Steamboat Springs Real Estate, Downtown Steamboat Springs Colorado

River Walk set for infrastructure work
Sunday, July 20, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The first signs of construction soon will appear at the River Walk site on the east end of Yampa Street. But it shouldn’t be mistaken for a full launch of the mixed residential commercial project that could bring a new boutique hotel to downtown Steamboat Springs.

“We’ll be doing about $3 million in infrastructure work this fall including utilities and moving the Spring Creek drainage,” developer Jim Cook said.

He is one of the owners of Colorado Group Realty and Steamboat spokesman for Green Courte Partners. It is a Chicago-area development group also tackling the Alpen Glow and Howelsen Place projects nearing completion farther west of Yampa Street.

River Walk, when all of the phases are complete, would comprise 72 residential units, 11 affordable housing units and 32,000 square feet of commercial space along 760 linear feet of the Yampa River.

The project would daylight a section of Spring Creek where it currently drops down to its confluence with the Yampa in a culvert roughly under Fourth Street. Plans call for public gathering spaces along the creek.

Green Courte holds a development permit from the city of Steamboat Springs, but it still must clear a hurdle in the city planning process.

Senior Planner Jonathan Spence confirmed Thursday that Cook and Green Courte have yet to go through the design review that would result in a final development process. The development permit represents approval of Green Courte’s building layout and the mass and scale of the buildings, Spence said.

The final development permit process will take up the final architecture and exterior materials to be used in the building.

He noted that the developers have made a switch from the original architect on the project to Bill Rangitsch of Steamboat Architectural Associates.

The developers recently completed a hotel study for River Walk, Cook said, and it has changed their perceptions of how large the hotel needs to be in order to be financially viable.

Cook had recently said they would shoot for 140 rooms, but the consultant who worked on the study says in order to hit desirable occupancy levels in this market, 75 to 80 rooms should be the goal.

Cook said he is negotiating with small corporate flag hotel operators and independents. However, signing a hotel deal is not a prerequisite for going to vertical construction. Instead, he said, Green Courte would like to sell more of the residential units in Alpen Glow and Howelsen Place before moving forward with construction of the first phase at River Walk.

Joe Cashen, team leader for Colorado Group’s downtown sales office devoted to the Green Courte projects, said the staff has shown Alpen Glow and Howelsen Place to 600 people since the middle of June. That number includes Realtors from other firms, front desk personnel and curious residents as well as prospective buyers.

“We’ve had incredible walk-in traffic,” Cashen said. “We have 50 to 100 people come to look around every weekend and we typically have a local broker set up a showing for a client about every other day.”

Four of eight condominiums at Alpen Glow are under contract with 10 percent down, Cashen said, and three of six townhomes are under contract.

Prices for one-bedroom-plus-den condos at Alpen Glow begin at $795,000. Two-bedroom condos range from $1.2 million to $1.4 million. The townhomes begin just under $1 million. Pricing works out to $595 to $670 per square foot, Cashen added.

Prices at Howelsen Place begin at $660,000. Prices for the largest three-bedroom residences, of which three remain, begin at $1.57 million and go to $1.95 million.

Steamboat revisits $100 million barrier
Sunday, July 20, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The Routt County real estate market went through the $100 million barrier for gross dollar volume in June, the first time it has reached that plateau since December 2007.

The total for June was $101.7 million. That number pales in comparison to the $150 million the market achieved in June 2007. However, July 2006 marked the first time the local market had ever surpassed $100 million. The closest the market had come this year was in January, when dollar volume was $80.8 million.

Bruce Carta of Land Title Guarantee Co. researches the dollar volume statistics on public Web sites.

Dollar volume for the month represents actual closings, and it’s pertinent to note the bulk of those sales represent contracts written the previous month, or even two months earlier. Carta reported that last month’s dollar volume was helped by the sale of two homes with a combined value of $11.9 million.

The aggregate value of 10 homes in Routt County that sold for more than $1 million in June was $25.7 million.

Whitewater Run development would transform river frontage - Currents of change on Yampa Street
Sunday, July 13, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — Principals in Riverfront Partners LLC have formally announced their purchase of the Yacht Club restaurant building and attached open space, plus the steel building on Yampa Street housing Backdoor Sports.

The intent is to refurbish and keep the Yacht Club operating as a restaurant. However, there are new development plans on the site.

“Approximately 20,000 square feet of the site will be redeveloped into a mixed-use project with retail at the first level and residential on the upper floors,” Ellen Fauss said. “In addition, the owners expect to work closely with the city and the fishing and kayaking communities to further improve some of the riparian areas of the riverfront.”

Fauss is associated with R.L. Fauss, a construction contractor that has headquarters in Fremont, Neb. The company has built public schools, convenience stores, apartment buildings and hotels.

Morton and Ellen Hoj of the Yacht Club previously confirmed to the Steamboat Pilot & Today their plans to open a new restaurant, The Diplomat, two blocks away in The Victoria, nearing completion at 10th Street and Lincoln Avenue. The Yacht Club continues to serve lunch and dinner this summer.

“Riverfront is courting several prospective operators to assure a smooth transition,” Fauss said about the future of the restaurant.

Peter Van De Carr of Backdoor Sports said although he would prefer to remain in his current location, he has an option to move a short distance down Yampa Street to 655 Yampa, another riverfront development project. It would replace a large white house on the site.

The building that houses Backdoor Sports was at one time a diesel repair shop; it is adjacent to a city parking lot and the foot bridge over the Yampa River.

The transformation of Yampa Street goes further. The project known as 751 Yampa would replace three small buildings including the Colorado Group Realty sales center, Hell’s Wall sporting goods and the building that houses Sweet Pea Produce and Sunpie’s Bistro. Both businesses previously have confirmed they are looking at other sites.

Whitewater Run would occupy a large green lawn and a private parking lot between the Yacht Club and Backdoor Sports. Conceptual drawings for the new building show a three-story elevation along the river with gabled roofs breaking up the mass of the buildings. Another prominent feature is a pedestrian pass-through open to the air and leading through the building to the riverfront.

Coleman Cook of Colorado Group Realty will market the project. The architect is Eric Smith Associates.

Tweaking urban mountain style
Sunday, July 13, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The renaissance taking place in downtown Steamboat Springs has sparked a new design sensibility — one that resides somewhere between the banks of Butcherknife Creek and the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Four dramatic mixed residential/commercial projects currently approaching completion are offering the kind of urban loft-style living that Ski Town USA previously has lacked. Until now, exposed heating ducts were unheard of in Steamboat’s luxury homes.

Developer Jim Cook can’t resist a play on words. He calls it “dine-in, dine-out” living, a tongue-in-cheek jab at the relative desirability of ski-in/ski-out condominiums three miles away at the base of Mount Werner.

Cook and his associates at Greencourte Partners are the principals in two of the four projects: Howelsen Place and Alpenglow. A third, The Victoria, is being developed at Lincoln Avenue and 10th Street by a Steamboat Springs couple, Steve and Denise Peterson. Paul Franklin, whose last project was Elkins Meadows residential subdivision, is developing the fourth, the Olympian.

All four projects are transforming corner lots at key intersections in downtown Steamboat. The first three are redevelopment projects, which have replaced marginally functional buildings with handsome new brick edifices. The Olympian, the only one of the four not on Steamboat’s main street, occupies a previously vacant lot at Yampa and Fifth streets kitty-corner from the Fifth Street Bridge over the Yampa River and the entrance to historic Howelsen Hill.

