trips a day generated: 14,000
— Source: Steamboat 700 Initial Submittal, November 2007 via Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Saturday, December 6, 2008
The Steamboat Ski Area - Champagne Powder
Expanded openings on tap for today
New terrain, deep snow greet skiers and riders Friday
Pilot & Today staff
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday was the first official powder day of the 2008-09 season at the Steamboat Ski Area. Ski area photographer Larry Pierce was there to capture the day.
Steamboat Springs — Almost one-third of the Steamboat Ski Area will be open to skiers and riders by the time the gondola begins ferrying passengers to Thunderhead this morning.
Ski area officials announced Friday additional terrain openings that will bring the skiable acreage to 972. Storm Peak Express will be among the five chairlifts servicing 67 trails, including many of the runs off Sunshine Peak.
The list of trails:
■ Green: Arc, Big Foot, Boulevard, Duster, Feather, Flat Out, Giggle Gulch, Main Drag, Park Lane, Preview, Short Cut, So What, Stampede, Right-O-Way, Yoo Hoo and Why Not
■ Blue: Blizzard, Buddy’s Run, Calf Roper, Chisolm Trail, Dusk, Eagles Nest, Ego, Heavenly Daze, High Noon, Highline, Jess’ Cut Off, Lightning, Meadow Lane, One O’Clock, Rainbow, Rudi’s Run, Sitz, Skyline, Tower, Tornado Lane, Traverse, Vagabond and Vogue
■ Blue/Black: Norther, Sunset, Surprise, Two O’Clock
■ Black: Burgess Creek Lift Line, Closet, Cyclone, Dawn, Hurricane, Kuus’ Cruise, Nelson’s Run, Oops, See Ya, Shadows, Storm Peak Catwalk, Storm Peak North, Storm Peak South, Sundown Lift Line, Three O’Clock, Tornado, Triangle 3, Twilight, Twister, Typhoon, Vertigo and White Out
■ Terrain Parks: Lil’ Rodeo
■ Chairlifts: Burgess Creek, Christie Express, gondola, Preview, Storm Peak Express
The ski area opened last week, but there was no doubt Friday represented the first real day of the 2008-09 season for many local skiers and riders.
The ski area opened the gondola, as well as 27 additional trails Friday. The resort reported 11 inches of new snow Friday morning, but on some of the previously unopened terrain, the powder was significantly deeper.
“It was great. We had a blast up there today. I actually got stuck up there a couple of times,” said Toscha Velasquez, who joined coworkers on the slopes before heading into work at about 11 a.m. “I didn’t expect it to be that good. I think everybody’s pretty thrilled that it’s better than they expected.”
Long lines greeted skiers and snowboarders at the Burgess Creek chairlift, which also opened for the first time Friday and was the only lift open outside the base area. Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., the wait at the three-pack lift was about 20 minutes.
Shortly after 10 a.m., the top of Heavenly Daze looked like the starting line at the annual Cowboy Downhill, as anxious skiers and riders lined up for a mass stampede as resort employees dropped the ropes on the popular trail. Snowmaking and grooming requirements delayed the trail’s opening until later in the morning.
Skiers and riders may want to wake up early this morning to take advantage of the conditions. The National Weather Service forecasts partly sunny skies through the weekend, with a chance of snow returning to the area Monday. High temperatures during the weekend will be in the mid-30s.
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
New terrain, deep snow greet skiers and riders Friday
Pilot & Today staff
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday was the first official powder day of the 2008-09 season at the Steamboat Ski Area. Ski area photographer Larry Pierce was there to capture the day.
Steamboat Springs — Almost one-third of the Steamboat Ski Area will be open to skiers and riders by the time the gondola begins ferrying passengers to Thunderhead this morning.
Ski area officials announced Friday additional terrain openings that will bring the skiable acreage to 972. Storm Peak Express will be among the five chairlifts servicing 67 trails, including many of the runs off Sunshine Peak.
The list of trails:
■ Green: Arc, Big Foot, Boulevard, Duster, Feather, Flat Out, Giggle Gulch, Main Drag, Park Lane, Preview, Short Cut, So What, Stampede, Right-O-Way, Yoo Hoo and Why Not
■ Blue: Blizzard, Buddy’s Run, Calf Roper, Chisolm Trail, Dusk, Eagles Nest, Ego, Heavenly Daze, High Noon, Highline, Jess’ Cut Off, Lightning, Meadow Lane, One O’Clock, Rainbow, Rudi’s Run, Sitz, Skyline, Tower, Tornado Lane, Traverse, Vagabond and Vogue
■ Blue/Black: Norther, Sunset, Surprise, Two O’Clock
■ Black: Burgess Creek Lift Line, Closet, Cyclone, Dawn, Hurricane, Kuus’ Cruise, Nelson’s Run, Oops, See Ya, Shadows, Storm Peak Catwalk, Storm Peak North, Storm Peak South, Sundown Lift Line, Three O’Clock, Tornado, Triangle 3, Twilight, Twister, Typhoon, Vertigo and White Out
■ Terrain Parks: Lil’ Rodeo
■ Chairlifts: Burgess Creek, Christie Express, gondola, Preview, Storm Peak Express
The ski area opened last week, but there was no doubt Friday represented the first real day of the 2008-09 season for many local skiers and riders.
The ski area opened the gondola, as well as 27 additional trails Friday. The resort reported 11 inches of new snow Friday morning, but on some of the previously unopened terrain, the powder was significantly deeper.
“It was great. We had a blast up there today. I actually got stuck up there a couple of times,” said Toscha Velasquez, who joined coworkers on the slopes before heading into work at about 11 a.m. “I didn’t expect it to be that good. I think everybody’s pretty thrilled that it’s better than they expected.”
Long lines greeted skiers and snowboarders at the Burgess Creek chairlift, which also opened for the first time Friday and was the only lift open outside the base area. Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., the wait at the three-pack lift was about 20 minutes.
Shortly after 10 a.m., the top of Heavenly Daze looked like the starting line at the annual Cowboy Downhill, as anxious skiers and riders lined up for a mass stampede as resort employees dropped the ropes on the popular trail. Snowmaking and grooming requirements delayed the trail’s opening until later in the morning.
Skiers and riders may want to wake up early this morning to take advantage of the conditions. The National Weather Service forecasts partly sunny skies through the weekend, with a chance of snow returning to the area Monday. High temperatures during the weekend will be in the mid-30s.
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Affordable Housing Rules in Steamboat Springs
Housing battle brewing
Developers could take legal action against Steamboat Springs
By Brandon Gee (Contact)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs City Council rejected developers’ requests Tuesday to relax affordable housing requirements at Wildhorse Meadows, but sweeping changes could be in store for the city’s housing ordinances beginning early next year.
That effort might not come early enough for development company Resort Ventures West, however, as one company official hinted at potential legal action after City Council rejected the company’s proposal to remove deed restrictions and income limitations for potential buyers of affordable units.
“All options are available,” said Brent Pearson, a principal and chief financial officer of Resort Ventures West. “We’re going to have to look at all our options — any type of potential action we can take. … It’s not the last time the city’s heard from us.”
Wildhorse Meadows is a resort housing development near the base of the Steamboat Ski Area. One component of the project is First Tracks, an affordable condominium development aimed at satisfying the city’s affordable housing requirements for the development.
Citing their struggle to find buyers for condos in First Tracks, Resort Ventures West asked the city to remove the deed restrictions on the condos, which cap their annual appreciation at 3 percent in an effort to keep them permanently affordable. The company also asked to have income limitations removed, leaving a provision that only people working in Routt County be able to purchase the units as the sole restriction. City Council denied the request, 5-1, with several council members saying it would be inappropriate to approve the request in advance of a comprehensive review of the city’s affordable housing ordinances, which is scheduled to begin in February.
“It needs more thought and input,” City Council President Loui Antonucci said.
Council members Antonucci, Cari Hermacinski, Meg Bentley, Steve Ivancie and Walter Magill voted in favor of the denial. Councilman Scott Myller voted against it. Councilman Jon Quinn stepped down on the agenda item because his company has done substantial computer and phone system work for Resort Ventures West.
Pearson strongly disagreed with the majority of council and comments by Antonucci that government can’t move as fast as private enterprise would like.
“I understand your comments,” Pearson said. “I appreciate them. I completely disagree with them. When something serious happens out there, we move as quickly as possible. This is a very bad recipe for affordable housing.”
Resort Ventures West has been able to put just 14 condos under contract at First Tracks, which has 47 units scheduled for completion in June 2009. Delays in selling the condos, Pearson said, are delaying the entire development and increasing Resort Ventures West carrying costs and risk. The company spent $150,000 marketing the units, and Nancy Engelken, the city’s community housing coordinator, praised Resort Ventures West’s efforts as she recommended that City Council deny the company’s request.
Wildhorse Meadows has often been called a “guinea pig” for the city’s inclusionary zoning and linkage policies, which were revised substantially by a previous City Council last year. Although council members expressed their willingness to take a fresh look at the policies beginning with the February work session, Pearson regarded the prospect of waiting until then for resolution as a last resort.
“If all else fails, we end up back here in February trying to work with the city,” he said.
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado...
Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Developers could take legal action against Steamboat Springs
By Brandon Gee (Contact)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs City Council rejected developers’ requests Tuesday to relax affordable housing requirements at Wildhorse Meadows, but sweeping changes could be in store for the city’s housing ordinances beginning early next year.
That effort might not come early enough for development company Resort Ventures West, however, as one company official hinted at potential legal action after City Council rejected the company’s proposal to remove deed restrictions and income limitations for potential buyers of affordable units.
“All options are available,” said Brent Pearson, a principal and chief financial officer of Resort Ventures West. “We’re going to have to look at all our options — any type of potential action we can take. … It’s not the last time the city’s heard from us.”
Wildhorse Meadows is a resort housing development near the base of the Steamboat Ski Area. One component of the project is First Tracks, an affordable condominium development aimed at satisfying the city’s affordable housing requirements for the development.
Citing their struggle to find buyers for condos in First Tracks, Resort Ventures West asked the city to remove the deed restrictions on the condos, which cap their annual appreciation at 3 percent in an effort to keep them permanently affordable. The company also asked to have income limitations removed, leaving a provision that only people working in Routt County be able to purchase the units as the sole restriction. City Council denied the request, 5-1, with several council members saying it would be inappropriate to approve the request in advance of a comprehensive review of the city’s affordable housing ordinances, which is scheduled to begin in February.
“It needs more thought and input,” City Council President Loui Antonucci said.
Council members Antonucci, Cari Hermacinski, Meg Bentley, Steve Ivancie and Walter Magill voted in favor of the denial. Councilman Scott Myller voted against it. Councilman Jon Quinn stepped down on the agenda item because his company has done substantial computer and phone system work for Resort Ventures West.
Pearson strongly disagreed with the majority of council and comments by Antonucci that government can’t move as fast as private enterprise would like.
“I understand your comments,” Pearson said. “I appreciate them. I completely disagree with them. When something serious happens out there, we move as quickly as possible. This is a very bad recipe for affordable housing.”
