Steamboat Springs Real Estate

Colorado Group Realty’s Real Estate Roundup

Posted on 11/26/07 by admin

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 Steamboat Springs - There were enough news nuggets Thursday night at the Real Estate Expo and Roundup to keep a packed house at the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel Ballroom paying close attention to a panel of six leading developers.

First things first.

“I’m not tearing down the Yacht Club, if that’s what you were worried about,” Jim Cook announced. Cook is the founder of Colorado Group Realty, whose broker owners sponsored the expo. He’s also a member of the team tackling three downtown redevelopment projects. And he brought news of a fourth to Thursday’s event.

Cook said he and the owners of the real estate that houses the Steamboat Yacht Club restaurant, Dick and Paulette Mills, would develop a new mixed-use building along the Yampa River.

The two-story building would be built on the lawn adjacent to the restaurant in the 800 block of Yampa Street.

Joining Cook on the speakers’ dais were Jeff Temple of Due West Land and Marabou ranch preservation subdivision; Brent Pearson, a vice president with Resort Ventures West, developers of Wildhorse Meadows; Gerry Engle, a founding partner with The Atira Group, developing The Edgemont and working on the redevelopment of Ski Time Square and Thunderhead Lodge; Timbers Resorts CEO David Burden, developing One Steamboat Place adjacent to the Steamboat Gondola; and Doug Beall, the new vice president of development with Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp.

Beall said Ski Corp. has recently retained an integrated planner to help guide future development on trails, lifts and lodges on the ski mountain.

“We need to ask, ‘How can we plan to make sure the mountain and the base continue to work well together?’” Beall said.

Asked by moderator Adonna Allen, president of Alpine Bank in Steamboat, whether it’s inevitable that Steamboat will become Aspen, Pearson endorsed the Vision 2030 project.

“The important point for people living here is to define exactly what Steamboat is to them and to continue to communicate that. They can ask development entities to abide by those qualities.”

Vision 2030, he said, is an opportunity to do just that.

Temple, whose family has lived in the valley for generations, said community institutions such as the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and family ranching embody the spirit of the community.

“I’m biased because I have a 7- and a 10-year-old, and our best baby sitter in the world is Howelsen Hill,” Temple said.

He announced that Paul Franklin, the developer of The Olympian project at Fifth and Yampa streets, has joined Marabou in committing to initiating a transfer fee (amount to be determined) at their developments, with the proceeds going toward the endowment for the Winter Sports Club.

“It will create a continuum of support for the community and the kids,” Temple said.

Cook reminded the audience he has established a similar transfer fee at his developments in memory of his late wife. The proceeds will be devoted to furthering arts and culture in the downtown.

“We’re at the embryo stage, but the good news is everybody can be a part of this,” he said

Other remarks by developers:

■ Engle said the need for affordable housing will not go away, but solutions should be a “mosaic of solutions” done through public/private partnerships. He said one solution undertaken in the Vail Valley was meant to provide middle- income housing for firemen, teachers and nurses (for example), and allow the deed restricted housing to appreciate. The answer was to create a subdivision where buyers who exceeded income thresholds were required to pay a premium into a land bank to help create offsetting affordable housing elsewhere.

■ Burden promised One Steamboat Place would be­­come a vital destination for vacationers and locals. He said the Timbers Club in Snowmass has an 84 percent occupancy rate, but he’s taking steps to ensure One Steamboat Place is livelier, with a public restaurant, already named The Truffle Pig (a name he purchased from Wildhorse Marketplace developer Whitney Ward). The development also will offer a destination spa.

■ Pearson said Wildhorse would break ground on 96 attainable housing units next summer and the project has been named “First Tracks.” He added that shortly after Thanksgiving, prospective buyers of deed-restricted housing would be able to submit their names and information.

“People have a chance to get in the queue for affordable housing right at the base of the mountain,” he said.

■ Cook announced that Ski Corp. will become a major tenant of Howelsen Place with a “concierge ski program,” where lift tickets and logo apparel will be sold. He added that longtime Steamboat retailer Joe Kboudi will move All that Jazz into the Alpenglow.