In all cases, the street level of the new buildings is devoted to commercial spaces and the upper floors are devoted to luxuriously appointed condominiums.

Franklin said his design team has strived to keep a Western feel while evoking the classic urban loft.

The Olympian will offer tenants and residents direct access to two of Steamboat’s best-loved attributes: the river and the competitive skiing facilities at Howelsen.

Franklin said the condominiums, which range in price from $650,000 to $2 million, would bring that advantage into focus.

“We have high loft ceilings in the great rooms and tall windows — 9 feet tall and 12 feet tall on the fourth floor,” Franklin said.

A single designer, Traci Clark of Finial Design, has the distinction of presiding over Alpenglow, Howelsen Place and The Victoria. She has succeeded in giving each property a unique look.

Alpenglow reflects the most contemporary influence, and The Victoria is the most traditional. However, The Victoria’s interior design is far from the mountain lodge look that has become the common denominator in many ski resort projects.

“The Victoria could give some people the wrong impression by virtue of its name,” Clark said.

“We don’t want it to be Victorian in style,” Clark said. “There’s not a huge market for that. Gingerbread — it’s not that at all. It’s 19th-century Manhattan. The interiors have a look more of a brownstone in New York City — very classic.”

Pam Duckworth, chairwoman of Steamboat’s Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, praised the exterior architecture of The Victoria for complementing the historic structures that surround it.

“It’s an important new building,” Duckworth said. “It’s close to the (historic) Pilot (newspaper) Building, the U.S. Forest Service building and the Lorenz Building.”

The faithfulness of the new building’s display to the historic architecture is reflected in the new interiors.

Pam Vanatta of Prudential Steamboat Realty has the listing on The Victoria. She said her colleagues are telling her the property reflects a timeless design reminiscent of the suites at the Ritz Carlton in Manhattan.

Developer Denise Peterson said her goal was to create elegant interiors that were traditional and flexible.

“My tastes are very traditional, but we tried to use details to define that look so that if someone came in with different tastes, the homes would accommodate a more contemporary look, as well.”

The interiors at The Victoria have dark hardwood floors, cherry wainscoting, coffered ceilings and brushed gold and bronze accents.

The homes adhere to tradition with a formal dining room large enough to seat 10 or 12.

Clark and her staff were given a great deal of latitude by the Petersons, and no detail has been overlooked, right down to classic-cut glass doorknobs.

Still, there’s room for homeowners to say, “Our hearts belong to the Rocky Mountains.”

A Remington bronze of a cowboy on horseback would look just right on the fireplace mantle at The Victoria.

Alpenglow and Howelsen Place are filing different homestead claims from that of The Victoria.

Alpenglow, at Lincoln Avenue and Fifth Street where the Nite’s Rest Motel formerly stood, is the most contemporary of the new downtown buildings.

You can see it in a short section of exposed ductwork in the master bedroom and the rail lighting that winds through the kitchen.

No design element encompasses that transition quite like the fireplaces at Alpenglow.

Clark sourced some dramatic 12-by-24-inch tiles for the face of the fireplace that create the illusion of industrial-gauge steel sheets with a heavy, almost corroded patina. In a metal tray surrounding the hearth, she has brought Steamboat’s outdoor environment into the home. The tray is filled with loose river rocks.

“Jim Cook wanted a more urban feel — something more lively, more youthful, more hip. But I knew I had to soften it. You wouldn’t see the same thing in downtown Denver,” she said. “We’re achieving a balance.”

The clear maple flooring and cabinetry make the rooms bright, and the mosaic kitchen backsplash of Oceanside Glasstile add color and a touch of whimsy to the main living space.

Clark cleverly brought the contemporary bathrooms with their revealed plumbing back to Western design space with chocolate brown stitched-leather accessories including toilet paper holders and towel bars by Turnstyle Designs.

The combination of contrasting stitching and steel rivets on the fixtures evoke the harness leather used by ranchers on teams of draft horses in the Yampa Valley.

When the model home at Howelsen Place opens to the public this summer, Clark promised, it will find its own niche, just a little more traditional than that of Howelsen Place.

Steamboat’s historic downtown commercial district is changing outwardly this summer. And beneath the new facades, a platform for a new design aesthetic in mountain vacation homes is quietly asserting itself.

Steamboat Planning Commission votes to expand urban boundary
Saturday, July 12, 2008
By: Kristi Mohrbacher - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — Steamboat 700 has won a small victory in the battle to be built.

The Steamboat Springs Planning Commission voted, 4-3, late Thursday night to recommend an expansion of the Urban Growth Boundary in western Steamboat Springs to accommodate 185 acres of the proposed Steamboat 700 development.

The Steamboat 700 team still needs to win a recommendation for approval from the Routt County Planning Commission, and the final decision about its urban growth boundary re-quest will come Aug. 12, during a joint meeting of the Steamboat Springs City Council and the Routt County Board of Commissioners.

The UGB is a line that was established by the Steamboat Springs Area Community Plan to delineate between land to be developed for future urban use and lands that should be kept for rural use.

Inclusion of a site in the UGB is a step toward annexing the site into city limits.

Steamboat planning commissioners Kathi Meyer, Karen Dixon, Tom Ernst and alternate Brian Hanlen supported a UGB expansion for Steamboat 700, while commissioners Rich Levy, Sarah Fox and Cedar Beauregard voted against an expansion.

City Planner Jason Peasley advised the commissioners to ask themselves, “Is this property appropriate for developing and does it meet the needs of the community?” when deciding whether to extend the UGB.

Steamboat 700 is a proposed 700-acre development — 185 acres of which lie outside the UGB — that could include up to 2,200 residences and 300,000 square feet of commercial space. The area that lies within the UGB is designated by the West of Steamboat Springs Area Plan to be developed into a mixed-use community for future growth.

“The biggest part of this was that, in my opinion, moving the UGB here is a logical change,” Meyer said of her decision to recommend approval. West of Steamboat Springs already is identified as the direction the city should grow, Meyer said, and the applicant demonstrated that the existing UGB wasn’t based on any physical constraints on the property.

Although Levy agreed that development should occur west of the city, he disapproved of the amount of development proposed by Steamboat 700.

“I think this kind of expanded development is premature,” Levy said, citing the lack of a traffic study and unknown capacities of U.S. 40. He said the UGB was created as a growth-rate control mechanism and is the only such tool at the city’s disposal.

“The community stated rapid growth as one of their top concerns,” Levy said. “And I think this is what that is.”

Meyer said one person spoke during public comment to encourage following the guidelines of the West of Steamboat Springs Area Plan and allow growth to take place in the area.

“We are pleased that they approved it,” Steamboat 700 land-use attorney Bob Weiss said. “The applicant is proposing a master plan that encompasses the whole property and in order to provide all of the things the city wants, such as affordable housing and a trail system,” the UGB needs to be amended to include the entire property, Weiss said.

He added that if the UGB isn’t amended, the way the land is currently zoned, then “it will end up being several large-lot trophy houses, and I don’t think that is in the best interest of the community.”

The UGB line is not permanent and is intended to be a growth management tool that requires lengthy community discussion about the future growth goals of the city before it can be amended, city planners said.

