Breckenridge Ski Resort opens Peak 6 terrain

 

Breckenridge Ski Resort opened inbounds terrain on Peak 6 on Friday, Jan. 29.

The opening of terrain on Peak 6 brings skiing and riding to all five of the resort’s inbounds peaks for the first time this winter. It’s also the first true high-Alpine skiing and riding experience guests can access inbounds at the resort.

Vail Resorts spokeswoman Sara Lococo said the majority of Peak 6’s intermediate terrain is now open, as well as the Intuition run and hike-to terrain in Beyond Bowl. Lococo described the effort to open Peak 6 this weekend as “huge” for the resort’s grooming, patrol, lift and mountain operations teams.

The opening of Peak 6 is rather late for the resort, as Peak 6 in recent years has opened as early as mid-to-late December.

Breckenridge Grand Vacations prepares plans for residential units, parking structure on North Gondola and Gold Rush lots

 

 

Plans are in the works for Breckenridge Grand Vacations to build residential units and a parking structure on Breckenridge’s North Gondola Lot, North Gold Rush Lot and South Gold Rush Lot.

While the development proposal has not yet been submitted to the town of Breckenridge, Breckenridge Grand Vacations can build 143 single-family equivalent units per town code, which also requires the developer to provide a certain amount of parking and workforce housing units along with the development.

How that 143 single-family equivalent figure translates in units depends on the type of units built, Breckenridge Community Development Director Mark Truckey explained. If the developer wanted to build condominiums, for example, one single-family equivalent would equal 1,200 square feet of condo space.

In addition to displacing existing parking, the housing development would also drive additional parking demand, Truckey said, requiring that appropriate parking be built in connection with the project.

Truckey said there have been conversations about building a parking structure on the South Gold Rush Lot. Breckenridge Grand Vacations is under contract to purchase the three lots from Vail Resorts, company CEO and co-owner Mike Dudick said.

Uptown 240 developers plan to resume construction in February

 

 

#Dillon #Colorado

Developers are hoping to restart construction on the Uptown 240 development in Dillon next month.

Construction on the development — an 80-unit “luxury” condominium project on Lake Dillon Drive at the gateway to the Dillon town core — began in June 2019. But for the past 10-plus months, the site has been quiet after construction came to a sudden halt following the arrival of the pandemic to the area in March.

Danilo Ottoborgo, who will serve as the owner and operator of the complex along with family members, said his team is excited to get things moving again.

“The financing group that we designed to take it through the completion of the project faced their own economic impacts from COVID that were too great for them to continue on as a business,” Ottoborgo said. “… We’re in closing mode for our new capital for us to continue going vertical for the project.”

Dillon has been keeping a close eye on the development, in part due to a number of public improvement guarantees owed to the town as part of the development agreement approved in April 2019. As part of the agreement, Uptown 240 developers were required to complete a number of infrastructure projects on Lake Dillon Drive and Buffalo Street, including improvements to roadways, drainage, sidewalks, lighting and more.

Once finished, Uptown 240 will feature 80-residential units, including some deed-restricted units, along with amenities like a fitness room and ground-floor restaurant and retail spaces.

Summit County real estate sets all-time record in 2020 at more than $2 billion

 

Despite closures and restrictions due to the pandemic, Summit County’s real estate market had a record-breaking 2020.

Summit Realtors data show real estate sales in the county amounted to more than $2.06 billion, which is the first time in history the county has surpassed $2 billion.

“We have never done that before. It’s really amazing,” said Dana Cottrell, former board president of Summit Realtors and a broker with Summit Resort Group. “All of us felt it. We were all so busy because we went from nothing to hanging on by the seat of our pants.”

The total 2020 sales volume was 32% above 2019’s numbers, which came out to about $1.5 billion. If you asked Realtors in March if they expected the county to break $2 billion in 2020, many would have said, “no way.”

The pandemic essentially put a pause on all real estate sales for the majority of March and April. It wasn’t until Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order April 27 allowing for one-on-one showings that agents began to see one of the busiest summers on record.

