Steamboat Homes

The city vote was tallied yesterday and determined that the plan for Steamboat 700 would not be realized in the near future. Steamboat 700, a plan for the annexation of 700 acres of land west of town, was scheduled to develop between 1,837 and 2,243 residential units. As many as 448 of them were scheduled to be deed-restricted community housing units. The plan was overturned by a vote of ‘2,592 ballots against the annexation and 1,661 ballots in favor, a 61 to 39 percent result for the mail-only vote that began in February.’

The development team was not sure of its next step after the rejection of Steamboat 700. ‘There are multiple Plan B’s, and I haven’t finalized any of them,” Mulcahy (Steamboat 700 principal and project manager) said. “Unfortunately, there’s not a Plan B of approaching the city with another annexation.’ However, it appears as though a different plan for annexation will not be approched by the same investment group ‘Cost is a small part of it, but after 300 hours of public meetings, meeting all the requirements of the West of Steamboat Springs Area Plan … there’s nothing that would give any certainty or any likelihood that going through this would result in a different outcome,’ Mulcahy said. ‘Why would there be a different outcome in another three years?’

Scheduled to pay an initial and upfront $150 million, Fortress is set to maintain control of Intrawest. Under this plan the following will most likely occur to restructure the remaining $1.2 billion in debt. This debt will most likely be divided into a senior tranche of $800 million and a mezzanine tranche of $400 million. According to Business Week, ‘Intrawest would pay 10 percent interest on the senior debt under the agreement, while lenders are demanding as much as 17 percent for the mezzanine debt, said the [unidentified] person. The interest on the mezzanine part will depend on the payment terms, which have not been disclosed.’

So what does this mean for Fortress, Intrawest and their holdings? The Globe and Mail states that ‘for Fortress, it’s a restart from zero. Intrawest has valuable assets, such as Whistler Blackcomb, the co-host of the Olympics’ And ‘Fortress can reasonably expect to benefit from an improving real estate market.’

US Nordic combined team takes silver; the offical results for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Whistler Olympic Park – Feb. 23 for the Nordic Combined Team 4×5K Relay:
1. Gold – Austria (3, 1), 49:31.6
2. Silver – United States (2, 4), +5.2
3. Bronze – Germany (6, 2), +19.5
4. France (5, 3), +39.8
5. Norway (7, 5), +54.3

Tuesday’s silver medal performance has to rank up there as a defining moment of these 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The Austrians won gold, finishing in 48 minutes and 55.6 seconds, just 5.2 seconds ahead of the Americans. The Germans won bronze, 19.5 seconds behind the Austrians.

Members of the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team show off their silver medals at the Whistler Olympic Celebration Plaza on Tuesday night. The team, which includes, from left, Brett Camerota, Todd Lodwick, Johnny Spillane and Billy Demong, raced to second place in the team event earlier in the day.

“This is the greatest moment in nordic combined history for the USA,” said Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO). “All three of us are psyched to be here. We’re psyched to be here as a team. We’ve persevered over the last 10 years to get to this point. We feel like we’ve earned this silver medal and this spot in history.”

The Highmark condominium project is set to auction off 15 unsold units on March 12th. ‘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.’ Selling one unit with no reserve will result in a sale will that be at the highest bidding price. According to Bone, the other 14 units are set with reserves, meaning bidders must surpass a previously established minimum for the unit to be sold.

By not setting a reserve on one unit, this will help both developers and the community understand how these units are valued per square ft.

Highmark has had difficulty throughout its short history. Construction began in 2003, however the original developer abandoned the project after the realization that his funding was not sufficient to see the condo through to completion. Work began again in 2005, but a battle in the courtroom between the new developers and 7 of the contracted buyers, once again left many of the units were left unsold.

Since that time the ’six-story condominium tower has been managed as a boutique hotel. The management is quoting a nightly rental rate of $1,100 for a four-night stay in a three-bedroom condo in mid-February.’

Highmark is a luxury condominium designed with elegant, Bavarian influences. Each unit includes ’slate entries, sandstone fireplaces, coffered ceilings, hardwood floors, French doors, extensive moldings, large balconies and theater systems with surround sound — many with views of the Steamboat Ski Area.’

This auction and the surrounding circumstances represent an opportunity for a long troubled but well located development to take on a new life.  There are some interesting factors that you need to know to make your decision but these may present a good opportunity to those in the know.  If you would like to talk to someone who can help you make the best decision either way on participating in the auction and give you independent advice on values give me a call at 970-819-6930 or email jon@mybrokers.com

An article recently released in Mountain Town News describes the current status and opinions regarding the future of Intrawest. For a background on the bankruptcy and the history of Intrawest, check out ‘Intrawest Foreclosure, Details and Meaning.’

Instead of seeing the anticipated auction one ’source puts it at 75 to 80 percent odds that the banks will play out some more money and restructure the debt so that Fortress, the owner of Intrawest, can continue operations…Given the current economic condition, auction of the assets at a fire sale price does not bode any good…The likelihood of an auction is extremely low due to lack of buyers and bad prices for the seller (lenders).’