There are three more public meetings to discuss this year’s five applications to amend the UGB before the Steamboat Springs City Council and Routt County Board of Commissioners make the final decisions in August.

No promenade before 2010 - Pedestrian pathway at base of ski area still beyond horizon
Saturday, July 12, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — Construction on the much-anticipated pedestrian promenade at the base of Steamboat Ski Area almost certainly will not begin until the summer of 2010.

Members of the city’s Urban Redevelopment Area Advisory Committee stopped short Friday of ruling out 2009 construction on the first section of the promenade, in front of Torian Plum Plaza. But the hurdles remaining to be cleared suggest 2010.

Not the least of the challenges is a group of 100 individual condominium owners at Torian Plum. Also intensely interested are business owners who occupy the commercial condominiums at Torian.

Many of the owners are working hard on the base area improvement project. Others want to be reassured that the public improvements funded by property taxes earmarked for base area redevelopment won’t detract from the advantages their properties already enjoy.

“We have to have 67 percent of our owners in favor,” Torian Homeowners Association board member Ron Harrelson told the Advisory Committee. “The majority of our board members are all for (the promenade), but we’ve even got some board members who are opposed. And unfortunately, there’s a minority of the owners who are adamantly opposed and have been sending fliers and leaflets around.”

The owners at Torian aren’t blocking public improvements at the base of the ski area. But Harrelson said board members need help selling the improvements. The needs of Torian owners, and the complexity of meeting them, are indicative of the challenges ahead.

Harrelson said they feel strongly that their condos offer some of the truest ski-in/ski-out access at Steamboat and are concerned that the new promenade, as some design alternatives show it, would increase the distance from the edge of the snowline to the Torian Plum entrance.

The promenade would wrap around the bottom of the ski area like a horseshoe, providing much-needed cohesion to a resort village that always has been dysfunctional in terms of pedestrian accessibility. Along with construction of the promenade, Burgess Creek would be daylighted in the summer where it flows across the lowest ski trails on the mountain.

Project Manager Joe Kracum said a spoke on the horseshoe, linking the new One Steamboat Place with Après Ski Way, could be built next summer without much difficulty. But the logical first section of the promenade itself is in front of Torian. Before that could begin next summer, a tricky operations and maintenance agreement must be forged with private property owners no later than the end of August. And it would be helpful to know how much property tax revenue will be available for the roughly $9.3 million project, Kracum said.

Doug Terry, owner of Terry Sports in Torian Plum Plaza, sounded a confident note about the O&M agreement.

Nicole Horst of consulting planners Wenk Associates presented a variety of design solutions Friday for different segments of the trail.

She described the complexities of striving for a consistent 5 percent grade along the trail for accessibility and pedestrians in ski boots. Horst has designed multiple ramps feeding into short staircases to surmount elevation changes such as the 20 feet to the top of the grass-covered parking lot at Torian.

Horst wants to leave ample room for fire pits, small amphitheaters for gatherings and a large performance stage. All of those considerations are secondary to ensuring fire trucks can drive within 150 feet of the mountainside of condominium towers.

“What I heard during the design charette was that an ice rink might be nice,” Horst said. “But maybe a larger rink located more centrally.”

Steamboat 700 gets support for growth - City planning commission recommends Urban Growth Boundary expansion
Friday, July 11, 2008
By: Kristi Mohrbacher - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs Planning Commission voted 4-3 Thursday night to recommend expanding the city’s Urban Growth Boundary to accommodate Steamboat 700.

The Steamboat 700 team still needs to win a recommendation for approval from the Routt County Planning Commission, and the final decision about its Urban Growth Boundary request will come Aug. 12, during a joint meeting of the Steamboat Springs City Council and the Routt County Board of Commissioners.

But Thursday’s vote was a step forward for the proposed development west of Steamboat Springs.

The Urban Growth Boundary is a line that was established by the Steamboat Springs Area Community Plan to delineate between land to be developed for future urban use and lands that should be kept for rural use.

Steamboat 700 is a proposed 700-acre development – 185 of which lie outside of the UGB - that could include up to 2,200 residences and 300,000 square feet of commercial space. The area that lies within the UGB is designated by the West Steamboat Springs Area Plan as a site suitable for future growth.

Tom Leeson, the city’s director of planning and community development, said some planning commissioners felt the current UGB didn't seem to be based on any topographical issues and seemed like an arbitrary location.

Commissioners who did not support the boundary extension Thursday cited traffic concerns on U.S. Highway 40 and a lack of public benefit from the Steamboat 700 project, Leeson said.

Commissioners Kathi Meyer, Karen Dixon, Tom Ernst and alternate Brian Hanlen supported a UGB expansion for Steamboat 700, while commissioners Rich Levy, Sarah Fox and Cedar Beauregard voted against an expansion.

County planning commissioners will conduct their public review of this year’s five UGB applications at 5 p.m. July 17.

Balloon Rodeo takes to the skies
Friday, July 11, 2008
By: Melinda Dudley - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — More than 40 hot air balloons will launch over the Yampa Valley this weekend as the 28th annual Hot Air Balloon Rodeo gets under way at Bald Eagle Lake.

The Balloon Rodeo, a Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association signature event, draws throngs of locals and visitors each year. After the balloons are launched, they participate in an air rodeo, which consists of a series of events the pilots must complete while flying.

Balloonmeister Brad Poissant is not just pumped for the Balloon Rodeo to begin, but also for the weather. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-to-high 80s throughout the weekend, with clear skies and mild wind, according to the National Weather Service.

Hundreds of pilots and crew members will be on site this weekend to make sure everything runs smoothly. Each pilot and his or her balloon was specially chosen to participate in the Balloon Rodeo, with factors including balloon size and the pilot’s flight record weighing on their application, Poissant said.

The annual event moved to Bald Eagle Lake in 2007 after many years spent closer to the base of the Steamboat Ski Area. The Chamber is hoping this year’s event will run a little easier than last year’s, Chamber spokeswoman Molly Killien said.

All parking will be at the Meadows Lot on Pine Grove Road on Saturday and Sunday; no parking will be available on-site at Bald Eagle Lake. Free shuttle service will be available and the Steamboat Lions Club will be on hand serving coffee, Killien said.

“Last year, there were some hiccups,” Killien said. “Hopefully the shuttles will run a lot more smoothly this year.”

The launch field will open to the public at 6 a.m. both days, with crews inflating their balloons beginning at 7 a.m.

Art in the Park stays free, adds new activities
Friday, July 11, 2008
By: Margaret Hair - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — An estimated 10,000 people will sift through West Lincoln Park this weekend for the 34th annual Art in the Park. And they’ll do it for free.

That’s a change from the original plan of charging a $1 admission fee, for the first time in 34 years, to festival attendees. “Support the arts” wristbands will be available for contributions of $1 or more.

Marion Kahn, executive director of the Steamboat Springs Arts Council, said event organizers rolled back the fee based on community response.

“It’s pretty typical around the country that there are admission fees for festivals, but we’re just not accustomed to that here,” Kahn said.

The money raised by the proposed admission fee was intended to be a new source of revenue for new community programs, she said. The Arts Council hoped to use the money to jump-start an after-school arts mentoring program for at-risk children. Kahn and Arts Council events manager Rachel Radetsky said they hope the program still can be ready in time for fall, with the help of donations or grants.

