Nearly three years after construction liens brought progress at Hayden’s Lake Village subdivision to an abrupt halt, 72 building lots on the town’s south side are back on the market for a combined $2 million.

Data compiled by the Routt County Regional Building Department for the first half of 2010 underscores the magnitude of the quiet construction season in Steamboat Springs and Routt County.

The 15th annual Strings Kitchen and Garden Tour on Saturday, which benefits the Strings Music Festival, will take residents on a tour of some of Steamboat's wonderful homes and gardens.

An expert on the vitalization of urban neighborhoods told a Steamboat Springs audience last week that voters probably got it right last fall when they rejected the Steamboat 700 annexation.

The bank-owned Steamboat properties appraised at $10-plus million within the last six months. The minimum bid is $3.8 million and there is an undisclosed reserve price that is somewhat higher, representing the lowest price the bank would accept.

The ranch, established in 1935, is within bicycling distance of thousands of acres of multiuse recreational land on Emerald Mountain. That proximity makes it an ideal training ground for the Corps, which supports its mission of providing youth with values and skills through outdoor projects such as trail building.

Kevin Cooper readily admits he was taken aback when be began looking for a new home in Steamboat Springs in February 2009. But he finally found a brand-new home he could afford in Dry Creek Village. His new home was built by a local builder as a spec home at a time when almost no contractors in the valley are building without a contract.

Scott Condon of the Aspen Times reports that an advocacy group for the Roaring Fork River wants to build a large educational center in Basalt, but the Town Council is concerned with the size of the proposed building.

Randall Hannaway, a broker/owner with Colorado Group Realty in Steamboat, also confirmed Thursday that he is representing Wilton in a sale of the property with the cooperation of Wells Fargo Bank (nationally), which acquired the note along with Wachovia Bank.

“It’s a private listing,”  Hannaway said. “We didn’t want it exposed publicly initially, and it’s not on the MLS (Steamboat Springs Multiple Listing Service). Hank is the owner — he’s still in control of the property.”

The developers of Alpine Mountain Ranch and Club brought in reinforcements and rallied the troops here Tuesday, using historical data to make the case that when the mountain resort real estate economy turns around, it will be “Steamboat’s turn.”

The bear cub squeezed into the house through a kitchen window Tuesday and helped itself to cereal, pistachio nuts and apples, then returned for second helpings on Wednesday, but was able only to open a human-sized garage door with its paw.

With the number of foreclosure filings on the rise in Routt County, a Steamboat couple, Michael and Janelle Buccino, have a cautionary tale to tell about the perils of negotiating over the telephone with large banks to restructure the debt on their home.

The mountain area of the Steamboat Springs real estate market has seen the sale of just five building lots in the past 12 months, and the developers of Barn Village at Steamboat have responded by cutting in half the prices on their 51 unsold lots.

The era when real estate developers used increasingly elaborate amenities to differentiate resort properties is in the past. Taking its place is a new climate with buyers seeking out more sustainable projects that make economic sense in the post-recession era, Tyler Niess told an audience at The Steamboat Grand this week.

A spring flurry of building permits for single-family homes may not signal an enduring recovery of the Routt County building market, but it breaks a trend.

The Routt County Regional Building Department reported issuing three permits for new single-family homes in April with an aggregate permit value of about $2.8 million. Another permit for a $2 million home was issued during the first week in May.

City officials this month are reviewing an application to subdivide a 12.13-acre parcel east of Casey’s Pond on Steamboat Springs’ south side that could begin the transformation into a senior living campus as soon as this summer.

The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority is collaborating with Routt and Grand counties to promote first-time homeownership through a $7.1 million program that allows qualified first-time buyers to deduct more interest from their income at tax time.

The homeowners associations for the ski-in/ski-out condominiums at Bear Claw I and Bear Claw II have entered the city planning process with development permit applications for a pair of luxury duplex buildings and an addition of four condominiums.

All but three condominiums that were up for auction at The Highmark have closed or are in pending sales, and the foreclosure notice on the properties was withdrawn last week.

The three large luxury condominiums at the base of Steamboat Ski Area that had their genesis in late summer 2007 into 2008 have accounted for $128.6 million in sales, but Edgemont, One Steamboat Place and Trailhead Lodge at Wildhorse Meadows have a distance to go.

The rate at which homes in Routt County are selling suggests that it could be a year or more before the residential construction industry mounts a meaningful comeback. “If people are hoping the construction industry will pick up this summer, they can’t hold their breath long enough,” said Scott Ford, who leads the Routt County Economic Development Cooperative.

Some of the most aggressively priced properties on the Steamboat real estate market have begun to go under contract as the sun passes the vernal equinox. A bank-owned duplex offered on a short sale on Bear Creek Drive with 1,680 square feet of living space recently closed for $413,000, compared with the asking price of $499,000.

Building Department Official Carl Dunham said that through the first two months of the year, his office has conducted 22 plan reviews that could turn into building projects. The average number for January and February combined is 35 plan reviews.

It took a little nerve for EcoCorral developer and K.J. Otterman, of Middle Cog Builders, to break ground on the first of seven buildings in EcoCorral in November 2008. It took even a little more courage to stick to his plans to build to green standards in a struggling economy.

