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The Cottonwoods: Steamboat’s first for-sale affordable housing project in decades

A housing project is seen under construction in a rural section of a town.
Yampa Valley Housing Authority
The Cottonwoods at Mid Valley is an 86-unit deed-restricted condo development in Steamboat Springs aimed at providing affordable homeownership opportunities to local workers, retirees and families, with prices significantly reduced through $10 million in short-term rental tax funding from City Council.

The Cottonwoods at Mid Valley, spearheaded by the Yampa Valley Housing Authority, is set to become a transformative development for Routt County’s housing landscape, offering 86 deed-restricted condos for sale to local workers, retirees and families — marking the first major for-sale affordable housing project in Steamboat Springs in around two decades.

YVHA Executive Director Jason Peasley, Communications and Community Engagement Coordinator John Fancher, and Sales and Asset Manager Alyssa Cartmill sat down with the newspaper on Nov. 19 to discuss updates surrounding The Cottonwoods and to underscore growing excitement from prospective buyers.

The project provides a rare opportunity for the valley’s workforce to purchase homes at prices significantly below market, with units ranging from the mid-$200,000s to the mid-$400,000s. Fancher said the pricing amounts to “a discount to market (rate) of up to 56%.”

“Those are unheard of prices right now,” said Peasley. “I think people’s next question is, ‘OK, how do I get my hands on that?’ or ‘What would it take for me to live there?'”

These units are discounted thanks to $10 million in short-term rental tax revenue allocated to The Cottonwoods by the Steamboat Springs City Council. Otherwise, Cottonwoods prices would have been in the mid-$400,000s to mid-$700,000s, Fancher said.

To read the entire article, visit The Steamboat Pilot.