“Any proceeds we make from the donations will always go back to the community,” Radetsky said. “We do encourage people to wear their wristbands, just to show their support of the arts.”

Leo Atkinson, a local rock-sculpture artist who has had a booth at Art in the Park for more than 15 years, said he plans to contribute $1 to the Arts Council for every rock geode he cracks during the festival. Atkinson, who regularly travels to art festivals and fairs across the state and country, said Steamboat’s event has a down-home feel.

“I do Aspen next weekend, and it’s a really good art show, but you don’t find many kids there. It’s not a family-oriented festival; it’s an art show,” he said, describing Art in the Park as “a real fun family festival.”

Atkinson said his feelings on charging admission are mixed, and that the idea of collecting money for the Arts Council at the event might have gone over easier if it had originally been presented as a voluntary donation.

“You know, it’s interesting, because on one hand, I do a lot of shows and there are some that will charge. But the $1, that’s like a token,” Atkinson said, adding that he would pay to go to the event, so long as the charge was reasonable.

Local silk painter Tinker Tiffany, who has sold her work at Art in the Park for 13 years, said the event’s community orientation has made the location’s load-in difficulties worth it through the years.

“It’s a great fair, and I love how the community comes out and really supports it,” she said. Tiffany went to three Colorado art festivals in June and will attend three more by the end of the month, and she said those that charge high admission prices typically are more focused on big-name entertainment than on the art itself. She said if an admission fee is a possibility for future Art in the Park festivals, it should be decided well in advance.

The Arts Council charges its vendors $250 a booth for members and $275 for nonmembers for the weekend. The rate is comparable with most festivals across the country, Radetsky said. The Arts Council does not take commission on vendor sales.

“That’s something we’ve stuck by pretty firmly to not do,” Radetsky said of taking commission. Art in the Park wares range in price from less than $10 to thousands of dollars.

“We have something for everybody, at every price. There are things that would be affordable for any of us, and then there will be high-end items for very special buyers,” Kahn said.

This year’s event features a family fun area with games, face painting, crafts and a magic marker graffiti wall, as well as expanded opportunities for live, local entertainment.

“I really would like to have that outreach so that people can have a chance to perform, and so other people will know what’s going on in our arts community,” Kahn said.

Growth borders remain - Planning Commission votes against Emerald Mountain proposal
Friday, July 11, 2008
By: Kristi Mohrbacher - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs residents could one day see a new neighborhood and Nordic ski lodge on Emerald Mountain — but it likely won’t happen anytime soon.

The Steamboat Springs Planning Commission voted, 5-2, against an application by Lyman Orton, who proposed an extension to the city’s Urban Growth Boundary on Thursday night. Orton was one of five applicants requesting extensions to the city’s UGB for proposed developments.

The UGB is a line established by the Steamboat Springs Area Community Plan in 1995 to identify which lands should be annexed into the city and developed for urban use and which lands shouldn’t be annexed because they are designated for rural use.

Orton proposed a neighborhood on 464 acres on the north side of Emerald Mountain, just outside of city limits. The proposed neighborhood includes mixed-income housing units, many of which would be designated as affordable housing.

For many members of the public Thursday, the most attractive part of Orton’s proposal was a Nordic ski lodge that would house the offices of the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and offer recreational opportunities for local youths and avid trail users on Emerald Mountain.

Numerous supporters spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, representing local nonprofit groups, cyclists, trail users, longtime residents and Emerald Mountain enthusiasts. Despite the strong public support, five commissioners voted against the request.

“The public benefit is off the chart,” Commissioner Rich Levy said after moving to deny support for the application, “but it’s not an ideal location for development and is not a logical change to the UGB.”

City planners recommended that commissioners not support the application because it only meets one of five criteria necessary to approve an amendment to the UGB. The level of public benefit was the only element of Orton’s proposal that City Planner Jason Peasley found to be consistent with criteria for expanding the UGB, which is a first step toward annexation into city limits.

Peasley recommended that Orton’s application be tabled until 2009, when the city re-evaluates the community plan — a process that will provide an in-depth look at the goals for future growth.

“I think this project warrants a broad community process,” said Commissioner Kathi Meyer, who also did not support the proposal. “If we move the UGB we create an expectation of annexation, and I don’t think we are there yet.”

She said the public benefit was a wonderful opportunity, but she wanted to see the project meet all of the other criteria, too.

“I’d like to give him the opportunity to go forward with this,” said Commissioner Cedar Beauregard, who supported the proposal. “It just makes sense.”

He mentioned the opportunity to preserve Emerald Mountain for future generations as a huge benefit to the city. Commissioner Tom Ernst echoed Beauregard’s comments and said he wanted to give Orton the chance to move forward with his ideas.

Although disappointed, Orton expressed understanding of the vote against his proposal.

“I’m actually quite pleased there was a lot of support for the vision,” Orton said, “Their hands aren’t tied, but they aren’t able to say ‘Hey, this sounds good; let’s do it,’ so you can see why they made the decision they did.”

In other action

The commission unanimously recommended an extension of the UGB to incorporate a half-acre parcel owned by Butch Dougherty, but did not support a proposed UGB extension that would include 40 acres of riverfront property near the Tree Haus subdivision.

A presentation by developers of Steamboat 700, who propose extending the UGB to include 185 acres west of Steamboat Springs, continued beyond press time Thursday night.

The presentation for 360 Village, including a proposal to extend the UGB more than 240 acres west of the city limits, was postponed because of the late hour. Notice will be provided when details are confirmed for that proposal’s next hearing.

Urban development expands - Amended growth boundary could bring affordable housing
Thursday, July 10, 2008
By: Brandon Gee - Steamboat Pilot and Today

A joint city and Routt County review of five projects that would redefine Steamboat Springs’ perimeter — in some cases drastically — kicks off today when the Steamboat Springs Planning Commission holds hearings on applications to bring a combined 929.5 acres within the Urban Growth Boundary.

“The Urban Growth Boundary is a transition line established by the Steamboat Springs Area Community Plan that clearly identifies which lands will be developed at urban densities and which lands will be kept in rural use,” a report prepared by Steamboat planning staff states.

Areas within the UGB are eligible for annexation into city limits. Those outside of it are not. For three projects in particular, annexation is vital to developers’ plans to increase Steamboat’s housing stock by about 3,000 homes combined in coming years.

One-hundred eighty-five acres of the proposed 700-acre Steamboat 700 project lie outside the UGB, as do 240 acres of the proposed 350-acre 360 Village development. The entire 464-acre Emerald Mountain parcel that owner Lyman Orton hopes to develop lies outside the UGB.

During a Routt County pre-application review of Steamboat 700 in February, County Commissioner Nancy Stahoviak said approval of a UGB amendment likely would hinge on concessions from the developer.

“There has to be positive and measurable public benefit to the community,” Stahoviak said in February. “If you’re going to go there, we need more.”

The community’s most pressing need as identified by city and county officials, and thus the most attractive public benefit developers could offer, is affordable housing. All three of the large projects propose a major affordable-housing component.

At the Steamboat 700 county review meeting in February, Project Manager Danny Mulcahy said leaving the boundary as is would reduce his ability to subsidize the affordable housing he intends to build by reducing the number of market-rate units he can build. Stahoviak disagreed. She said the lower density allowed outside the urban growth boundary would still allow Mulcahy to subsidize affordable housing with larger, high-end parcels.

