The development, located at 10th Street and Lincoln Avenue, is home to  10th Street Barber Shop. Barb Porteous started cutting hair and shaving whiskers upon opening.

Developers Denise and Steve Peterson also will have an office in the building. Steve Peterson got a haircut from Porteous on Friday morning.

“We’re excited for them,” Denise Peterson said. “It’s a very nice place. I think it’s a great idea, and they’ve done their tenant finishes very nicely.”

The Porteouses currently have the only business operating in The Victoria. An accountant and an Edward Jones representative also are finishing spaces in the three-story building, Denise Peterson said.

The Diplomat, a fine dining restaurant owned by Morten and Ellen Hoj, holds a spot near the Porteouses’ shop. The Hojs operate the Yacht Club and have delayed The Diplomat’s opening, Morten Hoj said.

More retail and office space is available in the 47,000-square-foot Victoria, Denise Peterson said. That square footage includes underground parking and seven residential units, all of which remain available.

Prudential Steamboat Realty is handling the commercial and residential listings.  Hal Unruh us the dedicated commercial broker at Prudential Steamboat.  Pam Vanatta is the exclusive listing broker on the residential opportunities.

“Interest in the Victoria has picked up within the last month generating more calls, more showings, and hopefully potential buyers” Vanatta said. “There is obvious uncertainly right now is the real estate globally; however the quality of the Victoria and the ideal location provides buyers with a superior opportunity that sets itself aprat from other downtown products available.”

Barbara Porteous said several people have been asking about the development. She’s even given haircuts to passers-by who have stopped in to take a look around.

“Every day, there’s a few people coming in and checking out the building,” Porteous said. “It’s just curiosity, people wanting to know what’s happening. So it’s good.”

For more information on both the commercial and residential opportunities available at the Victoria please contact Prudential Steamboat Realty at 970.879.8100.  Both Pam Vanatta and Hal Unruh are avaialble to answer your questions seven days a week.

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

No fewer than five mixed commercial/residential projects are poised to go vertical in downtown Steamboat Springs this summer.

The developers and marketers of one of the five — The Victoria — believe their building has a chance to create its own niche.
Realtors for The Victoria believe the small number of available residences will heighten demand, and the ability to own a commercial condominium will attract businesses and professionals.

The Victoria would total 32,000 square feet in three stories at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and 10th Street where Rocky Mountain Wine and Liquor is. Developers Steve and Denise Peterson of Wescoin LLLP are on schedule to break ground on the project in March.

“Something could come up, but at this time it’s looking good and we’re on schedule,” Denise Peterson said.

The Petersons and general contractor Travis Holmquist are hoping to complete the building within a 12-month window and could have the first floor ready for occupancy in late fall or early winter.

The new building would transform a key corner lot in the downtown commercial core by building out to the sidewalks — the small liquor store is currently surrounded by an asphalt parking lot. The new building has been designed by Matt Wagar of Moon Hill Design to emulate the red brick and native sandstone of multi-story buildings in the downtown historical district.

“It looks like the (First National) bank building,” listing Realtor Pam Vanatta said. Vanatta said the fact that The Victoria offers only seven residential condominiums at the quieter west end of Lincoln Avenue means exclusivity is built into the project.

“The Victoria is set apart a little bit from the commotion of downtown and it gives buyers another option,” Vanatta said. “You’ll have an elevator that takes you to your floor and you’ll have six neighbors instead of 60 neighbors.”

Vanatta’s colleague at Prudential Steamboat Realty, Hal Unruh, is handling the commercial spaces in the building. He said he’s willing to work with both buyers and lessees.

“The opportunity for a business to own its own space is a critical component,” Unruh said. “There’s not a glut of commercial space for sale.”

The demand for commercial condominiums at the completed Waterside Village, two blocks away on Yampa Street, proves the point, Unruh added.

He predicts the high level of interior finishes on the upper levels of The Victoria will attract professional offices whose owners can benefit from a prestigious location. The building is directly across Lincoln Avenue from the city offices.

It’s possible in addition to office suites, there may only be two or three retail businesses on the building’s main floor.

Unruh said he is targeting a restaurant to anchor The Victoria.

“The one business we’d like most to draw in is a fine restaurant,” he said. “We’re going to try to aggressively seek someone.”
Peterson said she is leaving open the possibility of operating a liquor store in the new building.

The third floor will be devoted to seven residential condominiums. Vanatta said they begin at 1,400 square feet with two in the range of 2,200 to 2,400 square feet.

“The interior finish is going to be very high end,” she said, “with rich woods and crown moldings.”

Peterson said there would be extensive use of marble, granite and wood wainscoting throughout the condos. There will be a fireplace in the master bedroom as well as in the living room. Ceilings will be 9 to 10 feet high.

The developers are confident enough of the demand for their project that they are dispensing with the reservations process being utilized by current developers in the Steamboat market. Instead, they’ll go straight to earnest money and contracts. Firm prices should be available by the end of this month.

Demolition of the liquor store is scheduled to begin Feb. 28, and Peterson is optimistic people will like the structure that eventually replaces it.

“Steve and I want to be able to drive by it for the rest of our lives and be proud our names are on it,” she said. “I hope most people feel the same way. That means a lot to us in all of our projects.”

Link to original article via www.steamboatpilot.com.