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Living and working in a ski town can be extremely rewarding, but also a tremendous financial challenge. Much of that challenge stems from housing costs, driven by demand pressure from second or third home buyers and remote workers, and can be hard to cope with for those working in the everyday jobs required to make a ski town function. As median home prices refuse to come down from their multimillion dollar highs and rents continue to climb, teachers, construction workers, and waiters struggle to keep the dream alive alongside ski patrollers and lift mechanics. Local governments in mountain towns have tried to stimulate the development of more affordable housing, but these efforts, when they are able to overcome intense NIMBYism (“not in my backyard”), can still take years or decades to be fully realized.
- Related:Â Regional Transit Plan Could Transform Ski Access to Steamboat, CO, But Funding Questions Loom
Steamboat Springs, Colorado, home to Steamboat Ski Resort, recently gained 104 more units of affordable housing from an unlikely source. Jason Blevins of The Colorado Sun reported on resident billionaire Mark Stevens’ purchase of the Riverview Apartment Complex, and subsequent slashing of the rent prices. Though Stevens’ identity was initially concealed through an LLC and his investment firm S-Cubed Capital, Blevins tracked down Stevens’ involvement in the purchase. The lot where Riverview stands was originally proposed to be a set of luxury condos, hotel, and commercial space in 2004, but financial troubles caused the five-acre lot to be sold off in 2018 for $31.9 million. Single-family, duplex, and commercial lots have been sold off in the intervening years, and the apartment building was built in 2024 by Gorman and Company, thanks to a low-interest-rate loan from the town funded by taxes on short term rentals like AirBnB and VRBO.
Stevens bought the apartment building in September for $95.3 million and listed the apartments for rent a month ago for well below market rates for anyone working in Yampa Valley at least 30 hours per week. Blevins shared the story of Landin Hutchinson and Piper Rillos, a construction worker and a special needs teacher, who were able to move from Oak Creek, more than half an hour away, to Steamboat Springs, where Rillos grew up. Below market rates has allowed the renters of the 104 units at Riverview to keep their mountain town dreams alive.
Though some critics might offer the opinion that waiting for billionaires to solve our problems is not a viable solution in the long run, Stevens deserves immense credit for his investment in the community that makes Steamboat Springs a nice place to live. Mountain towns continue to grapple with how to build more affordable housing and who should pay for it, but in the meantime, Stevens is doing his part to support workers who support the community. Hopefully more will follow his example.
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