The two smaller applications among the five are for a half-acre lot owned by Butch Dougherty and for 40 acres owned by Alex Koftinow, who proposes 26 dwelling units along the Yampa River. The city’s planning staff is recommending denial of all five applications.

Iron Horse to be redeveloped - City accepting applications of qualifications from developers
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
By: Kristi Mohrbacher - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — City officials are entertaining the possibility of demolishing the Iron Horse Inn and rebuilding from the ground up.

The City of Steamboat Springs issued a request for qualifications on July 1 to developers, development teams or joint ventures interested in redeveloping the Iron Horse. It originally was purchased by the city in November 2007 in an effort to ensure availability of affordable housing for city employees. Its future now includes the possibility of complete renovation. That could mean a mix of rental and for-sale units combined with commercial or retail uses.

“Basically, we’re saying, ‘Here’s a great parcel of land. If it was yours, how would you develop it?’” Deputy City Manager Wendy DuBord said Monday.

The RFQ process precedes the request for proposal process, and the goal is to identify developers who are qualified to submit a proposal. DuBord said there are about 35 interested companies that have requested RFQ information, and she predicts there will be more before the July 24 deadline.

According to the RFQ, “The City wishes to redevelop the Iron Horse site into an affordable housing development that provides attractive, affordable work force housing which may be a mix of rental and for-sale units.”

DuBord said the city is encouraging creativity from developers, and no redevelopment possibility has been ruled out.

Residential, commercial and retail uses such as day care and offices are encouraged in the RFQ, and the city urges a mix of housing types and income targets that includes at least 20 units for households below 80 percent of the area median income and a possible mix of affordable and market-priced residential units.

“We believe the site is currently being under-utilized,” DuBord said. Based on the potential density for the site, the city possibly could double the number of units to more than 100. Currently, there are 53 units, and the city leases 11 of them to city employees. The remaining units are being used for long-term work force housing and nightly rentals. DuBord said at any given time, the city estimates it will need 10 to 20 of the units for city employees.

The city sought private-sector partnerships for the management of the inn earlier this year and awarded the contract to Resort Group. The plan was to use the Iron Horse for workforce housing only. Resort Group originally planned to take over management of the inn June 1, but the date was pushed back to Oct. 1 or Oct. 31 because “Resort Group felt they did not have time to gear up for the high summer demand,” DuBord said in June.

“Yes, we are interested in the redevelopment aspect of the Iron Horse. It’s part of why we took it on,” Resort Group Vice President Tom Simmins, said Tuesday. He said he is envisioning better quality work force housing and more of it.

“We want to offer the total work force package,” Simmins said, and he thinks that different unit types will allow them to do that. With leases that vary from 4 months to a year, he said they plan to supply housing for not just seasonal employees but also for families that need short-term housing while they find something more permanent.

Currently, rents at the Iron Horse range from $750 per month for an efficiency to $1,800 per month for a two-bedroom unit. Simmins said Resort Group will charge “what the market can bear” for rent.

“We’re all in the business to make money, but we also want to make it palatable and not kill anyone on rent,” Simmins said.

Just as the redevelopment plans for the Iron Horse are up in the air, so is the funding model to pay for it. The RFQ states that the city is willing to contribute the land and may be willing to consider other subsidies, joint funding, concessions and fee waivers. DuBord said she wasn’t sure how the project would be funded and that it’s up to the developers to propose funding ideas.

DuBord plans to select a committee to review qualification submissions and proposals.

After the committee identifies qualified applicants, the next step in the process is to review redevelopment proposals in August or September.

Although the RFQ says “The city would like to redevelop the site as soon as possible,” DuBord said the city is not rushing the proposal process. The Steamboat Springs Workforce Housing Demand Analysis is due out in August, and the Routt County Housing Needs Assessment is due out this fall. DuBord said the results of the surveys will help identify work force and affordable housing needs in Steamboat and give the city and developers a better idea of how to redevelop the Iron Horse Inn.

DuBord predicted the earliest construction would begin on the Iron Horse is the summer 2010.

Median prices grow 25 percent
Sunday, July 06, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The median price of all types of real estate transactions in Routt County in May was up 25 percent in 2007 even as dollar volume fell dramatically from $205.5 million last year to $68.15 million this year.

May 2007 dollar volume established a record for any month in Steamboat Springs history. The total was inflated by large transactions such as the $58 million sale of the Sheraton Steamboat Resort to Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.

This year’s May dollar volume also was down compared to $88.6 million in May 2006.

The median transaction price in Routt County in May was $468,000 compared to $375,000 during the record-setting month of May 2007, an increase of 25 percent, said Bruce Carta of Land Title Guarantee Company.

Average and median prices are climbing across all of the different categories of real estate, from building lots to condominiums, David Baldinger Jr. said. He is the managing broker/owner of Steamboat Village Brokers. He anticipates the overall market will return to 2006 dollar volumes this year.

“Prices are still showing healthy increases in the first quarter of 2008 compared to 2007,” he said. “They are up 4 to 26 percent depending on the category and price band.”

Among 50 home sales in May, Routt County saw the sale of nine residential units priced greater than $1 million and 15 priced between $300,000 and $500,000.

Baldinger said slowing volume combined with an increase in inventory this summer has improved conditions for buyers from a year ago, when certain kinds of real estate were in tight supply and there was competition for those properties. Buyers have more choices this summer than they did a year ago, he said.

Successful sellers this summer are apt to be those who base asking prices on actual comparative sales, he added.

May sales in downtown Steamboat Springs and at the ski mountain were remarkably close in terms of average transaction price — $1.01 million for the former and $1.064 million for the latter, according to Carta. Downtown saw 11 transactions, and there were 29 at the mountain.

Average prices in Hayden were more modest, averaging almost $169,000, but the unit volume of 11 transactions shows rising interest in that growing community. Year to date, Hayden has seen 111 transactions for an aggregate value of $12.55 million.

Jumping finds summer spectators
Sunday, July 06, 2008
By: Luke Graham - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The U.S. men’s Nordic combined World Cup B coach Chris Gilbertson has a vision.

He sees plastic ski jumps, like the ones used in Steamboat Springs, filtered throughout the country.

Filtered to places such as Florida, Arizona, Texas and southern California, where young skiers can try the sport of ski jumping without ever having to see Champagne Powder.

“My ultimate goal would be to open a plastic jump in a place that will never see snow,” Gilbertson said. “To make it people’s first trip to see snow and they have already been jumping.”

Certainly the men’s Nordic combined team, and ski jumping in general, have been on a hot streak. Bill Demong finished third overall in the World Cup last season, Johnny Spillane has performed well on the biggest stages and Todd Lodwick — one of America’s best Nordic combined athletes ever — is prepared to make a comeback.

But the sport’s future still begs an age-old question. Will the success of the recent season and prospects of potential medals at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver ever make the sport popular to the masses in the U.S.?

“It’s a matter of getting people out there and seeing it,” U.S. Nordic combined A coach Dave Jarrett said. “Watching it on TV doesn’t do it justice. It’s especially a great time in summer. The more people watch it, the more it will grow as an event.”

That’s why Jarrett and Gilbertson agree that events such as Friday’s third annual Fourth of July Ski Jumping Extravaganza at Howelsen Hill are so good for the sport.