Many of the sales were driven by people buying in the luxury market, which tends to start at around $2 million to $2.5 million. The county saw a total of 1,264 sales priced at or above $1 million in 2020, which is a 45% increase from 2019, according to Summit Realtors data.

“A lot of those properties even just five years ago that were selling for well under a million are now selling for well over a million,” Coldwell Banker Mountain Properties real estate agent Leah Canfield said. “Just by the nature of our rapidly appreciating market, a higher percentage of our homes are worth over a million now.”

While the increase in prices is a reason for the increase in sales volume, there’s something to be said about how the pandemic made a mountain lifestyle seem more appealing.

“We live in this beautiful place that has all kinds of recreational opportunities from summer to winter,” Cottrell said. “We just have so many options for people to not just be stuck in your home.”

Housing starts hit highest pace since 2006

 

Single-family housing starts ended 2020 on a high note, rising 12% in December to a 1.338 million unit pace – the highest pace since 2006, according to the Census Bureau.

That’s up 27.8% from one year ago, a remarkable figure given the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, per industry officials.

“2020 will go down, quite unexpectedly, as one of the best years for home builders in recent memory, and proof that great challenges — and not just those posed by COVID — can be overcome with hard work and creativity,” said Matthew Speakman, Zillow economist. “Demand for homes remains sky high, despite the still-raging pandemic, as people look to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates and find their next home. “

An estimated 1.380 million housing units were started in 2020 – 7% percent above the 2019 figure of 1.29 million

Remarkably, most industry experts believe construction rates will climb even higher in 2021.

“We expect single-family construction to move up 9% in 2021 — a much-needed relief valve for homebuyers,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “While buyer demand has slowed since December, it remains notably higher than one year ago, giving builders a strong incentive to keep building.”

Breckenridge to host community listening session regarding social equity

 Breckenridge is hosting a community listening session Wednesday, Jan. 27, along with the Breckenridge Social Equity Advisory Commission and Dr. Nita Mosby Tyler of The Equity Project.

The session is meant to be “a community conversation regarding social equity and what it means for Breckenridge,” according to the event description.

Haley Littleton, spokesperson for the town, explained that the town is using the term “social equity” to represent a focus on fairness and justice in social policy as well as working to ensure that everyone — regardless of factors including age, race and ethnicity — has access to equal opportunities, societal rights, social goods and services.

Community members are invited to join and share personal experiences, thoughts and input. The session will be hosted on Zoom at Bit.ly/2XZNqFB and will take place at 6 p.m. Spanish translation and ASL interpretation will be available.

Where People Who Want to Relocate Are Going

 About half of Americans say they’re considering a move in the next year, according to a study from LendingTree. But where do they plan to move?

LendingTree researchers analyzed mortgage purchase requests on its platform in 2020 to find the moving patterns of potential buyers in each of the 50 states. 

They found that a clear majority plan to remain in the state they’re currently living in. Texans, according to the analysis, are the least likely to move to another state. 

On the other hand, New York has the highest number of residents looking to move out of state, but some aren’t going far. Nearly 25% of relocating New Yorkers are heading to the state next door: New Jersey.

Overall, the number one destination for out-of-state movers is Florida. Relocating residents from 14 of 50 states chose Florida as their most popular destination, the LendingTree study found.

To see the full list go to: 

 https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/01/14/where-people-who-want-to-relocate-are-going

Poll: Consumers Expect Even Hotter 2021 Market

 Sixty percent of home buyers and sellers say they’re optimistic about the housing market in 2021, a leap above 2020’s numbers, according to a new survey commissioned by Redfin. 

High earners and homeowners are the most upbeat, shows the survey of more than 1,400 people, which was conducted in November and December.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents who earn more than $150,000 say the housing market will fare better in 2021 than 2020, the highest of any other income group. 

Also, 64% of homeowners believe the housing market this year will outperform last year. Sellers express more optimism than buyers; recent double-digit gains in home prices likely explain seller enthusiasm.

Ski Town Home Buying Is Gaining Against Beachside Getaways

Homebuyer demand in ski towns is surging. Searches of homes in ski towns jumped 36% annually in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a new report from realtor.com®. 