Resort Ventures West has been able to put just 14 condos under contract at First Tracks, which has 47 units scheduled for completion in June 2009. Delays in selling the condos, Pearson said, are delaying the entire development and increasing Resort Ventures West carrying costs and risk. The company spent $150,000 marketing the units, and Nancy Engelken, the city’s community housing coordinator, praised Resort Ventures West’s efforts as she recommended that City Council deny the company’s request.
Wildhorse Meadows has often been called a “guinea pig” for the city’s inclusionary zoning and linkage policies, which were revised substantially by a previous City Council last year. Although council members expressed their willingness to take a fresh look at the policies beginning with the February work session, Pearson regarded the prospect of waiting until then for resolution as a last resort.
“If all else fails, we end up back here in February trying to work with the city,” he said.
END OF STEAMBOAT PILOT & TODAY ARTICLE
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado...
Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Monday, November 24, 2008
Denver & Houston Real Estate Markets on the Rise
Recent statistics indicate that residential home prices and sales in Denver and the Front Range have held up against the national trend, and are fighting negative market conditions.
Here are just a few great statistics publushed recently:
According to the Real-Time Housing Market Report, out of 26 major markets, listing prices rose at the fastest rate in Denver - up 0.7% in October.
Denver and Houston are now the only markets showing three months of sequential price increases. According to Inverstor's Business Daily, Colorado's sales of existing single-family homes rose 4.8% in September from a year earlier, and the Denver metro area's sales rose 14.3%.
This article was complied by Luxury Home Magazine (LHM) - the premier magazine to see luxury home listings. To receive a publication of Luxury Home Magazine call LHM at 303.650.4090 or info@lhmdenver.com for more information.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: www.SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Here are just a few great statistics publushed recently:
According to the Real-Time Housing Market Report, out of 26 major markets, listing prices rose at the fastest rate in Denver - up 0.7% in October.
Denver and Houston are now the only markets showing three months of sequential price increases. According to Inverstor's Business Daily, Colorado's sales of existing single-family homes rose 4.8% in September from a year earlier, and the Denver metro area's sales rose 14.3%.
This article was complied by Luxury Home Magazine (LHM) - the premier magazine to see luxury home listings. To receive a publication of Luxury Home Magazine call LHM at 303.650.4090 or info@lhmdenver.com for more information.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: www.SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 EXT 434
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Where's the Money - in Steamboat Springs???
Where’s the Money?
The Mortgage Brokers in Steamboat Springs have access to plenty! On Thursday, November 20TH, REALTORS® gathered at the Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors conference room to listen to a panel of local Mortgage Brokers talk about Credit Tips and several types of loans available to our Buyers. Thanks APC for hosting this much needed positive spin on the mortgage industry. The good news is there is money out there. Buyers don’t let the negativity of the media or the current economic conditions keep you from inquiring about a loan to purchase a home. All are welcome including poor – average credit (FICO scores), first time home buyers, and those with little down payment.
Ed Allbright from Columbine Mortgage gave many credit tips. Here are just four:
1. Don’t close old credit cards. 15% of credit scores are determined by the age of the credit file. People who have had credit for a longer period of time are thought to be less of a risk of defaulting. Use your old card once every three months or so then pay it off at the billing cycle to keep your credit scores high.
2. When you decide you would like to buy a home begin by checking your own credit score at www.annualcreditreport.com. Look for mistakes and correct them. Any item that says: “unknown, unsatisfied, not paid, or not released” should be changed to “paid, satisfied or released”. You can contact this company once per year at no charge and not receive an “inquiry deduction” on your FICO score. Your goal is to have at least three lines of credit established for two years in good standing to really improve your credit or FICO scores.
3. To help prevent Identity fraud, place a freeze on your credit reports. You can do this by contacting the three credit bureaus in writing by certified mail. Just state in the letter you want to place a freeze on your file. The bureau will not be allowed to release your credit report or any information in it without your special password. The three bureaus are: www.equifax.com, www.experian.com and www.transunion.com.
4. Eliminate junk mail by going to: www.optoutprescreen.com
If you may be unable to make several mortgage payments, look into a "Loan Modification" program which is differenct then refianancing. There are numerous sites on line to help with this. One mentioned was Home Help which I found at http://www.homeforeclosurefighter.com
Carmen Ashbaugh from Vectra Bank says the current FHA Loans are the new 80/20 and are not like your dad’s FHA. 30% of the loans she does are now FHA and are ideal for 1st home buyers. The following criteria applies: Owner occupied; mortgages up to $675,000; as little as 3.5% down or can accept the down payment in the form of a gift or seller carry; full documentation of salary and assets; Co-signer allowed; OK with poor FICO scores especially if your scores have been improving over the last 12 months; no prepayment penalty; no income limits; manufactured homes OK, but no condos or condotels. She stated for developers to consider applying for an FHA approval to be the first condo development in Steamboat to qualify their buyers for FHA approved loans.
John McCollum from First National Bank of the Rockies talked about the criteria of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) Loans. He says the CHFA loan is available for a maximum purchase price of $350,000 and condos are allowed. It is designed for the 1st time home buyer or people who have not owned in the last three years; home buyer class is required that can be taken on-line; low FICO scores are accepted; as little as $1,000 down; three years of documentation are necessary; Mortgage Insurance required on loans above 80% of home value; higher interest rates then other loans; recapture tax if sold within 10 years and if income goes up significantly.
Kathryn Pedersen of Yampa Valley Bank described the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Loans that are only available to rural areas like Routt County. Must be a primary residence and can be a condo; 30 year fixed; 100% financing available; no monthly mortgage insurance premium; no reserves required; considers low FICO scores; and no maximum loan amount.
Loans are not guaranteed based on the information provided in this summary. Every day new information becomes available to the mortgage lenders that can change the loan requirements just like new properties come on the market and current active listings turn into pendings or solds on a daily basis. 85 % of home buyers begin their real estate research on-line, yet eventually secure the service of a qualified REALTOR®. As important as it is to have Buyer’s
Representation from a REALTOR®, you should also seek the advice early on of a reputable local lender. To access lender information go to www.SteamboatDream.com - Click on Steamboat Links - choose Lenders.
For all your real estate needs in Steamboat Springs, Colorado call me…
Michelle Diehl, GRI
Broker Associate
Prudential Steamboat Realty
970.846.1086
The Mortgage Brokers in Steamboat Springs have access to plenty! On Thursday, November 20TH, REALTORS® gathered at the Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors conference room to listen to a panel of local Mortgage Brokers talk about Credit Tips and several types of loans available to our Buyers. Thanks APC for hosting this much needed positive spin on the mortgage industry. The good news is there is money out there. Buyers don’t let the negativity of the media or the current economic conditions keep you from inquiring about a loan to purchase a home. All are welcome including poor – average credit (FICO scores), first time home buyers, and those with little down payment.
Ed Allbright from Columbine Mortgage gave many credit tips. Here are just four:
1. Don’t close old credit cards. 15% of credit scores are determined by the age of the credit file. People who have had credit for a longer period of time are thought to be less of a risk of defaulting. Use your old card once every three months or so then pay it off at the billing cycle to keep your credit scores high.
2. When you decide you would like to buy a home begin by checking your own credit score at www.annualcreditreport.com. Look for mistakes and correct them. Any item that says: “unknown, unsatisfied, not paid, or not released” should be changed to “paid, satisfied or released”. You can contact this company once per year at no charge and not receive an “inquiry deduction” on your FICO score. Your goal is to have at least three lines of credit established for two years in good standing to really improve your credit or FICO scores.
3. To help prevent Identity fraud, place a freeze on your credit reports. You can do this by contacting the three credit bureaus in writing by certified mail. Just state in the letter you want to place a freeze on your file. The bureau will not be allowed to release your credit report or any information in it without your special password. The three bureaus are: www.equifax.com, www.experian.com and www.transunion.com.
4. Eliminate junk mail by going to: www.optoutprescreen.com
If you may be unable to make several mortgage payments, look into a "Loan Modification" program which is differenct then refianancing. There are numerous sites on line to help with this. One mentioned was Home Help which I found at http://www.homeforeclosurefighter.com
Carmen Ashbaugh from Vectra Bank says the current FHA Loans are the new 80/20 and are not like your dad’s FHA. 30% of the loans she does are now FHA and are ideal for 1st home buyers. The following criteria applies: Owner occupied; mortgages up to $675,000; as little as 3.5% down or can accept the down payment in the form of a gift or seller carry; full documentation of salary and assets; Co-signer allowed; OK with poor FICO scores especially if your scores have been improving over the last 12 months; no prepayment penalty; no income limits; manufactured homes OK, but no condos or condotels. She stated for developers to consider applying for an FHA approval to be the first condo development in Steamboat to qualify their buyers for FHA approved loans.
John McCollum from First National Bank of the Rockies talked about the criteria of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) Loans. He says the CHFA loan is available for a maximum purchase price of $350,000 and condos are allowed. It is designed for the 1st time home buyer or people who have not owned in the last three years; home buyer class is required that can be taken on-line; low FICO scores are accepted; as little as $1,000 down; three years of documentation are necessary; Mortgage Insurance required on loans above 80% of home value; higher interest rates then other loans; recapture tax if sold within 10 years and if income goes up significantly.
Kathryn Pedersen of Yampa Valley Bank described the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Loans that are only available to rural areas like Routt County. Must be a primary residence and can be a condo; 30 year fixed; 100% financing available; no monthly mortgage insurance premium; no reserves required; considers low FICO scores; and no maximum loan amount.
Loans are not guaranteed based on the information provided in this summary. Every day new information becomes available to the mortgage lenders that can change the loan requirements just like new properties come on the market and current active listings turn into pendings or solds on a daily basis. 85 % of home buyers begin their real estate research on-line, yet eventually secure the service of a qualified REALTOR®. As important as it is to have Buyer’s
Representation from a REALTOR®, you should also seek the advice early on of a reputable local lender. To access lender information go to www.SteamboatDream.com - Click on Steamboat Links - choose Lenders.
For all your real estate needs in Steamboat Springs, Colorado call me…
Michelle Diehl, GRI
Broker Associate
Prudential Steamboat Realty
970.846.1086
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
One Steamboat Place Social Club in Steamboat Springs, Colorado - Slope Side
One Steamboat Place (OSP) which is one of the newest up and coming slope side developments in Steamboat Springs, Colorado has just released its highly anticipated
One Steamboat Place Social Club.
One Steamboat Place Social Club members will have privileged access to all One Steamboat Place amenities including:
*Secure slope side underground parking
*Car cleaning services while its parked and you're skiing
*Spacious members' ski services area equipped with personal lockers, boot dryers and ski shop, and year-round storage of ski equipment and personal items
*A Zen-inspired Spa
* Ability to soak your muscles in the steam room, sauna or heated outdoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi at the state-of-the-art health and fitness center.
*Preferred access to the Truffle Pig restaurant.
*Private members-only areas like the member's lounge, wine cellar and tasting room
The details have not been set and this is very preliminary information. However, with the limited number of memberships available we expect they will be reserved very quickly.