■ Cook also said that the development team for Riverwalk is close to signing with an architect to design a high-end hotel for the east end of that project on Yampa Street. Talks are under way with three or four operators, he added.

 Steamboat Springs - There were enough news nuggets Thursday night at the Real Estate Expo and Roundup to keep a packed house at the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel Ballroom paying close attention to a panel of six leading developers.

First things first.

“I’m not tearing down the Yacht Club, if that’s what you were worried about,” Jim Cook announced. Cook is the founder of Colorado Group Realty, whose broker owners sponsored the expo. He’s also a member of the team tackling three downtown redevelopment projects. And he brought news of a fourth to Thursday’s event.

Cook said he and the owners of the real estate that houses the Steamboat Yacht Club restaurant, Dick and Paulette Mills, would develop a new mixed-use building along the Yampa River.

The two-story building would be built on the lawn adjacent to the restaurant in the 800 block of Yampa Street.

Joining Cook on the speakers’ dais were Jeff Temple of Due West Land and Marabou ranch preservation subdivision; Brent Pearson, a vice president with Resort Ventures West, developers of Wildhorse Meadows; Gerry Engle, a founding partner with The Atira Group, developing The Edgemont and working on the redevelopment of Ski Time Square and Thunderhead Lodge; Timbers Resorts CEO David Burden, developing One Steamboat Place adjacent to the Steamboat Gondola; and Doug Beall, the new vice president of development with Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp.

Beall said Ski Corp. has recently retained an integrated planner to help guide future development on trails, lifts and lodges on the ski mountain.

“We need to ask, ‘How can we plan to make sure the mountain and the base continue to work well together?’” Beall said.

Asked by moderator Adonna Allen, president of Alpine Bank in Steamboat, whether it’s inevitable that Steamboat will become Aspen, Pearson endorsed the Vision 2030 project.

“The important point for people living here is to define exactly what Steamboat is to them and to continue to communicate that. They can ask development entities to abide by those qualities.”

Vision 2030, he said, is an opportunity to do just that.

Temple, whose family has lived in the valley for generations, said community institutions such as the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and family ranching embody the spirit of the community.

“I’m biased because I have a 7- and a 10-year-old, and our best baby sitter in the world is Howelsen Hill,” Temple said.

He announced that Paul Franklin, the developer of The Olympian project at Fifth and Yampa streets, has joined Marabou in committing to initiating a transfer fee (amount to be determined) at their developments, with the proceeds going toward the endowment for the Winter Sports Club.

“It will create a continuum of support for the community and the kids,” Temple said.

Cook reminded the audience he has established a similar transfer fee at his developments in memory of his late wife. The proceeds will be devoted to furthering arts and culture in the downtown.

“We’re at the embryo stage, but the good news is everybody can be a part of this,” he said

Other remarks by developers:

■ Engle said the need for affordable housing will not go away, but solutions should be a “mosaic of solutions” done through public/private partnerships. He said one solution undertaken in the Vail Valley was meant to provide middle- income housing for firemen, teachers and nurses (for example), and allow the deed restricted housing to appreciate. The answer was to create a subdivision where buyers who exceeded income thresholds were required to pay a premium into a land bank to help create offsetting affordable housing elsewhere.

■ Burden promised One Steamboat Place would be­­come a vital destination for vacationers and locals. He said the Timbers Club in Snowmass has an 84 percent occupancy rate, but he’s taking steps to ensure One Steamboat Place is livelier, with a public restaurant, already named The Truffle Pig (a name he purchased from Wildhorse Marketplace developer Whitney Ward). The development also will offer a destination spa.

■ Pearson said Wildhorse would break ground on 96 attainable housing units next summer and the project has been named “First Tracks.” He added that shortly after Thanksgiving, prospective buyers of deed-restricted housing would be able to submit their names and information.

“People have a chance to get in the queue for affordable housing right at the base of the mountain,” he said.