A bulk of that demand is coming from households already in cold weather climates, such as Northern states. Many are favoring nearby ski towns as they look for an escape closer to home.

Seven of the top 10 ski towns seeing the largest percentage spikes in online views are located in the Northeast and Midwest.

“Historically, residents of the Midwest and Northeast have shown a preference for warmer cities, and contributed to much of the out-of-state demand in homes in sunny states, such as Florida,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. 

“This year, we found that snowbirds’ interest in ski towns increased more than interest from other areas across the country. 

It’s not surprising. Americans are increasingly searching for getaways that are within driving distance. Skiing is done outdoors and generally at a distance from others, making it a relatively safe sport during the pandemic.”

Plus, many of these areas offer year-round outdoor activities, making them attractive summer destinations too, Hale says.

Realtor.com® researchers examined home searches of residents from 10 traditionally “snowbird” markets to about 200 resort-linked ski towns. Residents of the following eight markets were showing record interest in ski towns: Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; New York; Philadelphia; Providence, R.I.; and Minneapolis.

Breckenridge looks to reevaluate tourism after COVID-19, likely with fewer events

 

 

Breckenridge Town Council and Breckenridge Tourism Office officials said Tuesday that they intend to reassess the town’s events after the pandemic, undertaking a renewed focus on what tourism office President Lucy Kay described as “responsible tourism.”

“The goal that we’ll have — and it’s consistent with other more progressive (destination-marketing organizations) — is looking for ways we can target guests whose value sets align with ours,” Kay said Tuesday. “… Figure out who are people who think about the environment, who think about other people, who think about the world in a similar way to us, and try to invite those people in first.”

Breckenridge Mayor Eric Mamula said the town’s events and resiliency committees, along with the tourism office, will continue to discuss the initiative in the coming weeks.

The mayor said it’s his personal belief that the pandemic has provided an opportunity that’s “a good reset for our community” to analyze what kind of events should take place.

“This truly is a clean slate, and I think it’s absolutely worth continuing those conversations,” council member Carol Saade said.

The concept isn’t new. Even before the pandemic, towns across Summit County were grappling with “event fatigue” among residents and working to find solutions.

“It’s a good way to look at it and say, ‘OK, what are the events that are sort of legacy events for the town? And what are the events we are — honestly — filling in space for no reason,’” Mamula said. “Town is busy anyway. There are plenty of weekends that we seem to do stuff that we don’t really need it.”

Mamula cautioned against adding lots of events in an effort to “right the economy in one summer” and noted that some people in the community might be eager to get “things to be back to where they were two years ago on Day 1” after the pandemic is over.

“We will have to push back against that feeling that we need to get back to living in crazy land,” Mamula said.

Kay agreed “there’s no rush” on the initiative because “we are still in this COVID thing for a long time.”

Kay said the tourism office plans to do another resident survey, potentially in late March or early April, to understand “what does the community really want in this new world order?”

Council members Jeffery Bergeron, Kelly Owens and Erin Gigliello said they are unsure how many events the town needs to attract visitors. Bergeron and Owens pointed to the demand the town saw on its trails last summer, when all events were canceled, as a reason for scaling back in the future.

Council member Dennis Kuhn said he’d like to see the town host a “communitywide celebration” once the pandemic is over, though he said “that’s obviously a way down the road.”

Summit County’s adoptable pets for the week of Jan. 17, 2021

 

Call the shelter at 970-668-3230 with questions. The most recent list of animals available for adoption can be found via their website.

CATS

BEAUREGARD, 3 years, domestic longhair, black, neutered male

CASANOVA, 2 years, domestic shorthair, brown tabby, neutered male

COCO, 2 years, domestic shorthair, chocolate, spayed female

DUCHESS, 4 years, Russian blue, blue and white, spayed female

MARINDA, 1 year 7 months, domestic shorthair, white and orange, spayed female

MAVERICK, 3 years, domestic shorthair, orange tabby, neutered male

DOGS

DJANGO, 1 year 3 months, pointer and pit bull terrier mix, tan and brown, neutered male

EMILY, 4 years, pit bull terrier mix, black and white, spayed female

HURRICANE, 10 months, Labrador retriever and German shepherd mix, black, neutered male

JACK, 1 year 7 months, Australian cattle dog and Australian kelpie mix, tan, neutered male

RANDALL, 2 years, German shepherd mix, black and tan, neutered male

TIKO, 3 years, smooth-coated Chihuahua and Australian cattle dog mix, brown and black, neutered male

Summit County officials to change public health order, giving short-term lodging companies more leeway

 

Summit County officials will be releasing a new public health order next week to clarify how short-term lodging companies should go about confirming the number of households in one reservation.

