Steamboat Springs – The city and Steamboat 700 developers agreed Tuesday night to allow the annexation process to move forward without a completed environmental assessment – a study that could take 18 months or longer to complete.

The Steamboat Springs City Council and Steamboat 700 developers continued the lengthy pre-annexation negotiating process during the council’s Tuesday night meeting.

The pre-annexation agreement is required before a petition for annexation will be reviewed for Steamboat 700, a proposed development of about 2,000 units west of Steamboat Springs. As proposed, the 700-acre parcel needs to be annexed into city limits before building can begin. The pre-annexation agreement is meant to allow the sides to discuss anticipated issues before the formal process begins.

The council initially required an environmental assessment – at the developer’s expense – to be completed before Steamboat 700 could be considered for annexation. It’s anticipated that the assessment will identify needed U.S. Highway 40 improvements and the percentage of improvements Steamboat 700 should be responsible for funding.

With a potential 18 month or longer wait until the assessment is completed, Steamboat 700 land-use attorney Bob Weiss requested that his clients be able to proceed with the annexation process.

“We don’t want to be held hostage to the” environmental assessment, Weiss said.

Weiss also said the developers are ready to write a check for the estimated amount they will be responsible for paying when the assessment is complete. Weiss also said there should be a plan for reimbursement should the actual amount be less or if it is determined that other developers will benefit from the assessment or highway improvements and need to chip in as well.

Pending the creation of a formula that states the percentage of the cost of improvements the city will be responsible for and the percentage Steamboat 700 will be responsible for, the city agreed that submittal for annexation is not dependent on the completion of the assessment.

Councilwoman Cari Herma­cinski voiced concern that the city would have trouble paying for its share of necessary improvements identified by the assessment and requested that Steamboat 700 propose ideas for funding, such as large-format retail within the development.

City Council President Loui Antonucci acknowledged that while “it’s important to get some affordable housing built soon,” there is trepidation about the city’s financial obligation to U.S. 40 improvements.

“The city’s obligation shouldn’t change depending on whether it’s a million dollars or a hundred million dollars,” Steamboat 700 Project Manager Danny Mulcahy said. “The road’s necessary today, whether I build (the development) or not.”

The negotiation teams tentatively plan to meet next week to continue the discussion. Steamboat 700 anticipates completion of the annexation process by June 2009.

www.steamboatpilot.com

June 5^th was the kick off for the annual Art Walk in downtown Steamboat.  Each year the local artists display their work in galleries and shops through Steamboat. Each Friday the galleries open late and allow people to just stroll through and appreciate the artwork.  A new twist this year includes local woodworkers and furniture craftsman.  Dovetail Designs out of Oak Creek are featured in the Artists’ Gallery of Steamboat.  They have a nice array of their talents displayed through a chest of drawers, some end tables and some bar stools. Personally, I think their stuff is amazing and love to take a look every chance I get. If you ever have the time a trip to Oak Creek to their showroom is a must and you can stop off at the Black Mountain Tavern for the BEST turkey burgers EVER!!!

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.

“We only had to tow three cars today,” Barnett said

www.steamboatpilot.com

National Summary (U.S.)
Existing-home sales are projected to trend up in 2008, with pending home sales showing a slight near-term rise, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of REALTORS^®. However, a recovery for new-home sales is unlikely before 2009.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the worst part of the credit crunch has already worked its way through the data. “The unusual mortgage disruptions that peaked in August were clearly seen in lower home sales that were finalized in September and October, so the market was underperforming,” he said. “Now that mortgage conditions have improved, some postponed activity should turn up in existing-home sales over the next couple of months, and I expect sales at fairly stable to slightly higher levels.”

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in October, increased 0.6 percent to an index of 87.2 from an upwardly revised reading of 86.7 in September. It was the second consecutive monthly gain, but remained 18.4 percent below the October 2006 index of 106.8. “The broad trend over the coming year will be a gradual rise in existing-home sales, but because sales are exceptionally low in the final months of 2007, total sales for 2008 will be only modestly higher than 2007,” Yun said.

The PHSI in the Northeast jumped 16.0 percent in October to 80.6 but is 11.1 percent below a year ago. In the West, the index rose 8.4 percent to 87.3 but is 16.9 percent lower than October 2006. The index in the Midwest slipped 1.4 percent in October to 85.5 and is 11.7 percent below a year ago. In the South, the index dropped 7.8 percent in October to 91.6 and is 25.3 percent below October 2006.

“The improvement in the Northeast reaffirms a trend apparent for some months now that shows signs of recovery, noteworthy because that was the first region to slump, and the gain in the West indicates some easing of interest rates for jumbo loans,” Yun said. “Lawmakers need to understand that raising the loan limits on FHA and GSE-backed conventional loans will markedly improve mortgage availability.”

Existing-home sales are likely to total 5.67 million this year, the fifth highest on record, rising to 5.70 million in 2008, in contrast with 6.48 million in 2006. Existing-home prices should be down 1.9 percent to a median of $217,600 for all of 2007, and then rise 0.3 percent to $218,300 in 2008.

“Home price growth in the vast affordable midsection of America will help raise the national median existing-home price slightly in 2008. I then expect price appreciation to return to more normal patterns in 2009, perhaps rising one or two percentage points above the rate of inflation,” Yun said.