Preliminary Social Club Membership details: (all subject to change prior to official offering)
Anticipated structured similar to country club membership (non equity)
Anticipated 50 memberships available now (possibly 100 total in the next year)
Anticipated $65,000 +/- introductory membership price
Anticipated prices will increase with every few sales
Anticipated $3-4,000 +/- annual dues
Anticipated broker commission to be 3%
All of the specific details regarding the One Steamboat Place Social Club Membership will be forthcoming.
Anticipated Enrollment Process:
You may reserve your OSP Social Club Membership opportunity now with a Reservation Agreement accompanied by a fully refundable $5,000 deposit. In approximately two- three months you’ll receive final membership details and documents. At that time OSP anticipates reservation holders will convert to a non-refundable Purchase Agreement and we expect another deposit of $5,000 will be required at that time. The balance of the membership price will be due when One Steamboat Place opens its doors in December of 2009.
Please contact Michelle Diehl Broker Associate, GRI with Prudential Steamboat Realty 970.846.1086 or michellediehl@comcast.net to arrange all the details for you with the peace of mind of Buyer's Representation.
One Steamboat Place Social Club.
One Steamboat Place Social Club members will have privileged access to all One Steamboat Place amenities including:
*Secure slope side underground parking
*Car cleaning services while its parked and you're skiing
*Spacious members' ski services area equipped with personal lockers, boot dryers and ski shop, and year-round storage of ski equipment and personal items
*A Zen-inspired Spa
* Ability to soak your muscles in the steam room, sauna or heated outdoor swimming pool and Jacuzzi at the state-of-the-art health and fitness center.
*Preferred access to the Truffle Pig restaurant.
*Private members-only areas like the member's lounge, wine cellar and tasting room
The details have not been set and this is very preliminary information. However, with the limited number of memberships available we expect they will be reserved very quickly.
Preliminary Social Club Membership details: (all subject to change prior to official offering)
Anticipated structured similar to country club membership (non equity)
Anticipated 50 memberships available now (possibly 100 total in the next year)
Anticipated $65,000 +/- introductory membership price
Anticipated prices will increase with every few sales
Anticipated $3-4,000 +/- annual dues
Anticipated broker commission to be 3%
All of the specific details regarding the One Steamboat Place Social Club Membership will be forthcoming.
Anticipated Enrollment Process:
You may reserve your OSP Social Club Membership opportunity now with a Reservation Agreement accompanied by a fully refundable $5,000 deposit. In approximately two- three months you’ll receive final membership details and documents. At that time OSP anticipates reservation holders will convert to a non-refundable Purchase Agreement and we expect another deposit of $5,000 will be required at that time. The balance of the membership price will be due when One Steamboat Place opens its doors in December of 2009.
Please contact Michelle Diehl Broker Associate, GRI with Prudential Steamboat Realty 970.846.1086 or michellediehl@comcast.net to arrange all the details for you with the peace of mind of Buyer's Representation.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Steamboat Springs, Colorado - Real Estate Activity Update:
Steamboat Springs, Colorado - Real Estate Actvity Update
MLS Statistics by Area (January 1st, 2008 – November 17th, 2008)
Single Family Homes, Townhomes, Condos, Multi Family:
Mountain Area: 26 Pending, 203 Sold, 383 Active, 512 Expireds/Withdrawns (EW).
Downtown Area: 10 Pending, 28 Sold, 69 Active, 120 EW.
Fish Creek Falls Area: 7 Pending, 37 Sold, 60 Active, 90 EW.
West Steamboat: 0 Pending, 6 Sold, 26 Active, 13 EW.
Hayden: 6 Pending, 29 Sold, 31 Active, 56 EW.
Stagecoach: 2 Pending, 6 Sold, 26 Active, 13 EW.
These statistics represents 6 of the 25 Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors Search Areas in our local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). To view all search areas go to www.SteamboatDream.com and click on Communities.
Commercial Property which can be retail, business, industrial or lodging in the entire MLS has 5 Pending, 100 Sold, 128 Active, and 103 EW. Many developments have space available including Howelsen Place, Sundance North, Torian Plum, The Grand, Pine Grove and Fox Creek Park to name a few. The Alpen Glow, The Victoria and The Olympian, are almost 100 percent sold or leased according to speakers at the Real Estate Expo in Steamboat Springs, Colorado last week.
The total volume of closed units in the Steamboat Springs, Colorado MLS since January 1st, 2008 is $247 million. This dollar volume is very comparable to the sales during the same time period in 2006 which was $289 million. This number is more significant then the sales volume of 2007 since during that year there was a huge influx of buyers based on the multiple acquisitions of major properties such as Intrawest purchasing the Steamboat Springs Ski & Resort Corporation & Starwood Hotels purchasing the Sheraton Resort plus there were several other major purchases during 2008 (see: http://steamboatspringsrealestatenews.blogspot.com/2008/09/steamboat-springs-local-realtor.html). The 2007 sales volume at the end of September was $524 million.
According to Bruce Carta from Land Title Guarantee Company the total number of sales or transactions at the end of the third quarter was 228. July had 94 transactions – August had 70 transactions – September had 64 transactions. In the last five years a typical month was over 100 transactions.
Although transaction numbers are down the price per square foot (PPSF) continues to rise. The following is an average PPSF for the following years: 2006=$290 PPSF & 2008=$450 PPSF.
Currently, we are seeing at least one property go under contact daily and an average of at least two closings per day.
The Third quarter produced the lowest unit sales volume since 2003. My guess is that many buyers are going to be anxious to sell soon, so now is a great time to be a buyer in the Steamboat Springs, Colorado real estate market.
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs, Colorado or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
MLS Statistics by Area (January 1st, 2008 – November 17th, 2008)
Single Family Homes, Townhomes, Condos, Multi Family:
Mountain Area: 26 Pending, 203 Sold, 383 Active, 512 Expireds/Withdrawns (EW).
Downtown Area: 10 Pending, 28 Sold, 69 Active, 120 EW.
Fish Creek Falls Area: 7 Pending, 37 Sold, 60 Active, 90 EW.
West Steamboat: 0 Pending, 6 Sold, 26 Active, 13 EW.
Hayden: 6 Pending, 29 Sold, 31 Active, 56 EW.
Stagecoach: 2 Pending, 6 Sold, 26 Active, 13 EW.
These statistics represents 6 of the 25 Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors Search Areas in our local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). To view all search areas go to www.SteamboatDream.com and click on Communities.
Commercial Property which can be retail, business, industrial or lodging in the entire MLS has 5 Pending, 100 Sold, 128 Active, and 103 EW. Many developments have space available including Howelsen Place, Sundance North, Torian Plum, The Grand, Pine Grove and Fox Creek Park to name a few. The Alpen Glow, The Victoria and The Olympian, are almost 100 percent sold or leased according to speakers at the Real Estate Expo in Steamboat Springs, Colorado last week.
The total volume of closed units in the Steamboat Springs, Colorado MLS since January 1st, 2008 is $247 million. This dollar volume is very comparable to the sales during the same time period in 2006 which was $289 million. This number is more significant then the sales volume of 2007 since during that year there was a huge influx of buyers based on the multiple acquisitions of major properties such as Intrawest purchasing the Steamboat Springs Ski & Resort Corporation & Starwood Hotels purchasing the Sheraton Resort plus there were several other major purchases during 2008 (see: http://steamboatspringsrealestatenews.blogspot.com/2008/09/steamboat-springs-local-realtor.html). The 2007 sales volume at the end of September was $524 million.
According to Bruce Carta from Land Title Guarantee Company the total number of sales or transactions at the end of the third quarter was 228. July had 94 transactions – August had 70 transactions – September had 64 transactions. In the last five years a typical month was over 100 transactions.
Although transaction numbers are down the price per square foot (PPSF) continues to rise. The following is an average PPSF for the following years: 2006=$290 PPSF & 2008=$450 PPSF.
Currently, we are seeing at least one property go under contact daily and an average of at least two closings per day.
The Third quarter produced the lowest unit sales volume since 2003. My guess is that many buyers are going to be anxious to sell soon, so now is a great time to be a buyer in the Steamboat Springs, Colorado real estate market.
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs, Colorado or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Steamboat Springs - Real Estate Round Up
Realtors look for positives
Developer predicts 2009 sales tax increase
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Members of Steamboat’s real estate and development community gathered at the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel ballroom Wednesday to look for reasons for optimism on the heels of a third quarter that produced the lowest unit sales volume in more than five years.
The occasion was the second Colorado Group Realty Real Estate Roundup and Expo.
One presenter acknowledged after the conference that the decline in transaction volume is apt to lead to attrition among the ranks of area Realtors early next year — perhaps by as much as 30 percent..
Colorado Group Broker Owner Jim Cook produced a bold prediction about downtown commercial real estate.
“The good news is that in Alpen Glow, The Victoria and The Olympian, 100 percent of the retail spaces are sold or leased,” Cook said. “There are still some holes in Howelsen Place, but overall, I think that’s very encouraging.
“We’re all aware that our City Council is worried about sales tax receipts for next year. I predict that we will see an increase in sales tax revenues in the downtown from new businesses that are opening on the order of double digits.”
Cook, who is a partner in Alpen Glow and Howelsen Place, said he expects to see four to six grand openings for businesses during a downtown ceremony Dec. 13.
Among the new openings are Zirkel Trading and Urbane. Vectra Bank also will be relocated to Howelsen Place, a move that will create more space for the Steamboat Art Museum store.
Cook said he attaches symbolic importance to the new Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. branded retail store set to open in Howelsen Place this winter.
“The Ski Corp. saw the importance of creating connectivity between the downtown and the mountain,” he said. “It’s really important that we create that relationship for new downtown residents.”
Cook said that during a trip to Steamboat, former Intrawest CEO Alex Wasilov said one of the values his company saw in the acquisition of the Steamboat Ski Area was the strong brand of the downtown area.
“It was shortly after that (Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. President and COO) Chris Diamond and I began talking about the store,” Cook said.
In addition to selling branded merchandise and lift tickets in its downtown location, Cook said the ski area would offer a ski concierge service. It will allow guests of second- and third-story residential units in
downtown buildings to have rental skis and boots fitted in their accommodations and then have them delivered to a storage/changing facility at the ski area.
“That means they won’t have to lug their equipment to the mountain,” Cook said. “They can just jump on the bus.”
Colorado Group Operations Manager Bart Kounovsky opened the Roundup program by telling the gathering that the local market has reversed itself in less than a year.
“The seller’s market of 2006 and 2007 has turned into a buyer’s market in 2008,” Kounovsky said.
His colleague, Annamarie Shunny, told the gathering that the past six weeks have put up some more encouraging numbers in terms of dollar volume.
“Since Sept. 30, we’ve closed another $39 million in real estate,” Shunny said.
Dollar volume of sales recorded by the Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service through the end of September was $247 million. That compares to $524 million for the same period in 2007 and $289 million in 2006. Shunny pointed out that although dollar volume is less than 50 percent of last year, current numbers compare far more favorably to the previous record year of 2006.
However, if unit volume is an indicator of how well commissions are spread among rank and file Realtors, that doesn’t add up to good news.