The Steamboat Springs real estate and development communities will be paying close attention Friday when 15 luxury condominiums at The Highmark go on the auction block.

Routt County officials are moving ahead with a plan that would create the potential for 300 or more five-acre home sites on land wrapping around the northern and western perimeters of the city of Steamboat Springs.

More than 300 high school students in Steamboat Springs affirmed their strong desire for a gathering place to call their own in a 2009 survey released this winter. And the city’s current fiscal situation could mean that any decision to build a dedicated teen center is years in the future.

Two local nonprofit organizations are seeking city development permits that would allow them to increase their presence in Old Town Steamboat Springs.

“Our job is to make certain that valuations across the county are fair,” – Commissioner Doug Monger

Paul Ralston and Mariana Ishida purchased a building site in Heritage Park that overlooked open ranch land more than two years ago. However, they temporarily put the building on hold as construction prices went up. They didn’t revisit the possibility of building a custom home until early in summer 2009. When they did, they were pleasantly surprised.

January is the month when Realtors take stock and write checks for about $1,800 in order to stay in the game. It’s a modest amount, but with the number of transactions, and thus commissions, dwindling to 467 sales closed through the Multiple Listing Service in 2009, there are signs that some of Steamboat’s roughly 395 Realtors are considering their options.

At $113.41 per square foot, the log-sided home at 250 Hillside Drive likely qualifies as one of the best Routt County real estate buys of 2009. The house measures 6,472 square feet, 5,555 of which are finished (the price per square foot was calculated on only the finished space in the home). A standout design feature is the large turreted roof on one wing.

William Bone, president of the National Auction Group in Gadsen, Ala., said the owners’ intent is to sell one of the 15 condominiums with no minimum price but with reserves on the remaining units.

The storefront at 824 Lincoln Ave. is on the sunny side of the shopping district in downtown Steamboat Springs, and last week, it went under a new five-year lease with an option to purchase.

The depth of the 2009 building slump here was underscored this week when the Routt County Regional Building Department issued a report showing that just eight permits were issued all year for new single-family homes in Steamboat Springs city limits.

When One Steamboat Place opened its doors to guests Saturday, a boutique Steamboat property management company had reason to celebrate.
Robin and Heather Craigen, of Moving Mountains Chalets, have landed contracts to manage two of the whole ownership condominiums at One Steamboat Place including the Black Diamond Penthouse, which is being offered for rent for $2,690 a night for a seven-night stay.

It was open house night in Steamboat Springs on Wednesday, as Realtors took the temperature of holiday visitors to see whether they could turn the merely curious into solid sales leads.

The Atira Group and Edgemont jumped the gun on their New Year’s party this week and celebrated the first closing in the newly completed 40-unit luxury condominium project.

Thanks to a rare winter storm front brewed up by growing sales of condominium intervals, an unexpected $26.7 million sale of mineral rights, and the steady closings of luxury condos put under contract in 2007, the Routt County real estate market in November saw its best month in a year that has tried the perseverance of the industry here.

It’s been a turbulent 2009 for the Yampa Valley Housing Authority, which faced significant financial and staffing challenges in the past 12 months amid a declining real estate market that halted development plans. And despite optimism expressed last week, the Housing Authority’s budget shows more hurdles lie ahead.

Mary Weiss didn’t have to think too long about what to give her tenants for a holiday gift this month. “We have 50-plus tenants, most in one-bedroom units, and we gave them all a $25 gift certificate off their rent,” Weiss said, who is owner of Central Park Management.

The Steamboat Springs real estate market received a qualified boost Monday when the first 13 condominium sales closed at One Steamboat Place for a combined $15.25 million.

The Routt County Board of Commissioners offered a ray of hope last week to 1,155 lot owners in some of the original subdivisions at Stagecoach. The commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to reject a proposal from the Morrison Creek Metropolitan Water and Sanitation District to cap the number of sealed sewage vaults that can be installed on the lots.

The new Wildhorse Gondola isn’t expected to be operational until February; however, the Steamboat Ski & Snowboard School ticket office, the relocated Surefoot ski boot and fitting shop and a new independent ski shop will be open for business the day the ski area opens.

New two-room suites  with mini kitchens are expected to appeal to ski vacationers.

A tour of the local house owned by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone turns up not a single Emmy, Eric Cartman doll or half-drawn cartoon panel. There are no messes. No signs of Hollywood, parties or all-night production crunches.

The gondola towers rising from Wildhorse Meadows are tangible evidence of the steady progress being made at Wildhorse despite the down economy. But closings on 30-plus condominiums at Trailhead Lodge can be expected to continue at a gradual pace for months to come.

The average price of condos and townhomes has actually grown slightly in 2009 to nearly $700,000. However, the average sales price of single-family homes has dropped from more than $1.2 million in 2008 to about $700,000 this year.

Chances are, locals have driven by the property of longtime Steamboat residents Mike Kortas and his wife, Nina Darlington, many times without fully appreciating what they were looking at. The entire 13 acres is available for $1.8 million or broken into its component parts through Realtor Scott Eggleston.

Steamboat Springs city planners and a regional housing official said last week that rock-bottom bids at a Hayden land auction are not a reflection of Steamboat’s real estate market or need for affordable housing.