■ Cook announced that Ski Corp. will become a major tenant of Howelsen Place with a “concierge ski program,” where lift tickets and logo apparel will be sold. He added that longtime Steamboat retailer Joe Kboudi will move All that Jazz into the Alpenglow.

■ Cook also said that the development team for Riverwalk is close to signing with an architect to design a high-end hotel for the east end of that project on Yampa Street. Talks are under way with three or four operators, he added.

Popularity: 65% [?]

Development Updates in Steamboat Springs

Posted on 03/27/07 by Lori Thompson

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West of Steamboat - Brown Property

The 540 acre Brown property (which was owned by longtime local residents Steve and Mary Brown) was sold on March 19th to Steamboat 700 LLC, for $24.6 million. This property has long been seen as the catalyst for the West of Steamboat Springs Area Plan. Steamboat 700 LLC project manager Danny Mulcahy said that the new owners will work with the community to provide a neighborhood development that will include rental, attainable and market rate housing. He also thought that it would be at least two years before any housing is built. When fully completed, the West of Steamboat Springs Area Plan envisions between 1,100 and 2,600 homes. 
Wildhorse Meadows- Trailhead Lodge

On March 20th, the Steamboat Springs City Council approved a 86 unit condominium building in the master planned Wildhorse Meadows project on the mountain. Construction will begin on the 173,000 square foot building this summer. 
Trappeur’s Crossing- Phase 6

Also on March 20, the Steamboat Springs City Council approved the final phase planned for the Trappeur’s Crossing development. Phase 6 will be a 34 unit condominium building on the mountain. This 88,000 square foot building will include four affordable on-site deed restricted units. 
Contact your Colorado Group Realty BrokerFind out more about these and other developments. Projects and developments are continuing to happen in Steamboat Springs at an extremely fast pace. 

Popularity: 92% [?]

Newsmaker of the Year: Jim Cook is reshaping downtown

Posted on 02/1/07 by Joy

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Seeing Jim Cook’s impact on Steamboat Springs is as easy as taking a walk downtown.

Cook, a principal partner with Colorao Group Realty, is leading development of three large-scale building projects downtown and has plans or is involved in several other projects that will change the face of Steamboat for years to come. In 2006, demolition of the Harbor Hotel, Nite’s Rest Motel and Westland Mobile Home Park - and related city approval of the downtown Howelsen Place and Alpenglow buildings, with final approval of the multi-building Riverwalk project possible in early 2007 - all point to widespread changes that will give a new look to Old Town Steamboat. They also indelibly will stamp Cook’s mark on the city he has called home since 1991.

At a time of unprecedented growth throughout Routt County, Cook is leading the charge with an innovative and often criticized vision for downtown Steamboat. That vision, and the work already under way to create it, make Cook the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s choice for 2006 Newsmaker of the Year.

“He should be,” Main Street Steamboat Springs Director Tracy Barnett said of the distinction. “I think what he’s doing will make the most dramatic change in all of Steamboat Springs. He’s changing the vocabulary of how people are defining downtown.”

Singular focus

Barnett has a front-row seat for Cook’s daily efforts to reshape Steamboat’s skyline. She works in an office Cook donated to Main Street, just down the hall from Cook’s desk in Colorado Group Realty’s small, renovated building on the riverside of Yampa Street.

“I think he has a singular focus on what should happen down here - his heart is down here,” Barnett said. “His vision is to create a real arts-and-entertainment district along Yampa.”

The walls of the Colorado Group Realty office are covered with artistic renderings of Howelsen Place, Alpenglow, and the mixed-use Sundance North Village project on Anglers Drive. A model of Riverwalk sits beneath a glass case. Prelim-inary designs for the 10-building project, arguably Cook’s flagship development, show multi-colored, upper-story residences over small commercial stores with frontage on public walkways and parks along the Yampa River.