Unit volume, the number of sales versus the aggregate dollar value of sales, totaled 228 in the third quarter. That number is fewer than the number recorded for just the month of September in all but one of the past five years. That statistic doesn’t come from the Steamboat MLS but the countywide statistics compiled by Bruce Carta of Land Title Guarantee Co. Accordingly, it includes transactions that weren’t handled by a Realtor. But the trend is clear.
July saw 94 transactions; There were 70 in August and 64 in September. Before this year, the last time a single month saw fewer than 100 transactions was February 2004.
“That is going to affect the attrition rate of Realtors not just locally, but nationally,” Shunny said. “Locally we’re expecting the rate of attrition to be up to 30 percent.”
The trend probably won’t emerge until the end of January when Steamboat Realtors must pay their annual dues. There are presently 412 licensed real estate brokers in the Steamboat MLS compared to 427 in January 2008.
Even amid the national real estate slowdown, Shunny said, the price per square foot of Steamboat real estate is up. The average price per square foot of a home sold here in 2006 was $290. The figure increased to $450 in 2008. Similarly, the average price per square foot of a Steamboat townhome in 2008 was $440.
Shunny acknowledged to her audience that the most expensive Steamboat real estate is accounting for the bulk of dollar volume late this year and is partly responsible for skewing those numbers.
“The high-end sales market, we’ll say over $2 million, has been very strong,” she said.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Developer predicts 2009 sales tax increase
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Members of Steamboat’s real estate and development community gathered at the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel ballroom Wednesday to look for reasons for optimism on the heels of a third quarter that produced the lowest unit sales volume in more than five years.
The occasion was the second Colorado Group Realty Real Estate Roundup and Expo.
One presenter acknowledged after the conference that the decline in transaction volume is apt to lead to attrition among the ranks of area Realtors early next year — perhaps by as much as 30 percent..
Colorado Group Broker Owner Jim Cook produced a bold prediction about downtown commercial real estate.
“The good news is that in Alpen Glow, The Victoria and The Olympian, 100 percent of the retail spaces are sold or leased,” Cook said. “There are still some holes in Howelsen Place, but overall, I think that’s very encouraging.
“We’re all aware that our City Council is worried about sales tax receipts for next year. I predict that we will see an increase in sales tax revenues in the downtown from new businesses that are opening on the order of double digits.”
Cook, who is a partner in Alpen Glow and Howelsen Place, said he expects to see four to six grand openings for businesses during a downtown ceremony Dec. 13.
Among the new openings are Zirkel Trading and Urbane. Vectra Bank also will be relocated to Howelsen Place, a move that will create more space for the Steamboat Art Museum store.
Cook said he attaches symbolic importance to the new Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. branded retail store set to open in Howelsen Place this winter.
“The Ski Corp. saw the importance of creating connectivity between the downtown and the mountain,” he said. “It’s really important that we create that relationship for new downtown residents.”
Cook said that during a trip to Steamboat, former Intrawest CEO Alex Wasilov said one of the values his company saw in the acquisition of the Steamboat Ski Area was the strong brand of the downtown area.
“It was shortly after that (Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. President and COO) Chris Diamond and I began talking about the store,” Cook said.
In addition to selling branded merchandise and lift tickets in its downtown location, Cook said the ski area would offer a ski concierge service. It will allow guests of second- and third-story residential units in
downtown buildings to have rental skis and boots fitted in their accommodations and then have them delivered to a storage/changing facility at the ski area.
“That means they won’t have to lug their equipment to the mountain,” Cook said. “They can just jump on the bus.”
Colorado Group Operations Manager Bart Kounovsky opened the Roundup program by telling the gathering that the local market has reversed itself in less than a year.
“The seller’s market of 2006 and 2007 has turned into a buyer’s market in 2008,” Kounovsky said.
His colleague, Annamarie Shunny, told the gathering that the past six weeks have put up some more encouraging numbers in terms of dollar volume.
“Since Sept. 30, we’ve closed another $39 million in real estate,” Shunny said.
Dollar volume of sales recorded by the Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service through the end of September was $247 million. That compares to $524 million for the same period in 2007 and $289 million in 2006. Shunny pointed out that although dollar volume is less than 50 percent of last year, current numbers compare far more favorably to the previous record year of 2006.
However, if unit volume is an indicator of how well commissions are spread among rank and file Realtors, that doesn’t add up to good news.
Unit volume, the number of sales versus the aggregate dollar value of sales, totaled 228 in the third quarter. That number is fewer than the number recorded for just the month of September in all but one of the past five years. That statistic doesn’t come from the Steamboat MLS but the countywide statistics compiled by Bruce Carta of Land Title Guarantee Co. Accordingly, it includes transactions that weren’t handled by a Realtor. But the trend is clear.
July saw 94 transactions; There were 70 in August and 64 in September. Before this year, the last time a single month saw fewer than 100 transactions was February 2004.
“That is going to affect the attrition rate of Realtors not just locally, but nationally,” Shunny said. “Locally we’re expecting the rate of attrition to be up to 30 percent.”
The trend probably won’t emerge until the end of January when Steamboat Realtors must pay their annual dues. There are presently 412 licensed real estate brokers in the Steamboat MLS compared to 427 in January 2008.
Even amid the national real estate slowdown, Shunny said, the price per square foot of Steamboat real estate is up. The average price per square foot of a home sold here in 2006 was $290. The figure increased to $450 in 2008. Similarly, the average price per square foot of a Steamboat townhome in 2008 was $440.
Shunny acknowledged to her audience that the most expensive Steamboat real estate is accounting for the bulk of dollar volume late this year and is partly responsible for skewing those numbers.
“The high-end sales market, we’ll say over $2 million, has been very strong,” she said.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Friday, November 14, 2008
Mortgages are Available!
You can not believe all you read in the papers. News and newspapers sell best when they highlight the worst case scenarios.
There is plenty of money available for borrowers especially for primary homes with loan amounts under $417,000. Rates are currently just under 6%. In fact, Ed Albright from Columbine Mortgage in Steamboat Springs, Colorado says he can do loans for up to 100% financing on homes in value up to about $220,000.
Money is also available for homes with loans up to $625,000 at reasonable rates like 6.25%. As you can imagine the lenders are requiring full documentation and reasonable credit scores.
There is also money available for purchase over $1 million with some restrictions, as you might imagine.
Ed says, "I believe now is the right time for your clients to buy, inventory is high and rates are the lowest point since 1971. I believe that the prospect of inflation will start to increase the rates in the next few months".
To reach Ed Allbright call 970.846.3740
I know Ed personally and he has helped my clients to obtain financing for their Steamboat Springs, Colorado homes. He is very professional and a competent mortgage broker who is happy to talk to you about your financial requirements and help you to increase your credit scores to attain the money you need to purchase real estate. I always recommend for my clients to talk with an informed mortgage broker prior to us touring property, so you know the price range that will fit your lifestyle. To obtain information on Steamboat Springs Mortgage Brokers I recommend you go to my website: www.SteamboatDream.com and click on the Steamboat Links box and scroll down to: Lenders. If you need immediate help contact me, Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty: 970.846.1086. I look forward to helping you with your move to Steamboat Springs. Is it time for you to live your dream?
There is plenty of money available for borrowers especially for primary homes with loan amounts under $417,000. Rates are currently just under 6%. In fact, Ed Albright from Columbine Mortgage in Steamboat Springs, Colorado says he can do loans for up to 100% financing on homes in value up to about $220,000.
Money is also available for homes with loans up to $625,000 at reasonable rates like 6.25%. As you can imagine the lenders are requiring full documentation and reasonable credit scores.
There is also money available for purchase over $1 million with some restrictions, as you might imagine.
Ed says, "I believe now is the right time for your clients to buy, inventory is high and rates are the lowest point since 1971. I believe that the prospect of inflation will start to increase the rates in the next few months".
To reach Ed Allbright call 970.846.3740
I know Ed personally and he has helped my clients to obtain financing for their Steamboat Springs, Colorado homes. He is very professional and a competent mortgage broker who is happy to talk to you about your financial requirements and help you to increase your credit scores to attain the money you need to purchase real estate. I always recommend for my clients to talk with an informed mortgage broker prior to us touring property, so you know the price range that will fit your lifestyle. To obtain information on Steamboat Springs Mortgage Brokers I recommend you go to my website: www.SteamboatDream.com and click on the Steamboat Links box and scroll down to: Lenders. If you need immediate help contact me, Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty: 970.846.1086. I look forward to helping you with your move to Steamboat Springs. Is it time for you to live your dream?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Graystone: New Golf Course Lots in Steamboat Springs
Graystone on the Green subdivision is a new golf course homesite development located near the Rollingstone Ranch Golf Course (formerly called the Sheraton golf course). 17 homesites were released for sale in late 2008. The developers with the contracting firm Joint Venture Colorado, in conjunction with KSA Architects are providing the first four homesite Buyers with completed construction plans for their new home. All new homesite owners will be deeded a membership to Rollingstone Ranch golf course - a value of $35,000. Rollingstone is a beautiful wooded course with hills and ponds and bears. This is one of the prettiest courses I have ever played. If you are a golfer, this would be an excellent place to buy a lot for a future home. World class skiing in Steamboat Springs, Colorado is just about a five minute drive from your new homesite.
The City of Steamboat Springs has asked that the homes at Graystone on the Green be under 4,000 sf. The current house plans are showing three-story homes — with walk-outs and walk-ups — that have four bedrooms. Each person will be able to bring in your own architects and builders, but if you are lucky 1, 2, 3, or 4 why not use the resources available?
The lots are typically above the course, so views are looking at the golfers and across the expansive course. Also at some sites are views of Sleeping Giant, Emerald Mountain, the South Valley and Steamboat Ski Area. Lots begin at 0.25 acres and continue up to 1.05, most range in size of 1/3 to 1/4 acres. Prices begin at $799,000 and top out for now at $1.08 million. All are in walking distance to the club or cross country skiing.
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 ext. 434
The City of Steamboat Springs has asked that the homes at Graystone on the Green be under 4,000 sf. The current house plans are showing three-story homes — with walk-outs and walk-ups — that have four bedrooms. Each person will be able to bring in your own architects and builders, but if you are lucky 1, 2, 3, or 4 why not use the resources available?
The lots are typically above the course, so views are looking at the golfers and across the expansive course. Also at some sites are views of Sleeping Giant, Emerald Mountain, the South Valley and Steamboat Ski Area. Lots begin at 0.25 acres and continue up to 1.05, most range in size of 1/3 to 1/4 acres. Prices begin at $799,000 and top out for now at $1.08 million. All are in walking distance to the club or cross country skiing.
If you are looking for a homesite, completed home, condo or townhome, in or near Steamboat Springs, Colorado... Contact me: Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: SteamboatDream.com
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: 970.846.1086
office: 970.879.8100 ext. 434
Steamboat Ski Resort Offers Free Lift Tickets!
