Rocky Peak poised to break ground this week
By Tom Ross (Contact)
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Steamboat Springs — When Peter and Kim Kreissig of Kreissig Homes purchased the site of Rocky Peak Village complete with city approvals and much of the design work in place, Kim knew there was at least one thing she would never change.
“The cupolas,” said Kreissig, a Realtor with Prudential Steamboat Realty. “That was the first thing I got excited about.”
Architect Laura Frey said she was pleased that the bulk of the original design work she had completed for original developers Kent Hall and Greg Stetman would be retained. Including the cupolas.
The small architectural element gives the shed and gable roof forms of the duplex and triplex townhome buildings a rural appeal that hints at a barn.
“We loved the design and were happy with the floor plans Laura had already drawn,” Kreissig said.
Rocky Peak Village is a development of 34 townhomes at the intersection of Hilltop Parkway and Tamarack Drive between downtown and the ski mountain. Construction on the 14 townhomes in Phase 1 begins this week. Kreissig said five of the townhomes were put under contract in the first week of release to the market this month.
The fact that the development already had a permit from the city of Steamboat Springs meant it pre-dated the affordable housing requirements now required by city ordinance.
“I paid for it in my land costs,” Kreissig said. She doubts the development would have penciled out had she and Peter been required to build affordable units on site.
Prices begin at $730,000 for three-bedroom homes and go up to $795,000 for four-bedroom homes that include 2,263 square feet on three levels.
“I can’t imagine ever being able to build for $350 a square foot again with land costs here,” she said.
The Kreissigs earned a reputation for building mid-range townhomes with high-level finishes at Bear Meadows in 2001, Willowbrook in 2002 and The Willows in 2003 and 2004.
From 2004 to 2008, they tackled 23 luxury townhomes closer to the base of Steamboat Ski Area, at Stonewood, that sold for more than $1 million.
Rocky Peak Village marks a return to townhomes that are more attainable for Steamboat families using their equity to move up, as well as second homeowners and retirees, Kreissig said.
“I’m very sensitive to the fact that $700,000 is still an expensive home,” she said. “We anticipated that local buyers would need two incomes to purchase at Rocky Peak.”
Kreissig said in light of the national economic downturn and the slowing of the local
real estate market from the record pace of 2007, she and her husband took some time to carefully think it through before proceeding with Rocky Peak Village in 2008.
“We did have some pause going in,” she said. “But we decided to forge ahead. This is what we do.”
Frey designed the floor plans at Rocky Peak to include rooms and features that make them more livable for the Steamboat lifestyle. They include two-car garages with room for outdoor toys, separate mudrooms, pantries and full laundry rooms.
The townhomes include 10-foot ceilings on the main level and 9-foot ceilings elsewhere, rustic interior door hardware, pre-wiring for an outdoor hot tub and pre-plumbing for an outdoor natural gas grill.
Kreissig was determined to pull over some of the nicest finishes from Stonewood and succeeded with the same natural stone on the exteriors, some of the same designer light fixtures and the same, high-end wood garage doors.
And of course, there are the cupolas. Kreissig has even chosen a playground equipment manufacturer who will include cupolas in the design.
“Laura and I are in synch on the cupolas,” Kreissig said. “They symbolize community. She’s been having fun finding unique weather vanes for each of the cupolas. There’s a flying pig, a moose and horses.”
— To reach Tom Ross, call 871-4205
or e-mail tross@steamboatpilot.com
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 Century 21Ski Town Associates.
I am happy to help...
WEB: http://www.steamboatdream.com/
E-MAIL: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
CELL:(970)846-1086
Monday, June 16, 2008
Steamboat Housing Study - Editorial Board Comments
Our View: Housing study needs responses - Steamboat Pilot & Today Newspaper
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Editorial Board, May 2008 to August 2008
Bryna Larsen, publisher
Brent Boyer, editor
Mike Lawrence, city editor
Tom Ross, reporter
Eric Morris, community representative
Paul Draper, community representative
Contact the editorial board at (970) 871-4221 or editor@steamboatpilot.com. Would you like to be a member of the board? Fill out a letter of interest now.
Steamboat Springs — Of the many issues raised by the proposed Steamboat 700 development, the need to accurately identify the specific housing needs of our community shoots to the top of the list.
For years, we have developed comprehensive plans and enacted policies aimed at providing affordable housing for Steamboat’s work force, but many of those decisions were made without a complete picture of the existing circumstances and needs of the local market. A much-needed effort to provide such data is now under way, in the form of a market demand analysis commissioned by the Yampa Valley Housing Authority and funded by the city of Steamboat Springs, Routt County, the developers of Steamboat 700 and a number of other private developers and businesses. The analysis will cost between $125,000 and $150,000.