Summit County Manager Scott Vargo announced the change at a Board of Health meeting Thursday, Jan. 14. Vargo said the new order likely won’t go into effect until Friday, Jan. 22, to allow for lodging companies to adjust.

The current order states that “owners and/or entities responsible for the booking and renting of short-term lodging units must confirm the identity of all renters upon arrival” to ensure that the group doesn’t violate the state’s public health order, which limits gatherings to two households under level orange restrictions.

“The change is trying to clarify what the expectation is and simplifying how property managers, property owners, are able to verify or confirm the folks that are renting those properties are aware of the rule and in compliance with the rules,” Vargo said.

The county also created a sample form for short-term lodging companies to give to guests ahead of arrival. The form requires the person who made the reservation to certify that they have reviewed the local and state public health order and are aware that a violation could mean a fine of up to $5,000 or up to 18 months in jail.

“They don’t have to use this form, but I would suspect that most will take advantage of something that’s been prepared or take the language from this form and plug it into whatever electronic system that they may be using or other check-in model that they’re taking advantage of,” Vargo said.

Short-term rental hotline helps improve compliance as Summit County officials work through program hiccups

 

With over 8,700 short-term rentals in Summit County, it’s no surprise that local officials have taken steps to regulate common issues such as noise, trash and parking.

One of those steps was to contract with Host Compliance, a software company that manages short-term rental complaints through a hotline. Nearly all short-term rentals in Summit County are covered through the hotline with Breckenridge, Silverthorne, Dillon, Frisco and Summit County governments all signing contracts with the company.

The Host Compliance program started in Summit County largely as a way to enforce regulations brought on by town and county governments in 2018.

Although the hotline has been helpful, officials have struggled to work through some hiccups. In November 2019, Host Compliance bought the original hotline software called STR Helper. The transition after that acquisition hasn’t been the smoothest, officials said.

Kroner said one of the biggest issues with the software comes in the form of automated phone numbers. When a short-term rental owner provides an automated number as its responsible agent, the hotline number, which is also automated, isn’t able to reach a real person.

“We were running into some issues where the responsible agent wasn’t getting the calls right away when the issue was occurring,” Kroner said. “In that case, we from our Summit County Planning Department are doing that follow-up when our staff is in in the morning on a Monday. We’re not able to address it immediately.”

In addition to the automated phone number issue, town of Frisco Housing Coordinator Eva Henson said some property managers and owners weren’t picking up the call from Host Compliance because it was an unrecognizable number.

Both Henson and Kroner said Host Compliance has been helpful to them as they try to work through the issues. Both entities have asked property owners and managers to ensure their responsible agent number is a real person.

Additionally, Henson said the software company will be adding a text message alert so that property managers will get a text and a phone call when there is an issue at their short-term rental.

“Those are the kinds of things that take time to build with a software company,” Henson said. “Even though the system isn’t perfect, we’re certainly working through some of those limitations and trying to come up with solutions.”

January Real Estate Update

 

Nancy Yearout's Real Estate Market News Breckenridge  Frisco  Silverthorne  Dillon  Keystone  Copper Mountain  Happy New Year 2021! And WOW, what a year 2020!  ​ Detailed Statistics Below Detailed Statistics Below Detailed Statistics Below Market Statistic Details: History of Sales & Average Sold Prices 2004 - 2020, Condominium Sales by Town, Single Family Home Sales by Town, Residential Sales by Town. Nancy Yearout Broker Associate RE/MAX Properties of the Summit 970-485-0293 nyearout@colorado.net https://www.buyinbreckenridge.com getmobile.remax.com/nancyyearout Could you be interested in Buying or Selling?  Contact me today and let me get to work for you! And if you know someone that is also interested in Buying or Selling, I am never too busy for your referrals! Source: Sold Data from Summit Realtors MLS.  Stats pulled on 1/7/20. *Summit Realtor MLS Data  Annual sales 1/1 through 12/31. *Residential Sales (home, Condo, Townhome & Duplex),  Change is Year over Year or 2020 vs 2019. **The information contained herein is based on information provided by others. Accordingly, we make no guarantee of its accuracy and suggest you make an independent inquiry of any matters you regard as important.