SKI & RIDE FREE IN STEAMBOAT FROM OPENING DAY TO CHRISTMAS DAY
Steamboat-Ski Town, U.S.A.® is scheduled to open Wednesday, November 26th and Mother Nature and Old Man Winter have joined forces once again! The snow has been falling in Steamboat Springs for days now with nearly a foot of snow in the past 48-hours! Steamboat is rolling out a red carpet for visitors unlike any other--FREE lift tickets from Opening Day through Christmas Day.
"Steamboat is world-renowned for its western hospitality and kicking off the 2008/2009 season with free skiing is the perfect way to say ‘thanks and welcome back' to our friends who ski and ride at Steamboat," said Rob Perlman, vice president of sales & marketing for Steamboat. "This season more than ever, people are looking for great values and Steamboat has stepped up in an unbelievable way with free lift tickets. Nothing puts a bigger smile or rejuvenates people faster than spending quality time with family and friends in Steamboat, the quintessential ski community known simply as Ski Town U.S.A."
Steamboat will provide FREE lift tickets when powderhounds book a minimum 3 nights lodging between Opening Day, Wednesday, November 26th and Thursday, December 25th through Steamboat Central Reservations®. Local experts are available seven days a week to assist guests in planning and building a customized Ski Free at Steamboat* lodging package that is only available for a limited time.
"It's no secret prudent travelers are looking for exceptional vacation values right now and we have worked closely with our Steamboat lodging partners and the community to offer this incredible early season package," continued Perlman. "Skiers and riders would be hard pressed to find a better deal than the Ski Free at Steamboat* lodging package."
Last season was one for the record books, posting a record Champagne Powder snow season including more than 40 feet of the light fluffy stuff. As widely known, history has a way of repeating itself in Steamboat, so there's no better time to make sure you're in shape, your gear is tuned up and you've reserved your Ski Free at Steamboat lodging package including FREE lift tickets by Opening Day.
"Skiers and riders know they can always count on Steamboat to take the uncertainty out of a winter vacation with industry leading value programs," continued Perlman. "With so much going on in the world today, there's never been a more important time to reconnect and renew what's most essential in life-spending quality time and making lasting memories with friends and family and there isn't a better place than Steamboat."
The Ski Free at Steamboat lodging package*, an unbeatable early season value, simply requires a $50 refundable deposit; must be purchased by the resort's scheduled opening day, November 26th; and travel completed by December 25th. Lift tickets are per person, limit 2 people per bedroom and are valid one day less than nights stayed.
Year after year, Steamboat continues to be recognized as one of the best ski resorts on the continent. This year, the resort was ranked as one of the Top 10 Resorts in North America by SKI Magazine, Skiing Magazine and Outside Magazine. Plus, resort accolades continue with SKI's #1 Family Resort in the West and #1 Place for Tree Skiing as well as Top 5 for Powder and Top 10 for Après Scene by Skiing Magazine.
The accolades are bolstered by more than $27 million in on-mountain improvements that Steamboat has invested over the past three years. From new lifts to redesigned terrain to additional snowmaking and parking, Steamboat continues to get better every season. With six peaks, nearly 3,000 acres of terrain, abundant Champagne Powder snow, 70-year Olympic heritage, and family programs rated best in the industry, Steamboat is worth taking the road less traveled to feel like you're a world away.
Don't wait because the powder will be here before you know it. Contact Steamboat Central Reservations at 1-800-922-2722 or online at www.steamboat.comDon't com to experience everything Steamboat has to offer including free lift tickets.
-www.steamboat.com-
* Valid for new reservations only and cannot be combined with other offers. Ski free by purchasing lodging for November 26-December 25, 2008 for a three night minimum stay. Package must be purchased by November 26, 2008. Payment in full due 7 days prior to arrival and cancellation 3 days or less prior to arrival are non-refundable. Lift tickets are per person, limit 2 people per bedroom and are valid one day less than nights stayed. Other restrictions apply-call for details or go to www.steamboat.com/skifree.
END OF ARTICLE
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Steamboat-Ski Town, U.S.A.® is scheduled to open Wednesday, November 26th and Mother Nature and Old Man Winter have joined forces once again! The snow has been falling in Steamboat Springs for days now with nearly a foot of snow in the past 48-hours! Steamboat is rolling out a red carpet for visitors unlike any other--FREE lift tickets from Opening Day through Christmas Day.
"Steamboat is world-renowned for its western hospitality and kicking off the 2008/2009 season with free skiing is the perfect way to say ‘thanks and welcome back' to our friends who ski and ride at Steamboat," said Rob Perlman, vice president of sales & marketing for Steamboat. "This season more than ever, people are looking for great values and Steamboat has stepped up in an unbelievable way with free lift tickets. Nothing puts a bigger smile or rejuvenates people faster than spending quality time with family and friends in Steamboat, the quintessential ski community known simply as Ski Town U.S.A."
Steamboat will provide FREE lift tickets when powderhounds book a minimum 3 nights lodging between Opening Day, Wednesday, November 26th and Thursday, December 25th through Steamboat Central Reservations®. Local experts are available seven days a week to assist guests in planning and building a customized Ski Free at Steamboat* lodging package that is only available for a limited time.
"It's no secret prudent travelers are looking for exceptional vacation values right now and we have worked closely with our Steamboat lodging partners and the community to offer this incredible early season package," continued Perlman. "Skiers and riders would be hard pressed to find a better deal than the Ski Free at Steamboat* lodging package."
Last season was one for the record books, posting a record Champagne Powder snow season including more than 40 feet of the light fluffy stuff. As widely known, history has a way of repeating itself in Steamboat, so there's no better time to make sure you're in shape, your gear is tuned up and you've reserved your Ski Free at Steamboat lodging package including FREE lift tickets by Opening Day.
"Skiers and riders know they can always count on Steamboat to take the uncertainty out of a winter vacation with industry leading value programs," continued Perlman. "With so much going on in the world today, there's never been a more important time to reconnect and renew what's most essential in life-spending quality time and making lasting memories with friends and family and there isn't a better place than Steamboat."
The Ski Free at Steamboat lodging package*, an unbeatable early season value, simply requires a $50 refundable deposit; must be purchased by the resort's scheduled opening day, November 26th; and travel completed by December 25th. Lift tickets are per person, limit 2 people per bedroom and are valid one day less than nights stayed.
Year after year, Steamboat continues to be recognized as one of the best ski resorts on the continent. This year, the resort was ranked as one of the Top 10 Resorts in North America by SKI Magazine, Skiing Magazine and Outside Magazine. Plus, resort accolades continue with SKI's #1 Family Resort in the West and #1 Place for Tree Skiing as well as Top 5 for Powder and Top 10 for Après Scene by Skiing Magazine.
The accolades are bolstered by more than $27 million in on-mountain improvements that Steamboat has invested over the past three years. From new lifts to redesigned terrain to additional snowmaking and parking, Steamboat continues to get better every season. With six peaks, nearly 3,000 acres of terrain, abundant Champagne Powder snow, 70-year Olympic heritage, and family programs rated best in the industry, Steamboat is worth taking the road less traveled to feel like you're a world away.
Don't wait because the powder will be here before you know it. Contact Steamboat Central Reservations at 1-800-922-2722 or online at www.steamboat.comDon't com to experience everything Steamboat has to offer including free lift tickets.
-www.steamboat.com-
* Valid for new reservations only and cannot be combined with other offers. Ski free by purchasing lodging for November 26-December 25, 2008 for a three night minimum stay. Package must be purchased by November 26, 2008. Payment in full due 7 days prior to arrival and cancellation 3 days or less prior to arrival are non-refundable. Lift tickets are per person, limit 2 people per bedroom and are valid one day less than nights stayed. Other restrictions apply-call for details or go to www.steamboat.com/skifree.
END OF ARTICLE
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Thursday, October 30, 2008
St. Cloud Mountain Club in Steamboat Springs Slope Side
The St. Cloud Mountain Club elevates private club membership to a new level in Steamboat Springs. The Mountain Club’s premier location at the base of the Steamboat Ski Area in the heart of Torian Plum Plaza, extends to its members the ease of ski-in/ski-out access combined with attentive, personal services and outstanding amenities. Whether your goal for the day is to sail down the mountain, nestle in by the crackling fire with an espresso or savor the opportunity to do both, St. Cloud Mountain Club membership makes it effortless.
The Benefits of the club include:
Member’s Lounge. Luxuriously well-appointed, the Member’s Lounge is less than 120 feet from the slopes and features:
• Free continental breakfast
• Lunch and après ski food service
• Espresso bar
• Indoor/outdoor fireplace
• Large flat screen televisions
• Private lockers
• Individual boot dryers
• Reserve the lounge for private functions
Wine and Liquor Selection. Professional wine experts have selected a wide variety of fine wines and liquors to enhance your mountain club experience. So whether it is a bloody mary with your breakfast, a snifter of cognac by the fire or a glass of fine wine as you wind down from a day of skiing, the Club will have you covered in style.
Valet Parking. Dedicated valet parking near the Torian Plum Plaza at the foot of the Steamboat Ski Area allows Members the convenience of spending most of the day skiing, not trying to find a place to park. Hand your keys to the valet and step into the Club for acup of hot coffee or breakfast before heading out to the slopes.
Ski Valet Service. The Club’s Ski Valets will take care of up to four sets of skis or snowboards. They will have them ready for you when you step out onto the snow, alleviating the hassles of carrying your family’s skis to and from the slopes.
Concierge Services. The Club’s knowledgeable local staff can assist or coordinate with you so you can take advantage of the wide variety of activities and offerings in Steamboat Springs and the surrounding area. Concierge staff can also arrange all your skiing needs, including ticket and pass purchasing, private lessons and ski and snowboard equipment rental.
Membership Levels: There are 2 distinct membership levels for sale Cloud Nine and Passport:
• Cloud Nine Membership includes all amenities, including permanent valet parking
• Passport Membership includes all amenities, including free valet parking for 3 years
Membership Deposits:
• 100% of Cloud-Nine and Passport membership deposit are available for reissuance after 25 years or when the membership is reissued through the Club.
• Memberships can be transferred one (1) time to a family member
• Memberships can be attached to a property in Routt County
Please contact Michelle Diehl Broker Associate, GRI with Prudential Steamboat Realty 970.846.1086 or michellediehl@comcast.net to arrange all the details for you with the peace of mind of Buyer's Representation.
The Benefits of the club include:
Member’s Lounge. Luxuriously well-appointed, the Member’s Lounge is less than 120 feet from the slopes and features:
• Free continental breakfast
• Lunch and après ski food service
• Espresso bar
• Indoor/outdoor fireplace
• Large flat screen televisions
• Private lockers
• Individual boot dryers
• Reserve the lounge for private functions
Wine and Liquor Selection. Professional wine experts have selected a wide variety of fine wines and liquors to enhance your mountain club experience. So whether it is a bloody mary with your breakfast, a snifter of cognac by the fire or a glass of fine wine as you wind down from a day of skiing, the Club will have you covered in style.
Valet Parking. Dedicated valet parking near the Torian Plum Plaza at the foot of the Steamboat Ski Area allows Members the convenience of spending most of the day skiing, not trying to find a place to park. Hand your keys to the valet and step into the Club for acup of hot coffee or breakfast before heading out to the slopes.