When completed in August, the market demand analysis will provide the clearest picture to date of Steamboat’s work force, its income and its housing needs and preferences. The analysis, being conduced by Robert Charles Lesser & Co., will give local officials an invaluable database of information for devising policies related to affordable housing.
In short, the market demand analysis has the potential to take the guesswork out of determining how and to what extent affordable housing should be mandated within the city limits.
The issue came to a head earlier this year when Steamboat 700 developers proposed aiming their affordable housing at residents making an average of 120 percent of the area median income. The West of Steamboat Springs Area Plan, which outlines how residential development should occur in that area, requires developers to provide affordable housing to people who make an average of 80 percent of the AMI.
Danny Mulcahy of Steamboat 700 and others correctly have suggested a need to provide a range of affordable housing for different segments of the population, with a focus on providing the type of housing needed by the kinds of workers the community is most interested in retaining.
The market demand analysis should provide the data needed to better guide our housing policies. But the market demand analysis only will be as good as the information it can collect and assemble. To that end, Yampa Valley Housing Authority officials are seeking feedback from residents in the form of a detailed survey. Yampa Valley Housing Authority executive director Donna Howell said the surveys will be distributed through local employers in early July. We urge employers to pass the surveys on to their workers and to provide time and possibly incentives for employees to complete the detailed, 30-minute questionnaires.
The answers provided by our work force will provide a foundation for understanding our housing needs. Regardless of whether you support subsidized affordable housing, it’s clear that any decisions regarding it should be made with hard data rather than anecdotal evidence and guesswork.
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 Century 21Ski Town Associates.
I am happy to help...
WEB: http://www.steamboatdream.com/
E-MAIL: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
CELL:(970)846-1086
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Editorial Board, May 2008 to August 2008
Bryna Larsen, publisher
Brent Boyer, editor
Mike Lawrence, city editor
Tom Ross, reporter
Eric Morris, community representative
Paul Draper, community representative
Contact the editorial board at (970) 871-4221 or editor@steamboatpilot.com. Would you like to be a member of the board? Fill out a letter of interest now.
Steamboat Springs — Of the many issues raised by the proposed Steamboat 700 development, the need to accurately identify the specific housing needs of our community shoots to the top of the list.
For years, we have developed comprehensive plans and enacted policies aimed at providing affordable housing for Steamboat’s work force, but many of those decisions were made without a complete picture of the existing circumstances and needs of the local market. A much-needed effort to provide such data is now under way, in the form of a market demand analysis commissioned by the Yampa Valley Housing Authority and funded by the city of Steamboat Springs, Routt County, the developers of Steamboat 700 and a number of other private developers and businesses. The analysis will cost between $125,000 and $150,000.
When completed in August, the market demand analysis will provide the clearest picture to date of Steamboat’s work force, its income and its housing needs and preferences. The analysis, being conduced by Robert Charles Lesser & Co., will give local officials an invaluable database of information for devising policies related to affordable housing.
In short, the market demand analysis has the potential to take the guesswork out of determining how and to what extent affordable housing should be mandated within the city limits.
The issue came to a head earlier this year when Steamboat 700 developers proposed aiming their affordable housing at residents making an average of 120 percent of the area median income. The West of Steamboat Springs Area Plan, which outlines how residential development should occur in that area, requires developers to provide affordable housing to people who make an average of 80 percent of the AMI.
Danny Mulcahy of Steamboat 700 and others correctly have suggested a need to provide a range of affordable housing for different segments of the population, with a focus on providing the type of housing needed by the kinds of workers the community is most interested in retaining.
The market demand analysis should provide the data needed to better guide our housing policies. But the market demand analysis only will be as good as the information it can collect and assemble. To that end, Yampa Valley Housing Authority officials are seeking feedback from residents in the form of a detailed survey. Yampa Valley Housing Authority executive director Donna Howell said the surveys will be distributed through local employers in early July. We urge employers to pass the surveys on to their workers and to provide time and possibly incentives for employees to complete the detailed, 30-minute questionnaires.
The answers provided by our work force will provide a foundation for understanding our housing needs. Regardless of whether you support subsidized affordable housing, it’s clear that any decisions regarding it should be made with hard data rather than anecdotal evidence and guesswork.
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 Century 21Ski Town Associates.
I am happy to help...
WEB: http://www.steamboatdream.com/
E-MAIL: MichelleDiehl@comcast.net
CELL:(970)846-1086
