The Victoria in downtown Steamboat Springs has opened its doors and the exclusive 7 residential units are ready to occupy. Every Saturday through ski season, and some Fridays, we are opening the model and any other unit you’d like to check out from 2-5 p.m. Each unit offers a varied floorplan with different views – appealing to a variety of buyers looking to invest in downtown Steamboat.

These luxury mountain condominiums are decked out with slab granite counters and wood floors, lavish crown molding and interior wainscoting, and choice plumbing and lighting fixtures throughout. The patio space in each unit is one of the best features of the downtown projects currently on the market. Huge patio space creates an ideal entertaining venue during summertime. All residents will enjoy parking in the secured underground structure complete with your own storage locker. The first floor of The Victoria is dedicated to retail, commercial space. Contact Hal Unruh for information on purchasing commercial space.

If you can’t make the Saturday open houses hosted by Kelly Stahl of Prudential Steamboat Realty, contact us for a private tour any day of the week. Residential units listed with Pam Vanatta, Prudential Steamboat Realty. Call 970.879.8100 or email kelly@steamboatestates.com.

If you would like to receive a full packet call your Prudential agent today at 800-430-4121 or via email at contact@prudentialsteamboatrealty.com.

If you know what to look for, you can see a little of downtown Grand Junction and even a bit of Deadwood, S.D., in one of Steamboat’s newest buildings.

The Victoria, nearing completion at Lincoln Avenue and 10th Street, was praised this week by the city’s Historic Preservation Advisory Committee as part of its observation of Historic Preservation Month.

Committee Chairwoman Pam Duckworth said The Victoria exemplifies the ways in which new construction can be compatible with a historic setting.

“It’s an important new building,” Duckworth said. “It’s close to the (historic) Pilot (newspaper) Building, the U.S. Forest Service building and the Lorenz Building.

Denise Peterson, who developed the project with her husband, Steve, said some of the most attractive details in the mixed commercial/residential building were spotted during trips to other historic Western cities.

“We had fun making road trips to Grand Junction, Fort Collins and Denver,” Peterson said. “We did a lot of investigative work and paid attention to what we liked. Often, Matt Wagar, (of Moon Hill Design) went with us. We got so many ideas there, and we took pictures.”

Wagar wasn’t along for the trip to Deadwood, but Peterson said the details they observed in the historic district there influenced The Victoria.

Wagar said he’s pleased with some of the details on the building’s façade, where a handful of red bricks are used to create tiles within larger expanses of Colorado sandstone. Similarly, bars of sandstone are used to break up the tonal mass of large brick walls.

“Steve and Denise really wanted to use traditional materials, and they wanted the building to very much fit with downtown Steamboat architecture as well as cities like Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs,” Wagar said. “My challenge was to give it a nice fresh character, but with traditional elements. They helped me a lot by giving me a strong sense of what they wanted early in the process.”

Wagar said he and his clients contemplated a building that would have required variances to the city code but, in the end, decided to adhere to the city’s design guidelines.

“I didn’t try to buffalo” city officials, Wagar said. “We didn’t ask for any variances, and I worked with the character” of the downtown historic district.

Peterson said she and her husband didn’t have to sacrifice to meet the design guidelines.

“The project wasn’t difficult in that sense,” she said. “We’ve done a number of projects here, and you learn that when you work with the guidelines, it will make a project go through with as little pain as possible.”

Laureen Schaffer, historic preservation specialist with the city, said The Victoria has succeeded in the goal of moving downtown architecture forward while still honoring elements of the district’s historical style.

“They just hit the right balance,” Schaffer said. “They followed the intent of the design guidelines by not just repeating older buildings but, at the same time, respecting them.”

Wagar said examples of the mix of old and new can be seen in the mix of old-fashioned “punched” windows and more modern floor-to-ceiling windows in The Victoria.

Schaffer admires the use of traditional wrought iron balcony railings. The relaxed S-shape of the railings is a contemporary interpretation of a historical material that succeeds, she said.

Duckworth said recognizing the design success of The Victoria represents a chance for the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee to demonstrate that it’s interested in more than saving old buildings.

“Preserving things built in 1910 is not our sole focus,” Duckworth said. “We know things are going to change. One of our precepts is that the building design guidelines can precipitate changes that are compatible in an historic area.”

The three-story, 32,000-square-foot building includes seven residential units. They vary in size from 1,000 to 3,000 square feet, and two are bi-level units.

Steamboat Springs Pilot & Today: Article By Tom Ross

The Victoria offers seven luxurious residences with sophisticated architectural treatments and nicely appointed amenities such as heated floors in each master bath complete with a steam shower except for the A.D.A. unit. The generous exterior decks offer additional outdoor space as leisure living area with excellent views!

The commercial unit spaces on the first and second floors are on schedule for delivery to those Buyers presently under contract on or about the end of March 2008.

As The Victoria nears completion, it has heightened the interest of Residential Buyers and Commercial Businesses looking for a retail or office location. Knowing that we are close to delivering the commercial units to Buyers or Tenants has now put our project on the front burner for those desiring a downtown location. Call now for more information before they are all gone!

Pam Vanatta – Residential Broker
970-879-8100 x403

Hal Unruh – Commercial Broker
970-875-2413