Ski Valet Service. The Club’s Ski Valets will take care of up to four sets of skis or snowboards. They will have them ready for you when you step out onto the snow, alleviating the hassles of carrying your family’s skis to and from the slopes.
Concierge Services. The Club’s knowledgeable local staff can assist or coordinate with you so you can take advantage of the wide variety of activities and offerings in Steamboat Springs and the surrounding area. Concierge staff can also arrange all your skiing needs, including ticket and pass purchasing, private lessons and ski and snowboard equipment rental.
Membership Levels: There are 2 distinct membership levels for sale Cloud Nine and Passport:
• Cloud Nine Membership includes all amenities, including permanent valet parking
• Passport Membership includes all amenities, including free valet parking for 3 years
Membership Deposits:
• 100% of Cloud-Nine and Passport membership deposit are available for reissuance after 25 years or when the membership is reissued through the Club.
• Memberships can be transferred one (1) time to a family member
• Memberships can be attached to a property in Routt County
Please contact Michelle Diehl Broker Associate, GRI with Prudential Steamboat Realty 970.846.1086 or michellediehl@comcast.net to arrange all the details for you with the peace of mind of Buyer's Representation.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
One Steamboat Place & The Steamboat Grand: Developments in Steamboat Springs, Colorado
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Doug Beall, vice president of development for the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., shared news Wednesday about the progress of One Steamboat Place, the large luxury condominium project poised to expand and modernize Gondola Plaza.
Beall told an audience at the Steamboat Grand that the building is scheduled to top out Dec. 1 and that the two large construction cranes dominating the skyline there should come down shortly after. Expect to see a model unit at OSP early in 2009, Beall added.
Beall also told his audience that his company is looking closely at its ability to add a new wing onto the Steamboat Grand.
The Grand, which opened in 2002, is pre-approved for an addition on the south end, farthest from the entrance to Ski Time Square, but the clock is ticking.
“Grand Hotel Phase II is vested (with city planning), but the permit expires in 2011,” Beall said. “We’re taking a wait-and-see attitude right now.”
The recovery of the local real estate market will influence any decision on the timing of adding onto the Grand, he added.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Doug Beall, vice president of development for the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., shared news Wednesday about the progress of One Steamboat Place, the large luxury condominium project poised to expand and modernize Gondola Plaza.
Beall told an audience at the Steamboat Grand that the building is scheduled to top out Dec. 1 and that the two large construction cranes dominating the skyline there should come down shortly after. Expect to see a model unit at OSP early in 2009, Beall added.
Beall also told his audience that his company is looking closely at its ability to add a new wing onto the Steamboat Grand.
The Grand, which opened in 2002, is pre-approved for an addition on the south end, farthest from the entrance to Ski Time Square, but the clock is ticking.
“Grand Hotel Phase II is vested (with city planning), but the permit expires in 2011,” Beall said. “We’re taking a wait-and-see attitude right now.”
The recovery of the local real estate market will influence any decision on the timing of adding onto the Grand, he added.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
St. Cloud - Exclusive Slopeside Club in Steamboat Springs
Ski valets by the slopes
St. Cloud introduces luxury brand with private club in Torian Plum Plaza
By Tom Ross (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Skiers who can manage the $40,000 membership fee will enjoy an unprecedented level of service at the base of Steamboat Ski Area this winter, when the private St. Cloud Mountain Club opens.
In addition to valet parking and ski service, members will be served breakfast, lunch, cocktails and après ski meals.
Developer Jamie Temple said the concept is modeled after successful ski base clubs in other resorts, some of them with heftier membership fees.
“It’s not inexpensive, and it’s not for everyone,” Temple said.
The business plan is intended to deliver many of the luxuries of ski-in/ski-out living to people whose luxury digs in Steamboat don’t happen to be slopeside.
The St. Cloud Mountain Club is under remodeling in an existing building in Torian Plum Plaza. The location, previously occupied by Home on the Range, is immediately behind the sales center for One Steamboat Place and across the plaza from Café Diva and Terry Sports.
Temple is a principal in Momentum Steamboat, LLC. He and partner Colgate Holmes have entered the city planning process with a proposal for a large luxury condominium project nearby — St. Cloud Resort and Spa.
Despite the similar names and shared ownership and management, the club and the future resort are separate projects, Temple said. Someday, he added, St. Cloud Resort and Spa will need a similar club of its own in order to command slopeside prices on condominium sales.
The St. Cloud Resort and Spa will not begin the lengthy process of petitioning the city for a development permit until the economy recovers from the current crisis.
“That could be 10 months or a year away,” Temple said. “We’ll let the capital markets and the local real estate market get healthy again.”
In the meantime, the St. Cloud Mountain Club will represent the first introduction of the brand in Steamboat.
All the amenities
The club is designed to welcome no more than 230 families into membership, and only the first 25 founding members will join for $40,000. Those who come after will pay $45,000.
What else will they get for their money?
When members wind down their skiing day, attendants will meet them at the edge of the snow and take their equipment to storage. Boots will be dried overnight on individual boot driers.
When they walk by the indoor/outdoor fireplace and enter the doors of the club, members will be confronted by the plush-but-modern aesthetic of designers from Hirsch, Bedner and Associates, the same firm that won awards this year from “Travel and Leisure” for its work on the Ritz Carlton in Beijing.
There will be a full bar, including espresso, flat-screen televisions and comfortable furniture, as well as a separate children’s area.
The concierge staff will arrange for the purchase of lift tickets, ski lessons and alternative outings.
Temple said he studied similar clubs in Aspen, Vail, Telluride and Park City, Utah, and concluded that Steamboat was being underserved in that area. A similar membership in Vail is priced at $250,000, he added.
He said he recently previewed St. Cloud Mountain Club to 50 interested people during a launch party at bistro c.v. and judged the response as enthusiastic.
“At lot of people will really appreciate this service,” Temple said. “It’s ideal for homeowners at Storm Mountain Ranch, for example.”
The resort
St. Cloud Resort and Spa entered the city’s pre-application process in March. The tentative plan for the building would include 780,000 square feet and 201 residences in multiple buildings.
The development would be built on the site of the existing Clocktower Building and the parking garage at the entrance to Ski Time Square, which is owned by Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp.
The Steamboat Ski Area sent a letter of permission giving the developers the ability to enter the city planning process. However, a sale of the parking structure has not consummated.
“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 told the Steamboat Pilot and Today at the time.
The general contractor for the St. Cloud Mountain Club remodel is GE Johnson, the same firm building Edgemont.
Temple 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.
Holmes is a founding partner and former president of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. His background includes operation and development of resorts and hotels in locations including southern California and Phoenix.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
St. Cloud introduces luxury brand with private club in Torian Plum Plaza
By Tom Ross (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Skiers who can manage the $40,000 membership fee will enjoy an unprecedented level of service at the base of Steamboat Ski Area this winter, when the private St. Cloud Mountain Club opens.
In addition to valet parking and ski service, members will be served breakfast, lunch, cocktails and après ski meals.
Developer Jamie Temple said the concept is modeled after successful ski base clubs in other resorts, some of them with heftier membership fees.
“It’s not inexpensive, and it’s not for everyone,” Temple said.
The business plan is intended to deliver many of the luxuries of ski-in/ski-out living to people whose luxury digs in Steamboat don’t happen to be slopeside.
The St. Cloud Mountain Club is under remodeling in an existing building in Torian Plum Plaza. The location, previously occupied by Home on the Range, is immediately behind the sales center for One Steamboat Place and across the plaza from Café Diva and Terry Sports.
Temple is a principal in Momentum Steamboat, LLC. He and partner Colgate Holmes have entered the city planning process with a proposal for a large luxury condominium project nearby — St. Cloud Resort and Spa.
Despite the similar names and shared ownership and management, the club and the future resort are separate projects, Temple said. Someday, he added, St. Cloud Resort and Spa will need a similar club of its own in order to command slopeside prices on condominium sales.
The St. Cloud Resort and Spa will not begin the lengthy process of petitioning the city for a development permit until the economy recovers from the current crisis.
“That could be 10 months or a year away,” Temple said. “We’ll let the capital markets and the local real estate market get healthy again.”
In the meantime, the St. Cloud Mountain Club will represent the first introduction of the brand in Steamboat.
All the amenities
The club is designed to welcome no more than 230 families into membership, and only the first 25 founding members will join for $40,000. Those who come after will pay $45,000.
What else will they get for their money?
When members wind down their skiing day, attendants will meet them at the edge of the snow and take their equipment to storage. Boots will be dried overnight on individual boot driers.
When they walk by the indoor/outdoor fireplace and enter the doors of the club, members will be confronted by the plush-but-modern aesthetic of designers from Hirsch, Bedner and Associates, the same firm that won awards this year from “Travel and Leisure” for its work on the Ritz Carlton in Beijing.
There will be a full bar, including espresso, flat-screen televisions and comfortable furniture, as well as a separate children’s area.
The concierge staff will arrange for the purchase of lift tickets, ski lessons and alternative outings.
Temple said he studied similar clubs in Aspen, Vail, Telluride and Park City, Utah, and concluded that Steamboat was being underserved in that area. A similar membership in Vail is priced at $250,000, he added.
He said he recently previewed St. Cloud Mountain Club to 50 interested people during a launch party at bistro c.v. and judged the response as enthusiastic.
“At lot of people will really appreciate this service,” Temple said. “It’s ideal for homeowners at Storm Mountain Ranch, for example.”
The resort
St. Cloud Resort and Spa entered the city’s pre-application process in March. The tentative plan for the building would include 780,000 square feet and 201 residences in multiple buildings.
The development would be built on the site of the existing Clocktower Building and the parking garage at the entrance to Ski Time Square, which is owned by Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp.
The Steamboat Ski Area sent a letter of permission giving the developers the ability to enter the city planning process. However, a sale of the parking structure has not consummated.
“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 told the Steamboat Pilot and Today at the time.
The general contractor for the St. Cloud Mountain Club remodel is GE Johnson, the same firm building Edgemont.
Temple 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.
Holmes is a founding partner and former president of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. His background includes operation and development of resorts and hotels in locations including southern California and Phoenix.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Confidence in Intrawest - Shows in the Refinancing - Good News Steamboat Springs!
Intrawest meets debt deadline
Analyst: Refinancing will probably mean less investment in Steamboat
By Brandon Gee (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Intrawest successfully refinanced $1.7 billion in debt today, staving off fears that Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp.’s parent company was heading toward bankruptcy.
Vancouver, B.C.-based Intrawest would not disclose the terms of the refinancing, spokesman Ian Galbraith said. Intrawest is a privately held company owned by New York-based Fortress Investment Group, a public hedge fund and private equity firm.
“I suspect we may not really know what the terms are going to be until the third quarter conference call with Fortress,” said Jackson Turner, an analyst with New York-based Argus Research Company.
Given the current global credit crisis, Turner said the renegotiated terms are probably not favorable to Intrawest and will affect the company’s ability to invest in ski resorts such as Steamboat. Turner said each percentage point increase in the debt’s interest rate constitutes an additional $14 million Intrawest has to pay each year.
