Ski Season Starts With Stellar Conditions

The Crested Butte Real Estate Advisor – December 2013

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The stars are aligned over Crested Butte. The real estate and construction economy has improved greatly in 2013 and our ski season has started off with incredible snow conditions – the best in years. Season-to-date we have received 73 inches of the white stuff and our base is already over 40 inches! Starting tomorrow the Silver Queen lift will begin running so it is time for you to book a ski trip to Crested Butte. Visit SkiCB.com to learn more.

Year-to-date, 109 single family homes and 134 condos & town homes have sold from Crested Butte South to Mt. Crested Butte. This represents over $130 million in volume and marks our strongest year in real estate sales since 2008.

The new construction and renovation business in Crested Butte and throughout Gunnison County is benefitting from the improving economic climate. New home starts in our County are up 25% compared to 2012 and overall there were more building permits issued for all types of construction including renovations and additions this year vs. last. (123 vs. 111). In the town of Crested Butte alone almost 70 building permits were issued during 2013.

The News Around Town

Leading Colorado developer, Larimer Associates, is kicking up the dust with plans to build a limited collection of custom mountain ski homes in the prestigious neighborhood of Wildhorse at Prospect in Mt Crested Butte. Jeff Hermanson, who leads Larimer Associates out of Denver, is also a 40-year resident of Crested Butte. His vision for this new chapter of Wildhorse at Prospect is to develop a project worthy of the dramatic setting. It’s all just minutes away from the historic main street of Crested Butte in the valley below, better known as the last great Colorado ski town. Construction begins in the Spring 2014.
Visit wildhorseatprospect.com for details and read the article at the Crested Butte News.

In other news, Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) is entertaining a sale of it’s ski resort operations and undeveloped land holdings that include North Village (Snodgrass Mountain), Prospect and Prospect Junction and the prized Cimarron base area parcel. The interested party’s identity is undisclosed at this time but from the sound of it, this deal involves a serious buyer and a motivated seller. The impacts from new ownership and management at CBMR are difficult to predict but following on the heels of a strong year in real estate sales and construction activity, the momentum in our local economy would certainly be enhanced with a strategic shift up at the ski resort. Learn more at the Crested Butte News.

Thanks for reading today,
Channing Boucher
Broker Associate
Benson Sotheby’s International Realty
970-596-3228