The event — which included a Nordic combined competition and target jumping — brought a substantial crowd to Friday’s festivities. Some were from Steamboat and well-versed on ski jumping and the allure it provides. Some were there for the social aspect, and many were out-of-towners seeing ski jumping for the very first time.

“The more summer events we have can give us new spectators,” Gilbertson said. “People that come in the winter when there is a World Cup B or A event going on are usually here to ski. They usually pay a lot of money to go skiing.”

Huge in Europe

That’s where the summer event comes into play. It takes place on one of the biggest weekends during the summer. It’s part of all the festivities and it’s done in the warm Steamboat summer air as opposed to the frigid depths of a Steamboat winter.

But even Gilbertson admits getting ski jumping or Nordic combined into the public limelight will be a tough ordeal.

In Europe, the Nordic combined skiers are America’s Peyton Mannings and Tom Bradys. They’re the big stars. The coaches are scrutinized like American football coaches on Monday mornings.

“It can be like having 60,000 to 80,000 fans into the same-sized base of Howelsen,” Gilbertson said of European crowds. “It’s like being a football star over there. There’s fan clubs, banners and people follow athletes year round.”

But it’s the same thing soccer has dealt with for years. How can a sport so widely supported on foreign land almost be an afterthought on American soil?

“It certainly wouldn’t hurt,” Jarrett said. “It’s not absolutely necessary, but unfortunately, a sport like ours is not on TV. It’s essentially a European sport and it might take something like that. People in Houston only pay attention when they see the highlights at the Olympics.”

It also may take a rock-star personality to create a sensation similar to Bode Miller’s impact on Alpine skiing. There are good stories out there with each Nordic combined athlete — Lodwick’s comeback, Spillane’s resilience through injuries or Demong’s magical season carrying into an Olympic run.

Still, it will be tough for Nordic combined and ski jumping to ever break into the mainstream.

But events such as Friday’s Ski Jumping Extravaganza do nothing but help, as athletes and national ski officials strive to have a U.S. jumper stand on the sport’s biggest podium in 2010.

“We need to continue to get good results,” Jarrett said. “Those results need to be made aware of. It also helps to have colorful guys making those results. Steamboat’s absolutely been positive in the support structure for Nordic combined. Two-thirds of the U.S. doesn’t have snow at all in the winter. It’s hard to expect people to know anything about Alpine skiing. To have a place like Steamboat or Park City or Lake Placid that really embraces the sport is huge. It needs to grow it and get the word out from there.”

Colorado Group cultivates green clients
Sunday, June 29, 2008
By: Tom Ross - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — Colorado Group Realty has joined a national trend in environmental real estate education by enrolling 45 brokers in the EcoBroker designation training program with EcoBroker International. Colorado Group also has been awarded the gold certification in the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association’s Sustainable Business Program.

EcoBroker is a designation program for licensed real estate professionals providing education on energy and environmental issues. Certified EcoBrokers meet buyer and seller demand for real estate professionals with an understanding of the issues that drive current market decisions.

“Our training will help Colorado Group Realty’s brokers to better serve their clients,” John Stovall said. He is vice president of business development for EcoBroker International.

Based in Evergreen, EcoBroker International has more than 3,700 members. Katie Hughes was the first from Colorado Group to earn her certification. With the addition of the current class, 85 percent of the Realtors in the firm will be certified. Stovall traveled to Steamboat Springs to train Colorado Group Realty’s brokers in the 18-hour class.

“This is the highest percentage of a single real estate company to become certified at one time,” Stovall said.

Colorado Group Realty Broker/Owner Annamarie Shunny said her clients are becoming more concerned with green living.

“Our clientele are increasingly aware of energy efficiency, utility costs and the benefits of energy efficient features,” Shunny said. “We feel that it is important to assist property owners and potential owners in understanding these issues through gaining inspections and information from qualified experts.”

“What stands out the most regarding Colorado Group Realty’s efforts is their commitment to incentivizing brokers to become educated on green building practices, technology and materials,” Lyn Halliday said.

Colorado Group has been purchasing wind credits for two years and uses an electric car for transporting potential buyers to their downtown properties. The firm also owns a company cruiser bike any employee can use.

All That Jazz doing fine despite doom in music industry
Sunday, June 29, 2008
By: Margaret Hair - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — For the past 10 years, music magazines have been flooded with articles about the death of the record store.

Joe Kboudi — who opened Wednesday with twice the floor space at a new location for All That Jazz — apparently has not read those articles. Or at least, he doesn’t believe they apply to his store.

The new All That Jazz location has roughly the same music inventory as the old one. Used vinyl and CDs have moved from crates on the floor to standing bins, and Kboudi said he plans to supplement used records with new, 180-gram LPs of classic and recent music.

Much of the store’s doubled square footage will be home to an expanded selection of women’s clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, gift cards, socks, belts, and rock ’n’ roll T-shirts and paraphernalia.

While nonmusic merchandise in the store has been part of the business plan since it moved to 635 Lincoln Ave. 18 years ago, Kboudi said All That Jazz is sticking to its original message, and has tried to make a statement by keeping diversified merchandise inside the realm of rock ‘n’ roll.

“In this small of a town, you cannot make it on CD sales or DVD sales alone,” said Kevin King, All That Jazz general manager.

Offering product outside of physical music is something successful independent record stores have been doing for years, said Don VanCleave, president of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores.

“That’s what’s happening with a lot of record stores, is music is a driver and they make a lot more profit off of everything but music, and it’s a delicate balance,” VanCleave said. “Fifteen years ago, you could do really well just selling music. And about 10 years ago, we all figured out that we needed to start going into other areas.”

Of the 30 record stores in the coalition, VanCleave said most are stocking their shelves with about 30 percent nonmusic product, if not more. Stores that are surviving made a conscious decision how to do so years ago, VanCleave said.

“I think that indie record stores are poised to stay around for the longest, because they cater to that collector and music fan,” VanCleave said. Gas prices, shaky record labels and an uncertain economy might make the future of record stores hard to forecast, but VanCleave said indie stores have benefited from larger retailers leaving the game.

“The physical product isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. There’s a whole generation of people who prefer it. And as long as there are stores to provide it, they’ll sell it,” he said.

Kboudi sees offering a wide variety of merchandise as a way to stay in business, to draw a broader range of customers and to give the store a fun, inclusive atmosphere. Still, music sales account for at least 60 percent of the store’s revenue, he said.

“If we think that our customer can handle more music, then we’ll put more music in,” Kboudi said. “And we think that with the layout we have, it’ll be easier to find it.”

This is not Target

Since Kboudi founded it in 1977, part of All That Jazz’s angle has been to appeal to a niche market that exists naturally in Steamboat Springs. The store does most of its music business outside of the mainstream, selling records by reggae, jam, hip-hop and punk acts.

“This is not Best Buy or Circuit City. And Beyoncé, Jay-Z, while they’re established acts, we don’t sell a lot of that music,” King said. “Nonmainstream — that is where we’ve thrived in the past.”

That niche market of music collectors, punk fans and hip-hop DJs — anyone who is going to buy physical product, no matter what technology emerges — has been as critical to All That Jazz as it has been for independent stores of varying sizes across the country.