“I just can’t imagine that the terms are favorable,” Turner said. “Cutting services — I’d still say that’s on the table.”
In addition to Steamboat and Whistler Blackcomb, Intrawest has interests in resorts including Copper Mountain and Winter Park. Galbraith would not answer questions about whether the refinancing would affect Intrawest’s future investments in its resorts.
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with our lenders, particularly given the challenges of the global credit markets,” Bill Jensen, chief executive officer at Intrawest, said in a press release. “The support Fortress and our lenders have shown underscores their confidence in Intrawest and will enable us to continue to execute on our long-term strategic plans. Intrawest has great assets, a sound business model and a solid track record.”
After trading at a 52-week high of $23.04, Fortress Investment Group’s shares have plunged. Shares fell 5 cents Thursday to $3.85 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Turner downgraded Fortress’s stock from “buy” to “sell” earlier this week.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Analyst: Refinancing will probably mean less investment in Steamboat
By Brandon Gee (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Steamboat Springs — Intrawest successfully refinanced $1.7 billion in debt today, staving off fears that Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp.’s parent company was heading toward bankruptcy.
Vancouver, B.C.-based Intrawest would not disclose the terms of the refinancing, spokesman Ian Galbraith said. Intrawest is a privately held company owned by New York-based Fortress Investment Group, a public hedge fund and private equity firm.
“I suspect we may not really know what the terms are going to be until the third quarter conference call with Fortress,” said Jackson Turner, an analyst with New York-based Argus Research Company.
Given the current global credit crisis, Turner said the renegotiated terms are probably not favorable to Intrawest and will affect the company’s ability to invest in ski resorts such as Steamboat. Turner said each percentage point increase in the debt’s interest rate constitutes an additional $14 million Intrawest has to pay each year.
“I just can’t imagine that the terms are favorable,” Turner said. “Cutting services — I’d still say that’s on the table.”
In addition to Steamboat and Whistler Blackcomb, Intrawest has interests in resorts including Copper Mountain and Winter Park. Galbraith would not answer questions about whether the refinancing would affect Intrawest’s future investments in its resorts.
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with our lenders, particularly given the challenges of the global credit markets,” Bill Jensen, chief executive officer at Intrawest, said in a press release. “The support Fortress and our lenders have shown underscores their confidence in Intrawest and will enable us to continue to execute on our long-term strategic plans. Intrawest has great assets, a sound business model and a solid track record.”
After trading at a 52-week high of $23.04, Fortress Investment Group’s shares have plunged. Shares fell 5 cents Thursday to $3.85 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Turner downgraded Fortress’s stock from “buy” to “sell” earlier this week.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Bridges - Tentative Plan For A New Steamboat Springs Senior Citizen Campus
Doak considers life along river
By Tom Ross (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The land for The Bridges at Steamboat is just west of U.S. Highway 40 and south of River Place. Before the development could go forward, the city would have to annex the parcel.
Steamboat Springs — The Bridges at Steamboat would relocate Yampa Valley Medical Center’s nursing home into the midst of a new experiential residential neighborhood based on the twin themes of trout fishing and enthusiasm for the natural environment.
Hospital CEO Karl Gills confirmed that tentative plans for the new development entail moving the Doak Walker Care Center to a new senior citizens campus about two miles from the hospital on the city’s southern edge.
“It will be really exciting if it can come together,” Gills said. “The concept of elder care and skilled nursing is constantly evolving. The idea of a long hallway is giving way to more of a community feel.”
The development has been proposed for 40-plus acres just outside the city’s southern limits and west of U.S. Highway 40, across Dougherty Drive from the River Place neighborhood. It would be built on multiple parcels, one owned by Butch Dougherty and another owned by Ed MacArthur. In addition to a senior campus, it would create market-rate housing along the Yampa River.
The move would enable matching the Doak, a skilled nursing facility, with independent living and assisted living homes for seniors. That’s something that could not be done as effectively at the medical center site, Gills said.
The number of rooms and beds in the Doak also would be increased at The Bridges, from 59 to a number yet to be determined.
Experience-based
The senior living campus is just one portion of the overall plan at The Bridges at Steamboat.
The Bridges is actually entering the city planning process under a joint development agreement involving Yampa Valley Medical Center and Yampa River Village LLC, an entity created by Hank Wilton, of The Wilton Companies based in Richmond, Va.
Gills said that if the parcel is annexed and the plan adopted, the two entities each will have to purchase their own land and will develop independently of one another.
Riley Polumbus, a spokeswoman for the developers, said seniors at The Bridges would find themselves in the midst of a community within the broader Steamboat community, with a small commercial center and grouping of small luxury homes nearby in the Yampa Club. The Yampa Club residences are not necessarily intended for seniors.
The intent is to create a real estate development that is more than just townhomes and cottages, she said, in much the same way that a trip to the Apple Store is more than just a trip to a computer store, and a visit to Starbucks is marketed as not just a cup of premium coffee but the best part of one’s day.
“This will be an experience-based community,” Polumbus said. “One that offers community interaction.”
In the case of The Bridges, the experience will revolve around trout fishing, viewing wildlife including nearby nesting bald eagles and gathering later to talk about it in the lodge.
If people who purchase slopeside condominiums enjoy the ski-in/ski-out lifestyle, residents at one of the 70 to 100 townhomes or cottages at the Yampa Club would enjoy a fish-in/fish-out lifestyle, Polumbus said.
The townhomes and cottages would be built on both sides of a stretch of the Yampa River that runs through the property.
In addition, Yampa River Village LLC would develop a town center closer to U.S. 40 intended for the types of retail that would appeal to the community.
The choice of names for The Bridges was made deliberately to suggest a metaphor for the succession of senior living options at the project, Polumbus said. In theory, people might begin living independently in one of the 15 to 25 cottages on the senior campus, continue to assisted living and ultimately check into the nursing home.
The literal manifestation of the name will appear in a covered bridge entry to the neighborhood, as well as new automobile and foot bridges over the Yampa.
Annexation questions
The Wilton Companies has been in business in Richmond since 1945. It developed and manages multifamily housing projects, office parks, industrial and retail centers in the mid-Atlantic region.
Wilton is best known in Steamboat as the developer of 360 Ranch, a proposed subdivision in the west of Steamboat that is in the city planning process.
The Bridges and 360 Ranch have something in common: both projects are seeking annexation to the city. There is a significant distinction in that area, however. Unlike 360 Ranch, The Bridges already lies within the city’s existing Urban Growth Boundary.
The joint development will need to pursue a pre-annexation agreement, Senior City Planner Jonathon Spence said.
Spence said a future discussion about how The Bridges fits in with the Steamboat Springs Area Community Plan should prove to be interesting.
The developers, in their pre-application documents, suggest the proposal is consistent with the plan’s vision for low-density housing in that part of the South Valley.
Spence said that at first glance, plans to build in close proximity to the river may not be such a good fit.
“The plans says we shouldn’t really be building in sensitive areas like this with a nearby (Mount Werner Water) infiltration gallery, wetlands and the floodplain. But additional senor facilities are a need today, and even more of a need tomorrow.”
Polumbus acknowledge the situation.
“Our greatest asset is our greatest challenge,” she said. “The river is what makes this such a compelling property. To be able to use that, we have to be sensitive to the environment. We’ll have to work with the best people we can to make that a reality.”
One of the centerpieces of the trails network at The Bridges is a large viewing platform so visitors and residents can observe a nearby bald eagle nest. The developers already have engaged a consultant with regard to the eagles and have said they would be willing to follow their advice and avoid building activity during sensitive nesting periods.
Polumbus said that in addition to expanded senior living opportunities, The Bridges affords the potential of linking the Yampa River Core Trail south of Haymaker Golf Course and a lake in the Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area.
Both development entities will wait to see if they win city approval before going forward with tentative agreements to purchase the larger land parcels from MacArthur.
Gills said he’s confident the Doak Walker Care Center, run by hospital staff, provides high-quality care and through the Eden Alternative, goes a long way to providing residents of the Doak with a residential lifestyle. However, he said, taking it to another level at The Bridges would require the hospital board to engage with another business entity that has more expertise in projecting future demand for senior services and operating skilled nursing centers. He’s just as certain that Yampa Valley Medical Center could not develop the new senior campus without outside financial help.
“We can benefit by identifying and linking with a strategic partner,” Gills said. “And I know it can’t be done without philanthropic help.”
Gills said his board is committed to ensuring that a new Doak Walker Care Center is accessible to area residents.
“We’re working to make that happen,” he said. “In terms of making it affordable and available to all, that’s part of our mission.”
Correction
An article on The Bridges at Steamboat development in the Oct. 19 Steamboat Pilot and Today incorrectly referred to 360 Ranch when it should have referred to 360 Village.
Wilton Development is in the planning stages for both The Bridges at Steamboat and 360 Village.
The article also provided incorrect information about 360 Village. While a previous version of 360 Village applied for an extension of the city’s urban growth boundary, or UGB, because a portion of its land lay outside the existing boundary, the latest proposal for 360 Village lies entirely within the UGB.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
By Tom Ross (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The land for The Bridges at Steamboat is just west of U.S. Highway 40 and south of River Place. Before the development could go forward, the city would have to annex the parcel.
Steamboat Springs — The Bridges at Steamboat would relocate Yampa Valley Medical Center’s nursing home into the midst of a new experiential residential neighborhood based on the twin themes of trout fishing and enthusiasm for the natural environment.
Hospital CEO Karl Gills confirmed that tentative plans for the new development entail moving the Doak Walker Care Center to a new senior citizens campus about two miles from the hospital on the city’s southern edge.
“It will be really exciting if it can come together,” Gills said. “The concept of elder care and skilled nursing is constantly evolving. The idea of a long hallway is giving way to more of a community feel.”
The development has been proposed for 40-plus acres just outside the city’s southern limits and west of U.S. Highway 40, across Dougherty Drive from the River Place neighborhood. It would be built on multiple parcels, one owned by Butch Dougherty and another owned by Ed MacArthur. In addition to a senior campus, it would create market-rate housing along the Yampa River.
The move would enable matching the Doak, a skilled nursing facility, with independent living and assisted living homes for seniors. That’s something that could not be done as effectively at the medical center site, Gills said.
The number of rooms and beds in the Doak also would be increased at The Bridges, from 59 to a number yet to be determined.
Experience-based
The senior living campus is just one portion of the overall plan at The Bridges at Steamboat.
The Bridges is actually entering the city planning process under a joint development agreement involving Yampa Valley Medical Center and Yampa River Village LLC, an entity created by Hank Wilton, of The Wilton Companies based in Richmond, Va.
Gills said that if the parcel is annexed and the plan adopted, the two entities each will have to purchase their own land and will develop independently of one another.
Riley Polumbus, a spokeswoman for the developers, said seniors at The Bridges would find themselves in the midst of a community within the broader Steamboat community, with a small commercial center and grouping of small luxury homes nearby in the Yampa Club. The Yampa Club residences are not necessarily intended for seniors.