Summit County’s adoptable pets for the week of Jan. 10, 2021

 

YoYo

Call the shelter at 970-668-3230 with questions. The most recent list of animals available for adoption can be found via their website.

Cats

BEAUREGARD, 3 years, domestic longhair, black, neutered male

BECKETT, 8 years, domestic shorthair, gray tabby, neutered male

CARLEIGH, 11 months, domestic shorthair, black, spayed female

CASANOVA, 2 years, domestic shorthair, brown tabby, neutered male

CAYDEN, 11 months, domestic shorthair, black, neutered male

CELESTE, 11 months, domestic shorthair, black, spayed female

COCO, 2 years, domestic shorthair, chocolate, spayed female

CORA, 11 months, domestic shorthair, black, spayed female

MARINDA, 1 year 7 months, domestic shorthair, white and orange, spayed female

MAVERICK, 3 years, domestic shorthair, orange tabby, neutered male

REEF, 2 years, domestic shorthair, brown and white tabby, neutered male

YOYO, 7 years, domestic shorthair, dilute calico, spayed female

Dogs

EMILY, 4 years, pit bull terrier mix, black and white, spayed female

HURRICANE, 10 months, Labrador retriever and German shepherd mix, black, neutered male

INDY, 9 months, German shepherd and smooth-coated Chihuahua mix, tan and black, spayed female

TIKO, 1 year, smooth-coated Chihuahua and Australian cattle dog mix, brown and black, neutered male

Rabbits

JET, 15 weeks, short hair rabbit, black, unaltered male

PITCH, 15 weeks, short hair rabbit, black, unaltered male

Green, blue and black: How ski areas rate their terrain

 

 

It’s one of those things that seems like it’s standardized: green runs are easy, blue runs are intermediate and black runs are hard. One might expect that would mean an easy run would feel pretty similar from one ski area to another. Those with a bit more experience likely have discovered the truth: There is no universal method for designating a run as beginner, intermediate or advanced. It’s essentially up to each individual ski area.

While ski areas use similar signage and terms to rate the difficulty of their runs — easiest/easier, more difficult, most difficult, extreme and freestyle terrain — Adrienne Isaac, director of marketing and communications for the National Ski Areas Association, said the designations are set by each ski area and don’t adhere to any sort of shared standards.

“These difficulty ratings are subjective and relative to the terrain at that particular ski area only,” Isaac wrote in an email. “Difficulty ratings are intended as a guide to assist skiers in choosing the terrain they wish to ski.”

A family-friendly focused resort might be more cautious in designating a slightly steeper slope as a beginner run while a ski area that focuses on more extreme terrain could rate a steep but groomed slope as intermediate.  Isaac said lessons can be helpful for those who want to explore new terrain within their capabilities.

With no national standards for ski run ratings, the ski areas don’t have a clear-cut way for how they determine their runs. According to Breckenridge Ski Resort spokesperson Sara Lococo, several factors are evaluated when determining the difficulty of a run at the resort.

“Our resort’s trail ratings are not based on any one specific factor but rather a variety of things come into play,” Lococo wrote in an email. “Some of those factors include slope angle/pitch, trail width, terrain characteristics, whether or not the trail has snowmaking and if it will be groomed versus ungroomed, as well as the location on the mountain and how you get to and from the trail.

“So for example with the latter, if you have an easier trail leading to a more difficult trail, it is likely that both would be given the more difficult rating.”

https://www.summitdaily.com/sports/winter-sports/green-blue-and-black-how-ski-areas-rate-their-terrain/