First Tracks in Wildhorse Meadows

Yesterday I took a tour of the First Tracks development in Wildhorse Meadows. This community is designed for Routt County residents looking for an affordable option near the gondola. The sample unit was beautifully furnished, and demonstrated how the 2 bedroom condo would look if decorated in a western theme. The units range from studios to spacious 2 bedroom apartments. Each of these units has access to the Wildhorse Meadows facilities and the Gondola. In addition, each unit is given a large storage unit in the basement, big enough to hold your kayak, mountain bikes and other outdoor equipment. A great option for Routt County residents looking for an condo near the mountain! Feel free to contact Jon for more information.

Gondola Construction Underway

The Steamboat Pilot just released an article detailing the progress of the Wildhorse Meadows Gondola. With the initial capacity of 340 passengers per hour, the gondola is leaving room for later development and the possibility of adding more cars with time. Taking you over 2,000 ft. in less than 4 minutes, the Wildhorse Gondola will significantly alter the scene for commuters and guests in the Wildhorse Meadows complex. While the gondola is slated to "be free to the public, [you should] expect to see a separate lift line that favors Wildhorse owners and guests, not unlike the ski school line at the ski area lifts." To be open no later than February 2010, the new gondola will be a great new addition for guests in Wildhorse.

Wildhorse Meadows Gondola Update

I drove through the site yesterday and saw that they have dug and prepared several footings for the gondola towers. Last month the Resort Ventures West, the developer, announced that they had signed a contract to built the new Wild Horse Gondola with Leitner-Poma and put down a half-million dollar deposit. It is nice to see progress and I will look forward to trying out the new gondola next spring.

Ask me anytime and I will get you a progress update the next time I drive by. It is nice to see someone building an amenity like this early since it wasn't promised until 2011 or 2012 if my memory serves.

Trailhead Lodge closings as of August 24, 2009

I just spent some time checking warranty deeds recorded with Routt County for Trailhead Lodge at Wild Horse Meadows in Steamboat Springs to see how closings are going. I have a few clients with contracts, people around town ask me and more closings are said to be coming so I like to know what has happened. Hopefully we see a lot more soon. Deeds sometimes take a few days to be recorded and it is possible they might not show up in my search so please check with the county yourself if you need to know but here is what I found by date and unit number. Prices are based on what was recorded but I do not have a copy of these settlement statements to review.

# - Date - Unit - Price
1 - 6/02/09 - 2116 - $940,000
2 - 6/15/09 - 5114 - $1,095,000
3 - 8/03/09 - 4125 - $2,225,000 3 partners including one development partner
4 - 8/13/09 - 2106 - $575,000
5 - 8/20/09 - 3108 - $450,000

Looks like 5 closings to date, let me know if there is one that I missed and I will update this once I can verify it in county records. Let me know if you find this useful and I will update this as I see more closings. If you have any questions about Trailhead Lodge just give me a call at 970-819-6930. I am not affiliated with the developer so my opinions are my own.

Trailhead Lodge in Wildhorse Meadows is offering substantial discounts

UPDATE on August 18th, 2009: I received a clarification from Resort Ventures West the developer of Wildhorse Meadows which contains an important distinction that I hadn't captured so it is incorrect that remaining inventory is discounted 20%, only 3-5 units are available this way. Basically there is an opportunity to take over contracts from 3-5 people that have either severe medical or financial extenuating circumstances like bankruptcy during the approximately 2 year contract period. This often happens in pre-construction contracts like this and this is a good way to deal with these unfortunate losses where it doesn't make sense to execute the contract.

It's good for the developer and other buyers, for that matter, to close these units instead of just keeping the deposit so they are offering to assign these contracts, along with the corresponding 20% deposits, to new buyers in efforts to close all the commitments originally secured in 2007. It is also good to hear that their plan is to hold prices on the remaining inventory at prices no lower than the pre-construction prices to protect buyers and to protect their investment in the remaining land within Wildhorse Meadows. I would say that there is a good alignment of their interests and buyers in Wildhorse on this point so it makes sense.

Original post that I corrected above:
I learned yesterday from two different people that Trailhead Loadge at Wild Horse Meadows is offering substantial discounts on (now just some of) their remaining inventory. Two other brokers let me know they had been offered this. One was specific that it was at least 20%. I confirmed they were now discounting with their Sales Manager Kerry Shea.

Trailhead Lodge consists of a total of 86 condo units with around 63 under contract. Closings started in early June and according to public records as of last week 3 have closed. The developer has cited financing difficulties since loan programs have changed dramatically. According to the developer in the Steamboat Pilot the first 3 were cash buyers. It has been much more difficult to finance condos with a front desk that manages rentals so that is likely a challenge for them too. Some people may also be concerned with values given the dramatic shift in our national market. Steamboat as a whole hasn't changed nearly as much but there is no doubt that values are lower than what looks to have been the peak in mid 2007. Most units went under contract in Trailhead during that timeframe.

In addition many lenders in town are requiring 30% down plus 20% in reserves so it may be harder for people to qualify now. They have Calcon as a preferred lender and have been quoted in the paper as saying that contract holders that tried other lenders and were not able to get approval so it is taking longer to redo things. See the Steamboat Pilot article for the specifics. I have heard but don't have documents to verify that Bank of America, their other preferred lender, had to pull out because they had difficulty approving residential loans for this project. BOA may have also been one of the construction lenders but I haven't had the chance to pull the deed of trust to verify that.

I hope that we begin to see some more closings soon as Resort Ventures West has been saying that we will see more closings next week for quite some time now. The following is a quote Steamboat Pilot article on Sunday by Tom Ross:

"Trailhead Lodge development principal Brent Pearson said Thursday that although progress is being made in the effort to close contracted units at the five-story condominium building, there have been no additional closings since three cash deals were consummated in June. He said that’s about to change. Pearson said he expects to see some closings in the coming week, with multiple closings to follow each week thereafter."

If you would like to know my thoughts on anything else feel free to give me a call at 970-819-6930. As I make amply clear in at the start of this blog I am not affiliated with the developer of Wild Horse Meadows so my opinions and what I hear are my own and should be taken as such.

Contract signed and work has begun for the Wild Horse Meadows gondola

Good news is that Resort Ventures West has announced they signed a contract and paid a $560k deposit for the construction on the new gondola going from Wild Horse Meadows to the new plaza at One Steamboat Place. It is a public gondola with priority access for the owners and guests at Wild Horse Meadows. That said from what I understand there really isn't practical access for the public so it will likely see little public use.

Link to the Steamboat Pilot Article here

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.