The intent is to create a real estate development that is more than just townhomes and cottages, she said, in much the same way that a trip to the Apple Store is more than just a trip to a computer store, and a visit to Starbucks is marketed as not just a cup of premium coffee but the best part of one’s day.
“This will be an experience-based community,” Polumbus said. “One that offers community interaction.”
In the case of The Bridges, the experience will revolve around trout fishing, viewing wildlife including nearby nesting bald eagles and gathering later to talk about it in the lodge.
If people who purchase slopeside condominiums enjoy the ski-in/ski-out lifestyle, residents at one of the 70 to 100 townhomes or cottages at the Yampa Club would enjoy a fish-in/fish-out lifestyle, Polumbus said.
The townhomes and cottages would be built on both sides of a stretch of the Yampa River that runs through the property.
In addition, Yampa River Village LLC would develop a town center closer to U.S. 40 intended for the types of retail that would appeal to the community.
The choice of names for The Bridges was made deliberately to suggest a metaphor for the succession of senior living options at the project, Polumbus said. In theory, people might begin living independently in one of the 15 to 25 cottages on the senior campus, continue to assisted living and ultimately check into the nursing home.
The literal manifestation of the name will appear in a covered bridge entry to the neighborhood, as well as new automobile and foot bridges over the Yampa.
Annexation questions
The Wilton Companies has been in business in Richmond since 1945. It developed and manages multifamily housing projects, office parks, industrial and retail centers in the mid-Atlantic region.
Wilton is best known in Steamboat as the developer of 360 Ranch, a proposed subdivision in the west of Steamboat that is in the city planning process.
The Bridges and 360 Ranch have something in common: both projects are seeking annexation to the city. There is a significant distinction in that area, however. Unlike 360 Ranch, The Bridges already lies within the city’s existing Urban Growth Boundary.
The joint development will need to pursue a pre-annexation agreement, Senior City Planner Jonathon Spence said.
Spence said a future discussion about how The Bridges fits in with the Steamboat Springs Area Community Plan should prove to be interesting.
The developers, in their pre-application documents, suggest the proposal is consistent with the plan’s vision for low-density housing in that part of the South Valley.
Spence said that at first glance, plans to build in close proximity to the river may not be such a good fit.
“The plans says we shouldn’t really be building in sensitive areas like this with a nearby (Mount Werner Water) infiltration gallery, wetlands and the floodplain. But additional senor facilities are a need today, and even more of a need tomorrow.”
Polumbus acknowledge the situation.
“Our greatest asset is our greatest challenge,” she said. “The river is what makes this such a compelling property. To be able to use that, we have to be sensitive to the environment. We’ll have to work with the best people we can to make that a reality.”
One of the centerpieces of the trails network at The Bridges is a large viewing platform so visitors and residents can observe a nearby bald eagle nest. The developers already have engaged a consultant with regard to the eagles and have said they would be willing to follow their advice and avoid building activity during sensitive nesting periods.
Polumbus said that in addition to expanded senior living opportunities, The Bridges affords the potential of linking the Yampa River Core Trail south of Haymaker Golf Course and a lake in the Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area.
Both development entities will wait to see if they win city approval before going forward with tentative agreements to purchase the larger land parcels from MacArthur.
Gills said he’s confident the Doak Walker Care Center, run by hospital staff, provides high-quality care and through the Eden Alternative, goes a long way to providing residents of the Doak with a residential lifestyle. However, he said, taking it to another level at The Bridges would require the hospital board to engage with another business entity that has more expertise in projecting future demand for senior services and operating skilled nursing centers. He’s just as certain that Yampa Valley Medical Center could not develop the new senior campus without outside financial help.
“We can benefit by identifying and linking with a strategic partner,” Gills said. “And I know it can’t be done without philanthropic help.”
Gills said his board is committed to ensuring that a new Doak Walker Care Center is accessible to area residents.
“We’re working to make that happen,” he said. “In terms of making it affordable and available to all, that’s part of our mission.”
Correction
An article on The Bridges at Steamboat development in the Oct. 19 Steamboat Pilot and Today incorrectly referred to 360 Ranch when it should have referred to 360 Village.
Wilton Development is in the planning stages for both The Bridges at Steamboat and 360 Village.
The article also provided incorrect information about 360 Village. While a previous version of 360 Village applied for an extension of the city’s urban growth boundary, or UGB, because a portion of its land lay outside the existing boundary, the latest proposal for 360 Village lies entirely within the UGB.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
Ptarmigan Inn - Proposed 57-Unit Condominum - Proposes Leeds Green Building Standard
Ptarmigan proposes to build green at ski base
By Tom Ross (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Two Colorado developers propose to redevelop the Ptarmigan Inn into a seven-story building that would comprise 57 slopeside condominiums.
Steamboat Springs — The proposed redevelopment of the Ptarmigan Inn, which first emerged in 2005 and resurfaced in August 2007, is active again at the city planning department. This time, the developers say they aspire to meeting LEEDS green building standards.
Bruce Shugart, president of Mountainside Development Corp., has submitted an application for a development permit for a 57-unit condominium building that would go up where the 1970s-era Ptarmigan Inn Best Western stands now.
It’s the first public sign of activity on the project since it came through the city’s pre-application process in August 2007.
“They certainly have addressed some of the comments they received in the pre-application process,” Senior City Planner Bob Keenan said. “The architecture is substantially different.”
Some of the design changes have addressed the mass and scale of the building, he added.
At the pre-application phase, the project proposed 39 large condominiums. In the intervening 14 months, the number of condos in the project has increased to 57 with the potential for some interval sales, the developers wrote in a memo to the city. The net sellable square feet as proposed would be 138,043.
Other features of the new plan include a snowmelt system for public plazas and walkways.
Another principal in the project is Richard Dean, who like Shugart is a building contractor. They promised to meet green building standards in their pre-application documents. The city just adopted a change to make green building its highest goal for developers asked to provide community benefits to offset variances from the development code.
“The new Ptarmigan will attain LEED certification for environmental and sustainable design methods, materials and construction practices,” they wrote. The developers also committed to using wind energy credits to offset the building’s energy usage.
The Ptarmigan Inn adjoins the lowest slopes at the Steamboat Ski Area on their south side. The redevelopment does not involve the adjacent Ptarmigan House condominiums.
The Steamboat gondola passes directly in front of the Ptarmigan Inn. The redevelopment site is tucked between the existing Dulany Condominiums on the west and Chateau Chamonix on the east. The large One Steamboat Place development, currently under construction, is virtually next door.
Shugart and Dean say they intend to develop a community park with a snow-melted hardscape, as well as a pocket park with a historic display close to a trail that would lead along Burgess Creek to the ski slope.
In order to make the parks more appealing and accessible, they hope to work with Ptarmigan House and Ironwood Condominiums to convert the long driveway to Après Ski Way to a snowmelt system.
Plans to redevelop the ski-in, ski-out property represented by Ptarmigan Inn were first broached by Steve Peer of Cafritz Interests, of Washington, D.C., in 2005. He withdrew planning documents for the project then known as Aspen Ridge, and Cafritz subsequently acquired the Thunderhead Inn and Ski Time Square on the opposite side of the ski area. Cafritz assigned the role of developer to The Atira Group.
The Ptarmigan Inn site appears as “Gondola-1” on the city’s zoning map, a designation that comes with lower maximum building heights than, for example, On Steamboat Place, which is zoned Gondola-2.
The maximum height in the G-1 district is 63 feet, and the project’s tallest elevations are as tall as 94 feet in some places, Keenan said. Mountainside Development is not seeking a zone change, but is asking for a building height variance, he added.
Shugart could not be reached directly for comment.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
By Tom Ross (Contact) - Reporter Steamboat Pilot & TODAY
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Two Colorado developers propose to redevelop the Ptarmigan Inn into a seven-story building that would comprise 57 slopeside condominiums.
Steamboat Springs — The proposed redevelopment of the Ptarmigan Inn, which first emerged in 2005 and resurfaced in August 2007, is active again at the city planning department. This time, the developers say they aspire to meeting LEEDS green building standards.
Bruce Shugart, president of Mountainside Development Corp., has submitted an application for a development permit for a 57-unit condominium building that would go up where the 1970s-era Ptarmigan Inn Best Western stands now.
It’s the first public sign of activity on the project since it came through the city’s pre-application process in August 2007.
“They certainly have addressed some of the comments they received in the pre-application process,” Senior City Planner Bob Keenan said. “The architecture is substantially different.”
Some of the design changes have addressed the mass and scale of the building, he added.
At the pre-application phase, the project proposed 39 large condominiums. In the intervening 14 months, the number of condos in the project has increased to 57 with the potential for some interval sales, the developers wrote in a memo to the city. The net sellable square feet as proposed would be 138,043.
Other features of the new plan include a snowmelt system for public plazas and walkways.
Another principal in the project is Richard Dean, who like Shugart is a building contractor. They promised to meet green building standards in their pre-application documents. The city just adopted a change to make green building its highest goal for developers asked to provide community benefits to offset variances from the development code.
“The new Ptarmigan will attain LEED certification for environmental and sustainable design methods, materials and construction practices,” they wrote. The developers also committed to using wind energy credits to offset the building’s energy usage.
The Ptarmigan Inn adjoins the lowest slopes at the Steamboat Ski Area on their south side. The redevelopment does not involve the adjacent Ptarmigan House condominiums.
The Steamboat gondola passes directly in front of the Ptarmigan Inn. The redevelopment site is tucked between the existing Dulany Condominiums on the west and Chateau Chamonix on the east. The large One Steamboat Place development, currently under construction, is virtually next door.
Shugart and Dean say they intend to develop a community park with a snow-melted hardscape, as well as a pocket park with a historic display close to a trail that would lead along Burgess Creek to the ski slope.
In order to make the parks more appealing and accessible, they hope to work with Ptarmigan House and Ironwood Condominiums to convert the long driveway to Après Ski Way to a snowmelt system.
Plans to redevelop the ski-in, ski-out property represented by Ptarmigan Inn were first broached by Steve Peer of Cafritz Interests, of Washington, D.C., in 2005. He withdrew planning documents for the project then known as Aspen Ridge, and Cafritz subsequently acquired the Thunderhead Inn and Ski Time Square on the opposite side of the ski area. Cafritz assigned the role of developer to The Atira Group.
The Ptarmigan Inn site appears as “Gondola-1” on the city’s zoning map, a designation that comes with lower maximum building heights than, for example, On Steamboat Place, which is zoned Gondola-2.
The maximum height in the G-1 district is 63 feet, and the project’s tallest elevations are as tall as 94 feet in some places, Keenan said. Mountainside Development is not seeking a zone change, but is asking for a building height variance, he added.
Shugart could not be reached directly for comment.
END OF STEAMBOAT TODAY AND/OR STEAMBOAT PILOT ARTICLE (STEAMBOAT'S DAILY NEWSPAPER)
To obtain information on any property in Steamboat Springs or the surrounding areas with Buyer Representation, contact
Michelle Diehl, GRI Broker Associate at Prudential Steamboat Realty.
I am happy to help...
web: http://www.SteamboatDream.com/
e-mail: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
cell: (970)846-1086
office: (970)879-8100 ext. 434
