By Ryan Stafford July 1, 2006.

Downtown development

The downtown development known as Riverwalk is closing in on its final approvals which will give a new look to third and fourth streets. The changes will create a new public gathering place with fountains and frontage on the Yampa River. Riverwalk will include in its development 72 residential townhomes, 32,000 square feet of commercial space and 35 hotel units on a total of 3.5 acres. For all of this to happen the city must abandon a public right of way on the east end of Yampa Street and at the ends of third and fourth streets. The development will pay to maintain these spaces and there will still be vehicular access and parking along the streets. The project has received its development permit and is now waiting for its final architectural approvals. Jim Cook and his development group believes that these new changes will make the area more attractive and a better use of space for an area that is underutilized.

Gondola base area development 

The Steamboat planning commission will be meeting this month to discuss the plans for One Steamboat place.  The 440,660 square foot project is a mixed-use development that will include both residential and commercial space. The project will be a large building with three wings and a parking garage. The structure will also be the connecting point for a new gondola that will bring people up from the proposed Wild Horse Meadows. The project is slated to have 83 residential units, which will consist of 38 wholly owned, 38 fractional ownership and 3 employee housing units. The remaining space will be used as commercial space and amenities for the owners. These meetings are not the final step in the planning process but after this the project only needs final architectural approvals in order for it to begin. This project constitutes a major step forward in the updating and renewal of the base area. The base area urban renewal authority is really getting things started and more developments and modernization should be expected in the near future.

Letter from Editor

Well we are in July and everything is hot. The weather is warm the real estate market is on fire and there are no signs of cooling off. More and more plans are being submitted to the planning department and new permits are getting issued daily. We just had a wonderful Fourth of July and the town is full of visitors. If you pile all of these things together you can see why Steamboat was named the number one destination in Colorado from a nationwide poll. Come and see for yourself why this is the best place to be in the Summer.

High Mountain Sotheby’s, 708 Lincoln Ave, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 PH/970.846.5943 Email/ryan.stafford@sothebysrealty.com Ryan Stafford, Realtor/Editor