Downtown Steamboat Springs. Photo: katkimchee//Flickr
Mountain towns are idyllic places to live, but that comes at a price. In many ski and snowboarding destinations, an influx of tourists and wealthy investors has driven home prices way up, to the point where the actual locals are getting priced out. However, one billionaire has gone against that trend, by purchasing an apartment building in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and turning it into affordable housing.
Steamboat Springs, located in northwest Colorado, in the upper valley of the Yampa River, is a popular winter ski resort destination that includes the Steamboat Ski Resort on Mount Werner. Though it presents as a quaint little mountain town, it has a median home price of $1.42 million, according to Realtor.com.
“Affordability remains a significant challenge for residents, a dynamic commonly seen in popular vacation destinations, where demand from higher-earning or high-net-worth buyers from outside the area drives prices far beyond what local incomes can support,” said Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones.
In September, an apartment complex on the banks of the Yampa River called Riverview sold for $95.3 million. The complex consists of a 64,234-square-foot apartment building on 0.89 acres of land and another 42,015-square-foot building on 0.51 acres of land. The purchaser, 970 Steamboat LLC, is a company owned by Mark Stevens, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist currently worth around $10.6 billion. Stevens is an active philanthropist and one of the signers of The Giving Pledge, a campaign spearheaded by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, in which members pledge to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
So, while the apartment complex was initially intended for use as luxury units, Stevens has different plans for it. When Riverview went on the market a month ago, the units were offered for far below-market prices, and the only requirements for application were proof that at least one person in the household works 30 hours a week or more in Yampa Valley and makes at least double the monthly rent.
Now, the residents lucky enough to snag spots in the complex have a chance at staying in their own town, without going broke in the process.
“Our needs are running away from us and our ability to deliver is not keeping up,” Yampa Valley Housing Authority director Jason Peasley told The Colorado Sun. “It’s exciting to see people stepping up with new ideas and different ways to execute. We need to hit this problem with an all-of-the-above strategy.”
