The Hampton Inn & Suites in Steamboat Springs is to be converted into workers’ housing.
John F. Russell / Steamboat Pilot & Today

Ski Town Commercial LLC has 100+ workforce housing units that can be delivered within 30 days. The only hurdle, according to the developer, is the planning process for the city of Steamboat Springs.

Jon Sanders, founder of Ski Town Commercial, which has completed other motel conversions like the Flour Mill and Main Street Apartments, hopes to complete the purchase of the Hampton Inn & Suites and the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott next month, and quickly in much-needed ones Transform workers’ housing.

“There’s such a demand for housing,” said Sanders, who originally hoped to deliver units to at least 50 local workers on November 15. But the process has gotten complicated, he said.

Ski Town has applied for a temporary per conditional use residence permit for workers residences at the Fairfield Inn, located at 3200 S. Lincoln Ave. is located on the east side of Steamboat.

For now, the units will essentially remain as they are, already equipped with microwaves and mini-fridges, with a common communal area, the breakfast area.

The Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Steamboat Springs.
John F. Russell / Steamboat Pilot & Today

“That’s just to absorb the seasonal winter labor demand,” Sanders said.

At the Hampton Inn at 725 S. Lincoln Ave. Sanders explained that there are already units with kitchenettes that should be occupied immediately.

The ultimate goal is to remodel half of the Hampton Inn within six months, adding cooktops to the units and then sending a construction team to the Fairfield next April to install a more complete kitchen

“These are higher quality buildings than the ones we received at the beginning of our other projects,” he said, referring to the Flour Mill, formerly the Iron Horse Inn, and Main Street Apartments, which were formerly the Alpine Lodge. “These are different configurations, different views, different places.”

The Hampton Inn will have 50 one-bedroom and 30 studio units, along with 72 units, a mix of one-bedroom and studio units, in Fairfield. In total, Sanders and his team plan to add 152 residential units.

“We have an opportunity here to resolve a crisis and it is a serious problem,” said Sanders.

His company will also rent out to pet owners as well as offer furnished or unfurnished units.

Sanders said prices for a studio would start at $ 1,200 a month, but that would include all utilities, parking, and dedicated high-speed Internet.

This price is feasible, even for seasonal workers, says Sanders, who has been successfully working with tenants on other Ski Town projects in the city for years. However, Sanders also works with local employers including Resort Group, One Steamboat Place, Vacasa, Moving Mountains, and the city to offer bulk leasing arrangements. The pre-leased units in the two hotels, which are due to be delivered next month, are intended for certain local employers.

“These people are coming here on November 15th and they have nowhere to stay unless we close earlier,” Sanders said.

Sanders had expected the process to be accelerated, considering that his project addresses housing, an urgent need for the community. But he was informed last week that it would not.

“We know these projects are important,” said Rebecca Bessey, director of the city and development department. “We’re doing our best to make things faster.”

Bessey leads a revised department that is also affected by its own personnel problems.

In response to the local housing shortage Steamboat Springs City Council members last month asked Bessey to cut some of the red tape for builders if their proposed housing project is for affordable housing or for workers’ housing.

So far, this process has resulted in the planning department reaching out to developers for input, particularly regarding the level of affordable housing or housing for workers they are most likely to need for a project.

“We want to create meaningful incentives for these projects,” said Bessey. “We don’t want to create a policy that has no results.”

A possible ordinance to accelerate housing projects could be passed by the end of the year, Bessey said.

But Sanders says it isn’t fast enough.

“If we want to solve the problem, why don’t we all go into one room and find out. We can do it in one day, ”said Sanders. “The system doesn’t allow that at the moment.”

Bessey stated Friday afternoon that her department was able to quickly process the comment review section for Sanders’ development, and his plan is currently under review.

“It is not a complicated prescription to draw up; only internal processes need to be adjusted and modified to accommodate them, ”said Bessey.

The owners of both properties were contacted by Steamboat Pilot & Today but did not respond to requests for comment.