More plans

Cook said Colorado Group Realty also has plans to redevelop three other Yampa Street properties, including the current homes of Sunpie’s Bistro and the Hell’s Wall ski shop. On Lincoln Avenue, Cook is involved in discussions about future renovations of the Go-Fer Foods store and the Chief Plaza Theater.

“We want it to be a quasi-artisan community,” Cook, 64, said of Riverwalk. “That’s what cities are all about - people of all walks of life and income levels. In the next three to five years, downtown Steamboat can become one of the most exciting places to live and work anywhere.”

‘He gets it’

The Harbor Hotel opened at the corner of Seventh Street and Lincoln Avenue in 1940. Crews began demolition of the building Nov. 6, to make way for the 85,000-square-foot Howelsen Place.

“I will forever lament the loss of Harbor Hotel, as I do the loss of any significant historic resource,” said Steamboat Springs City Council member Towny Anderson, who dedicated his professional career to preservation work. “I’ve had enough experience with historic preservation to know that restoration of that property could never have happened without a public-private partnership. That said, I applaud Jim Cook for his understanding of the value of downtowns. He gets it.”

Anderson said Friday he is “cautiously optimistic” that the transformations led by Cook will lead to “a stronger downtown and a stronger sense of community.”

Cooktown USA?

Some recent comments from the public have not shared Anderson’s optimism.

“I miss those funky old buildings - the Nite’s Rest and the Harbor Hotel. They were part of Steamboat’s unique personality,” Steamboat resident Betty Leipold wrote in a Dec. 10 letter to the Pilot & Today. “I fear that what’s proposed for those spaces will detract rather than add to Steamboat’s quaintness … Will we be living in ‘Cooktown USA’ in the future?”

An anonymous Dec. 24 “Sound-Off” to the newspaper picked up the “Cooktown” phrase.

“Downtown needed to be revitalized, but it seems like we’ve overdone it with saturating downtown with loft and retail edifices. We are doomed to chaos with increased congestion and traffic. What happened to the small-town atmosphere we were trying to preserve? It seems that we have in fact become Cooktown, USA,” the note read.

Thick skin

City officials say the criticism is unwarranted.

Cook “gets kind of a hard time, but his heart is in the right place,” said Tom Leeson, the city’s director of planning services. “He is committed to downtown. The projects he’s doing will have a tremendous positive impact.”

“It’s disheartening to lose our historical structures, but it’s exciting to see new things,” City Manager Alan Lanning said of Cook’s projects.

“There’s always mistrust of developers, but I don’t think he’s out to destroy the community at all,” Barnett said. “I think he’s planning to take us forward in a direction that we will all appreciate in the future. And Jim’s got a really thick skin. He’s been around long enough where he can take it on the chin, because he has a vision.”

That vision is here to stay.

“The developer permit was the primary hurdle,” Cook said of Riverwalk, a project that will be built in phases, pending final city approval. “We want to start doing infrastructure in the summer.”

Steamboat Pliot, December 31, 2006

Popularity: 100% [?]

Downtown Steamboat Springs - The Place To Be

Posted on 01/19/07 by Coleman Cook

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Howelsen Place Rendering

In an effort to revitalize and enhance positive economic growth for our downtown corridor by generating increased sales tax revenues, five re-development projects are leading the charge with others sure to follow.  Alpenglow (6th and Lincoln) and Howelsen Place (7th and Lincoln/Yampa) are set to commence construction very soon, while The Olympian (5th and Yampa), River Walk (4th and Yampa) and La Victoria (10th and Lincoln) have only the final stages of the planning process to overcome before the ceremonial spade breaks ground.

Located at the most prominent corner of downtown Steamboat Springs, at 7th and Lincoln, this exciting new multi-use project, Howelsen Place, will be the nerve center of the community.  Designed by one of Chicago’s most prestigious architectural firms, Antounovich and Associates, Howelsen Place will feature 35 residential units that are set among a very high energy retail environment that will come to define “walking urbanity.”  Prices just released starting at $390,000.  I’ll meet you at “Carl”….

 

Popularity: 88% [?]