Another situation that is being played out is the possibility that Vail Resorts may make a deal with Intrawest for some of their larger assets. Concerning Steamboat however, speculation continues as to whether this purchase would be a good match for both Vail Resorts and Steamboat. One of the major arguments against this purchase is that ‘Steamboat draws from the same destination market as Breckenridge and other resorts owned by Vail. As such, purchasing Steamboat might be cannibalizing its own customer base.’

The article concludes stating ‘The bottom-line in all this, says a source with a strong understanding of the Intrawest situation, is that the company still has a lot of cash flow. ‘I am betting that in the end they work it out with the banks. I will be very surprised if they don’t.’

Edgemont luxury condos have reached their completion and getting those in the community and others around the US excited. A new, ski-in/ski-out residency located 200 meters above the base of the gondola, Edgemont will add to the changing base area, giving people a beautiful home and place to rest their feet while staying in Steamboat. The exterior of the facility is well-designed, integrating many aspects of contemporary and western architecture. The pool, featured below was intentionally designed to capitalize on the stunning views of the mountain and the valley. Check back on Sunday for a few pictures of the individual units and the common areas in Edgemont. For more information, or if you are interested in taking a tour of the facility, feel free to give me a call at 970.819.6930.

Edgemont Exterior

Edgemont Exterior

Edgemont Pool

The Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival is well-underway, with many exciting activities and events coming up in the next few hours and days. Many have commented that the Winter Carnival buttons slogan, ‘living the dream,’ is an apt representation of how we feel living in such a great town. With festivals that feature ‘traditional’ events and some crazy ones, we try to cherish each unique opportunity in town. Even the ‘traditional’ events like ski jumping and Nordic ski racing are a fun opportunity for those not familiar with the sport to see something different. And the other events, like the International Muzzle Loading Biathlon and Mountain Bike race down snow covered ski runs are designed to induce laughs from both those involved and spectators.

The Olympian Send-Off should be one of the highlighted events of the weekend. Steamboat will showcase the 17 Olympians that are either from town or have trained extensively here and it is sure to be a great way to send these fantastic athletes to Vancouver. Featuring a big screen video along with fireworks and the 17 Olympians from Steamboat, be sure to stop by the courthouse at 630 tonight! Hope to see you there.

Wildhorse Meadows Gondola opened yesterday to the public. This new gondola has four pairs of six passenger cabins and delivers occupants from Wildhorse Meadows to the base of the gondola in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. With gondola cars arriving every minute and a half, the new gondola is expected to be used as a new way for Wildhorse occupants and the public to get down from the mountain.

‘The gondola will operate daily through ski season from 7:30 a.m., in time to serve people commuting to work, to 6 p.m., late enough to transport the après ski crowd back to their vehicles.’

Kerry Shea, director of sales and marketing for Resort Ventures West, thinks that the new gondola is ‘a strong sign for our market and the strength of our area.’

Check back in the coming days for pictures of the newly opened gondola.

The overall trend of real estate sales in Routt County continues to look positive as December’s sale numbers are released. Following the positive market turn seen in November, the sales volume was just over $83 million for December. With both the sales volume and units sold at levels that were 200% better than sales in December of last year, the market continues to be heading in the right direction. Notable were the 6 sales in the new Edgemont development, which averaged over $2 million each. The chart below is a quick look at the overall sales volume over the past 7 years. As can be seen from the 2009 figures, the end of this year has picked up significantly.

A recent NY Times article comments on the recent upswing in ski-town purchases, crediting the recent, positive trend in the stock market as a major driving factor in beginning to turn many people’s opinion on buying a second home. For more in-depth charts and figures on the past years financial growth in Routt County, please contact me at jon@mybrokers.com.

The National Association of Realtors released information today that many headlines have spun negatively. The Financial Times headlines, ‘Record December Drop for US Home Resales’ and Business Week states ‘Existing Home Sales Decline More than Forecast.’

However, much of this decline has been attributed to the original date that the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit was intended to expire. Before President Obama and Congress extended the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit it was scheduled to conclude at the end of last November. ‘First-time buyers rushed to complete deals before the $8,000 government incentive was due to end, pushing sales up 28 percent in the three months to November.’ As a result, ‘analysts were expecting a decline in sales last month as demand was ‘pulled back’ by the rush to take advantage of the incentive.’

This analysis that First Time Homebuyers sudden decrease in home purchases is at the root of the problem appears to be correct when seeing that ‘the share of homes sold to first-time buyers fell to 43 percent in December from 51 percent the prior month

This past December does however, mark an overall increase of home sales by 15% from December ‘08. In addition, the Financial Times illustrates that ‘prices also rose on the year, gaining 1.5 per cent to $178,300. That was the first year-on-year gain and was fuelled by a bigger proportion of high-priced homes being sold.’  ‘The increase was the first since August 2007 and the biggest since May 2006.’

So while many headlines initially appear negative, the overall direction of the market appears to be heading in the right direction.