“The national trends say that music sales are down, but that is not what the indie stores are experiencing,” said Eric Levin, president of the Alliance of Independent Media Stores and owner of Atlanta’s Criminal Records. Levin recently signed a lease for a larger location for Criminal. His store made it near the top of the list for the “17 coolest record stores in America” in the July issue of Paste music magazine.

“I wouldn’t be doing that if I didn’t think there was still an incredible market for an alternative to what is perceived as a downward trend in music,” Levin said about the expansion. While big-name, big-label acts such as Mariah Carey, Coldplay and Madonna have taken hits in sales outside of traditional record stores, Levin — like Kboudi and King — said he has not felt the impact.

“For indie stores that have always specialized in music, the good ones among us haven’t seen a downward trend. … As opportunity for buying music has shrunk with Best Buy shrinking floor space, Wal-Mart exiting and Tower going out of business, it’s only made it better and better for stores like ours,” Levin said.

For the people Levin calls “music participants,” advances such as iTunes downloads and Pandora Internet radio haven’t kept anyone from buying music; technology has just made those people more educated.

“I would think of a participant as someone who’s going to buy physical artifact. A participant is someone involved in the culture of music, not in the collecting of zeroes and ones,” said Levin, who remembers All That Jazz as “a cool store” from visits to Steamboat Springs.

“Someday, somebody’s going to go, ‘I thought all those stores were going out of business. What happened?’ I think it’s the beginning of a boom time,” Levin said. “That’s why I’m getting a bigger store, and that’s probably what All That Jazz is thinking, as well.”

New store, same old place

In the three days leading up to All That Jazz’s move down the 600 block of Lincoln Avenue, store employees, family and friends worked almost nonstop, carrying inventory down the sidewalk, setting up shelves in the new store and tearing them down in the old one. At least four of those employees have been with All That Jazz for more than a decade.

Kboudi and King said they’ll miss the old location’s “funky charm that felt like a back alley charm.” But they’re ready to fill a larger shop, holding on to the best qualities of a space King said they had outgrown by five years.

“It’s still our funky record store, you know what I mean?” Kboudi said. And it still sticks to the ideals that started it more than 30 years ago, and that keep people like Kboudi, Levin and VanCleave in the business.

“I’ve always loved music, ever since I can remember,” Kboudi said. “And when I moved to Steamboat, there was a little record store that didn’t really have any heart and soul in it. And I said, ‘I can do better than that.’”

Businesses opening soon
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
By: Blythe Terrell - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — A pack of downtown businesses are set to open in the next several weeks.

Sleeping Giant Gallery, Wild Horse Gallery and All That Jazz aim to open at their new Lincoln Avenue locations this week, and Boat House Pub hopes to open in mid-July.

Sleeping Giant Gallery’s new location at Sixth Street and Lincoln Avenue should be open Wednesday, said Don Tudor, who owns the gallery with his wife, Cully Kistler. All That Jazz is scheduled to open next door the same day.

Wild Horse Gallery is opening a downtown location in addition to its Sheraton Steamboat Resort Hotel store. The gallery is slated to be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and has planned a grand opening for 4 to 8 p.m. that day, co-owner Shirley Stocks said.

“We’ll have some refreshments, and some of the artists will be there,” Stocks said. “It’s just kind of a regular grand opening.”

Wild Horse is in the former Alpine Electronics spot at 802 Lincoln Ave., which once housed Routt National Bank.

“It’s coming along really well,” Stocks said Monday about the construction. “We were able to get up to the original tin ceiling. … We have the vault still in the back. We’ve kind of gone with a more period look back to the old bank. We’re excited. The carpet’s going in today. We’re just clicking along; we’ll start hanging art on probably Thursday or Friday.”

Boat House Pub’s liquor license is under review, and the restaurant has not set an opening date, General Manager Joe Schuetz said. The pub at 609 Yampa St. still is under construction and is hiring staff, Schuetz said.

Boat House plans to offer pub fare such as hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, Maryland crab cakes, steaks, corned beef and cabbage and black-and-tan onion rings, Schuetz said. The crab cakes are a salute to the owners, Dr. Dennis Frank and Howard Ulep of Annapolis, Md.

The restaurant sits on the Yampa River and has patios on the first and second floor.

“It is going to be one rocking place,” Schuetz predicted. “It is going to be busy.”

“Our philosophy is that we want to go middle of the road,” Schuetz said. “We don’t think there’s enough middle of the road in town. We want to be local-friendly with our atmosphere and our price point.”

Boat House also will have a happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. every day, during which drink and appetizer prices will drop by $1.

“It’s going to be pub fare and a pub atmosphere with beautiful river dining,” Schuetz said.

In its 16th year, Free Summer Concert Series covers new ground
Monday, June 23, 2008
By: Margaret Hair - Steamboat Pilot and Today

2008 Free Summer Concert Series

Who: Drew Emmitt Band

When: 5:30 p.m. Friday

Sounds like: Bluegrass music set to a bar dancing tempo.

Is best known for: Fronting Colorado jam legends Leftover Salmon.

Might play a cover of: “Tangled Up in Blue” by Bob Dylan

Can be found at: www.myspace.com/drewemmitt

Who: Michael Franti and Spearhead

When: Friday, July 18

Sounds like: Classic rock made by someone who has hip-hop soul and reggae ideals.

Is best known for: The 2006 release “Yell Fire!” and Franti’s preceding reputation for socially conscious rapping.

Might play a cover of: Franti actually never has recorded a cover, so he might not play one at all.

Can be found at: www.myspace.com/spearheadvibrations

Who: Lez Zeppelin

When: Friday, July 25

Sounds like: Led Zeppelin

Is best known for: Rocking. And the tagline, “All girls. All Zeppelin.”

Might play a cover of: Lez Zeppelin is a tribute band, so playing covers is kind of what they do.

Can be found at: www.myspace.com/lezzeppelin

Who: Cross Canadian Ragweed

When: Thursday, Aug. 7

Sounds like: The American South, despite hailing from Oklahoma.

Is best known for: Touring extensively.

Might play a cover of: “Hey, Hey, My, My” by Neil Young

Can be found at: www.myspace.com/crosscanadianragweed

Who: Kenny Wayne Shepherd

When: Saturday, Aug. 16

Sounds like: A battered bluesman.

Is best known for: Having a valid and undying interest in traditional blues music and showing that in his one-time status as a child prodigy on the blues guitar and, more recently, in his album/documentary, “10 Days Out (Blues from the Backroads).”

Might play a cover of: “I’m Leaving You (Commit a Crime)” by Howlin’ Wolf

Can be found at: www.myspace.com/kennywayneshepherd

Steamboat Springs — Variety has been the goal of the Free Summer Concert Series for each of the 16 lineups it’s presented.

The five-act roster for this year’s series sticks to that theme, proving that a list of past performers that includes Sam Bush, Susan Tedeschi, Los Lobos and Cracker always has room for expansion.

“Something new for us is to have a tribute act, Lez Zeppelin, which is something that we haven’t had before because there aren’t a lot of tribute acts that are of that quality,” said John Waldman, who runs Great Knight Productions and books the series. The 2008 lineup features a wide range of possible genre classifications, including bluegrass, rock, folk, hip-hop, blues, country, dance and soul.

“They were chosen primarily to give diversity to the series,” Waldman said. “Every year we try to get the best available talent, and then, hopefully, there’s diversity.”