“Even with a modest decline in the national aggregate price this year, it’s important to keep in mind that nearly two-thirds of the metro areas in the U.S. are showing price increases,” he said. “The apparent disparity results from fewer sales in high-cost markets, so a change in the mix of sales is dragging down the national median home price.”

Areas showing healthy price gains include disparate markets such as Gary-Hammond, Ind.; Binghamton, N.Y.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Spokane, Wash. “We can’t emphasis enough how much local conditions vary, even within a given area, so it’s important for consumers to make decisions based on local market conditions.”

New-home sales are forecast at 788,000 this year and 693,000 in 2008, down from 1.05 million 2006; no sustained improvement is seen for new homes until 2009. Because builders have correctly adjusted production, housing starts, including multifamily units, will probably total 1.36 million this year and 1.16 million in 2008, down from 1.80 million last year. The median new-home price is projected to drop 3.0 percent to $239,100 for 2007, and then decline another 0.2 percent to $236,600 in 2008.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is estimated to rise slowly to the 6.4 percent range by the end of 2008, with additional cuts in the Fed funds rate lowering short-term interest rates.

Growth in the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) should be 2.1 percent in 2007, down from a 2.9 percent growth rate last year; GDP growth is forecast to improve to 2.4 percent in 2008.

The unemployment rate is likely to average 4.6 percent for 2007, unchanged from last year, but rise to 5.0 percent in 2008. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, will probably be 2.8 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2008, down from 3.2 percent in 2006. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income is estimated to grow 3.1 percent this year, the same as in 2006, and then grow 2.2 percent next year.

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*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity from 2001 through 2004 parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. There is a closer relationship between annual index changes (from the same month a year earlier) and year-ago changes in sales performance than with month-to-month comparisons.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales.

Existing-home sales for November will be released December 31; the next Forecast / Pending Home Sales Index will be released January 8.

http://realtytimes.com/rtmcrloc/Colorado~Routt_County

Steamboat Springs – When Peter and Kim Kreissig of Kreissig Homes purchased the site of Rocky Peak Village complete with city approvals and much of the design work in place, Kim knew there was at least one thing she would never change.

“The cupolas,” said Kreissig, a Realtor with Prudential Steam­boat Realty. “That was the first thing I got excited about.”

Architect Laura Frey said she was pleased that the bulk of the original design work she had completed for original developers Kent Hall and Greg Stetman would be retained. Including the cupolas.

The small architectural element gives the shed and gable roof forms of the duplex and triplex townhome buildings a rural appeal that hints at a barn.

“We loved the design and were happy with the floor plans Laura had already drawn,” Kreissig said.

Rocky Peak Village is a development of 34 townhomes at the intersection of Hilltop Parkway and Tamarack Drive between downtown and the ski mountain. Construction on the 14 townhomes in Phase 1 begins this week. Kreissig said five of the townhomes were put under contract in the first week of release to the market this month.

The fact that the development already had a permit from the city of Steamboat Springs meant it pre-dated the affordable housing requirements now required by city ordinance.

“I paid for it in my land costs,” Kreissig said. She doubts the development would have penciled out had she and Peter been required to build affordable units on site.

Prices begin at $730,000 for three-bedroom homes and go up to $795,000 for four-bedroom homes that include 2,263 square feet on three levels.

“I can’t imagine ever being able to build for $350 a square foot again with land costs here,” she said.

The Kreissigs earned a reputation for building mid-range townhomes with high-level finishes at Bear Meadows in 2001, Willowbrook in 2002 and The Willows in 2003 and 2004.

From 2004 to 2008, they tackled 23 luxury townhomes closer to the base of Steamboat Ski Area, at Stonewood, that sold for more than $1 million.

Rocky Peak Village marks a return to townhomes that are more attainable for Steamboat families using their equity to move up, as well as second homeowners and retirees, Kreissig said.

“I’m very sensitive to the fact that $700,000 is still an expensive home,” she said. “We anticipated that local buyers would need two incomes to purchase at Rocky Peak.”

Kreissig said in light of the national economic downturn and the slowing of the local

real estate market from the record pace of 2007, she and her husband took some time to carefully think it through before proceeding with Rocky Peak Village in 2008.

“We did have some pause going in,” she said. “But we decided to forge ahead. This is what we do.”

Frey designed the floor plans at Rocky Peak to include rooms and features that make them more livable for the Steamboat lifestyle. They include two-car garages with room for outdoor toys, separate mudrooms, pantries and full laundry rooms.

The townhomes include 10-foot ceilings on the main level and 9-foot ceilings elsewhere, rustic interior door hardware, pre-wiring for an outdoor hot tub and pre-plumbing for an outdoor natural gas grill.

Kreissig was determined to pull over some of the nicest finishes from Stonewood and succeeded with the same natural stone on the exteriors, some of the same designer light fixtures and the same, high-end wood garage doors.

And of course, there are the cupolas. Kreissig has even chosen a playground equipment manufacturer who will include cupolas in the design.

“Laura and I are in synch on the cupolas,” Kreissig said. “They symbolize community. She’s been having fun finding unique weather vanes for each of the cupolas. There’s a flying pig, a moose and horses.”

Written by: Tom Ross
http://www.steamboathomefinder.com/