Wildhorse Meadows Approved

The Wild Horse Meadows development(TM) here in Steamboat Springs is now approved. It will be built in the bowl shaped area above the tennis meadows parking lot and below Mount Werner Circle. It expect it will kick off the revitalization of Steamboat's base area along with it's sister development One Steamboat Place right next to the Gondola building. An open cabriolet gondola will link the two areas and the meadows parking lot. Some of the best news for Steamboat and our guests is that it will be free. This will make it easy (and fun too) for people to move between the two areas and people that park in the meadows lot to shuttle back and forth. I expect to be taking my kids for joy rides on it too.

The final approved plan shows 567 residential units, including 41 single family lots and 80 affordable units for residents. The approved plan shows 2 large condo hotels close to the cabriolet gondola, town homes in the center of the development, 4 groups of condo buildings along Mount Werner Circle and 41 lots off to the right of the parcel below Stonewood town homes.

They hope to begin work on the roads and utilties on the site this fall along with starting to market the single family lots planned for the first phase of the development.

Drop me and email or give me a call at 970-819-6930 if you would like to know more about Wild Horse Meadows, One Steamboat Place or any of the other new developments at the base of the Steamboat Ski area or down town. I can share my perspectives on what is happening and the upcoming improvements here in Steamboat Springs. I am an independent real estate broker that will give you the information and perspective you need without any pressure.

Steamboat Balloon Rodeo

The Steamboat Balloon Rodeo has found a new home. This popular event has been going for about 25 years in the hay field above the meadows parking lot but this year they expect to be doing the site work for Wild horse Meadows (TM) so the chamber had to find a new spot for the event. A lot of people were nervous about what they might find but I think they did a great job. The event will now be in the south valley just west of Lake Catamount near 131 and CR 14C.

As a photographer I am excited about this choice since it has the potential to provide better vistas for photography. The current site was a little too close to the ski mountain and too heavily backlit if you tried to get a picture of the balloons and the ski mountain to get some shots I would have liked. With the location in a particullay gorgeous part of the south valley I have high hopes for this summers event. I will scout it out next time I am in the area. The event is scheduled for July 8&9 so if you need an excuse to check out Steamboat in the summer this could be a great time to come.

Wild Horse Meadows Steamboat (TM)

Here are some updated details on Wild Horse Meadows Steamboat (TM). Wild Horse Meadows (TM) is in the area above the the Tennis center and meadows parking lot. They now plan several hundred units made up of houses, town homes, condos and a condo hotel with a gondola linking it to the base area. Views from this parcel are great and the team putting this development is first class. Members of the team have been involved in quite a few quality projects like Catamount in Steamboat Springs and many other projects around the western US.

Quoted from the Steamboat Pilot: whole article here.

Wildhorse Meadows could add 600 residential units within 10 years
By Tom Ross, Staff Reporter Sunday, February 19, 2006

The developer of 600 planned residential units near the Steamboat Ski Area base would like to begin site preparation in Wildhorse Meadows by late summer. RP Steamboat LLC, led by partners Whitney Ward, David Hill and Brent Pearson, has filed a development plan with the city of Steamboat Springs.

"We're ready to go," Ward said this week. "We have all of our capital arranged and closed and ready to be invested in the community." The plan calls for a range of dwellings as well as commercial buildings and amenities to include a public learning center on 47 acres formerly known as Tennis Meadows. The project could take 7 to 10 years.

The site wraps around the ski area's remote parking lot and extends up a steep ridge to Mount Werner Circle. The project would be linked to Gondola Square by a people-mover gondola. As proposed by the development team, it would be private, however, Ward said this week that he remains open to a partnership with the ski area and the city that would make the lift public. "We don't have our hand out here for this lift," Ward said. "We think from a community sense, it would make sense if this lift were available for public use. We're willing to make our private easement available for public use." Ward has proposed an equal cost sharing among his development, Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. and the city. However, he emphasized that he and his partners are prepared to build a lower capacity lift at their expense. "We're not asking for any money to build our lift," Ward said. ...Cipped here...

More details on Wild Horse Meadows (TM)

Here are some key details on the Wild Horse Meadows (TM) project slated to begin in early summer 2006 (at the time of this post)

- The development of the project is likely to be spread out over nine phases with as many as 82 affordable-housing units.

- The first phase most likely would be 41 single-family home sites at the southern end of the project closest to Walton Creek Road.

- The current mix of housing units they envision is 85 townhomes, 175 condominiums in three buildings and 265 condominium hotel units in two buildings. The hotel will be a first class property with full amenities.

- The condominium hotel buildings would be three and four stories tall over one to two levels of sub-surface parking. The hotels would be located next to the public plaza which will be the focal point of Wild Horse Meadows since it will border the lower terminal of the new cabriolet gondola they currently plan build. The plaza may also include an ice skating rink.

- the gondola right of way is envisioned to include trails, ponds and hills for sledding.

- The developers anticipate 5,000 square feet of retail space in the condominium hotel, a general store of 2,300 square feet, 10,600 square feet of skier services and food and beverage, a 2,300-square-foot educational/cultural center and a 12,000-square-foot private athletics center.

- The developers currently plan to build the entire infrastructure for Wildhorse Meadows, including interior roads, simultaneously starting once plans are approved. The single family building lots would be developed first. Phases 2 and 3 also would be tackled by RP Steamboat and would include a luxury condo building and group of townhomes, both close to the plaza.

Steamboat Base Area Update plan approved

The moratorium was lifted this week on development plan approvals in the mountain area. This will allow enhancements to the Steamboat base area like Wild Horse Meadows (TM) and One Steamboat Place (TM) to proceed through the planning process.

Wild Horse Meadows (TM)

Plans for Wild Horse Meadows (TM) in Steamboat Springs are starting to shape up nicely. WildHorse Meadows (TM) is located just below the base of the Steamboat Ski area above the meadows parking lot where the Winter driving school ice track was located until a few years ago. They currently plan to have a direct link to gondola square with an open air gondola transforming it into a second base of the mountian village.