The concerts will be held at the base of Howelsen Hill again this summer, with construction at the Steamboat Ski Area blocking off the former Headwall stage site. Waldman encourages concert-goers to walk, bike or take the bus to the shows to avoid traffic jams made testier by numerous downtown construction projects.

Artist fees and production costs for the Free Summer Concert Series are covered by local business sponsorships and funding from the city of Steamboat Springs, as well as beer sales.

Pro Rodeo is back in town
Friday, June 20, 2008
By: Joel Reichenberger - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — The news after Week 1 of the 10-week Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series is good.

Crowds flocked to the Brent Romick Rodeo Arena at Howelsen Hill early and often, swarming the rodeo grounds before the Friday and Saturday shows last week, packing the main grandstands both nights.

The stock was lively, the action was fast, the jokes were family friendly and from top to bottom it made for a great opening weekend — almost too great, announcer John Shipley said.

The rodeo rode into town last week and kicked off at 6 p.m. with live entertainment and a barbecue, just as it will do today and Saturday. The real show got under way at 7:30, again is it will this weekend. Shipley and the rodeo organizers and support crew didn’t file out with the crowd about 10 p.m., however. Instead, the whole team stayed on until 12:45 a.m., making sure every last competitor who signed up got a chance in the ring.

“It went pretty smooth,” Shipley said. “We had a lot of outs (competitors), a whole lot. With as many outs as we had, I was pretty happy.”

The rodeo is laid out to keep viewers interested, so the number of competitors who actually compete during the scheduled rodeo is capped, any overflow given a chance to ride after the crowd has gone.

Massive fields in several events testified to their popularity, helped build a healthy prize pool and detracted from the sleep of those behind the scenes.

In its second week, the rodeo will have a more manageable — but still plenty healthy — herd of competitors, Shipley said. And he might even get to sleep tonight.

“It’s not unusual early in the season,” Shipley said of the late nights. “It’s like putting on another whole rodeo after the audience leaves. I doubt the audience will know the difference (between this week and last). We’ll have plenty of competitors this week, just not as much slack (extra).”

Cowboys and cowgirls managed to win nearly $22,000 at least week’s season-opening rodeo, and plenty are coming back for a second chance at the riches.

Leading the way will be J.W. Winklepleck. The Strasburg native rode last week in the bareback competition, earning $87.40 by tying for fourth place. He’ll hope to better that performance this week, in addition to a few other duties.

Winklepleck also will serve as the rodeo clown for the next two weekends of the rodeo circuit.

“You just take one event at a time,” he said of the double duty. “I wear my (clown) makeup through both performances. I get out, ride, get off and go put on my baggies and go to being the clown.”

Also joining the rodeo this weekend will be the Dandies performance team. The group of 16 Wyoming women will be representing the Cheyenne, Wyo., Frontier Days, which is scheduled for the last week in July. It will be the second consecutive week the Steamboat series has acknowledged the massive rodeo to the north.

“We’re going to cross our fingers with the weather and advise everyone come out, bring a jacket and spend the evening with us,” Shipley said.

Young entrepreneur makes a splash
Sunday, June 15, 2008
By: Blythe Terrell - Steamboat Pilot and Today

The 16-year-old Steamboat Springs entrepreneur handles the business side of Streamside Publications LLC, a company whose bread and butter is fly-fishing on the Yampa River. Her dad, Peter Parsons, and business consultant Scott Ford each hold less than a quarter of the company.

One of the toughest parts is “making sure we actually do meet our deadlines,” Molly Parsons said, “because we’ll say, ‘This is a great idea’ and then sit on it.”

The company’s latest release is a map of public fishing spots on the Yampa downtown and in the Chuck Lewis State Wildlife Area. The guide includes photos of the river and illustrations by local artists. It was set to be available in stores today, for $9.95.

“Scott, my dad and I created the map off the basis that people will come to Steamboat and want to fish but don’t have time to read a whole guidebook,” Molly said.

If they do want a whole guidebook, however, Streamside Publications offers one. “Fishing in the ’Boat” has been available for two years for about $20. Ford wrote the text for the guide in the early 1990s. The tear-proof and waterproof map makes the guidebook look amateurish, Ford said.

“This is such a rare river in that you can catch six species of freshwater fish within minutes of downtown,” he said of the Yampa. Visitors frequently ask retailers where they should go, Ford said. The map provides those answers.

Molly Parsons has handled the day-to-day business operations of the company for the past two years, Ford said. She takes care of retailer relationships and finances. Molly will be a junior next year at Steamboat Springs High School.

“This is my first business experience,” Molly Parsons said. “I would say much has been learned from it.”

The map will be available at Epilogue Book Co., Steamboat Flyfisher, Straightline Outdoor Sports, Bucking Rainbow Outfitters and Ski Haus, Molly Parsons said.

Streamside will donate $1 from the sale of each map to the Yampa Valley Stream Improvement Charitable Trust. Two dollars from each guidebook goes to the trust. They’ve sold just less than 1,000 books, and Molly Parsons has made enough money to pay to board her horse, Sparrow.

“The goal is to learn business and improve the river as much as it is making money,” she said. She’s interested in pursuing business but is keeping her options open.

Molly Parsons has made about $2,000 during the past two years, and she estimated she works five or six hours a week for Streamside. She also works at Epilogue.

Ford said the project has been fun for him and Peter Parsons, who runs a computer chip design company, Pinpoint Solutions. Ford does much of the writing for Streamside, and Peter Parsons does some of the graphics work. They are happy to leave the business side and check writing to Molly Parsons.

Ford said he enjoys working with young entrepreneurs and is impressed with Molly Parsons’ knack for her job.

“From my perspective, I’ve seen her maturity grow from 14 to 16,” he said. “Her business sense has really grown.”

Farmers Market kicks off summer - Vegetable vendors sprout sales after long winter
Sunday, June 15, 2008
By: Melinda Dudley - Steamboat Pilot and Today

Steamboat Springs — Kelly Victory is back in Steamboat Springs for the summer — and so is the Farmers Market.

“We came down to find some vegetables for dinner tonight. We’re throwing some pork chops on the grill,” Victory said Saturday morning. “We just got back into town, and it’s great that the Farmers Market is back, too. It gets better every year.”

The first Farmers Market of the summer played host to about 50 vendors at its new location on Sixth Street, Mainstreet Steamboat Springs Executive Director Tracy Barnett said.

Eager shoppers, many with dogs in tow, perused gourmet bakery breads, freshly smoked salmon, locally made sauces and honey while checking out the early season vegetable selection.

“Things are a couple of weeks late this year,” Sweet Pea Produce’s Alison McMillan said. “Mostly it’s lettuces, peas — the heartier stuff.”

This year’s long, hard winter pushed back many Farmers Market fan-favorite fruits, leaving shoppers eagerly asking when the peaches will arrive. Each week, the food vendors will be stationed on the Lincoln Avenue side of the Farmers Market, with craft vendors and artisans on the Oak Street side, offering everything from handmade purses to cowboy hats to textiles.

The Farmers Market has capacity for up to 60 vendors and will offer live music each week from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Routt County Courthouse lawn, Barnett said.

Barnett also reminded residents that overnight parking no longer will be allowed on Sixth Street on Friday nights, as the street is closed off Saturday for the Farmers Market. The street will be signed and coned every Friday as a reminder.

If you go

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Editorial Board, May 2008 to August 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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