Steamboat Springs — A real estate developer who successfully turned a former mining waste area in Breckenridge into a popular workforce housing neighborhood for locals has quietly been gauging the feasibility of a new neighborhood for local workers in west Steamboat Springs.

Representatives from Brynn Grey Real Estate told City Council on Tuesday night they have gotten positive feedback about the possibility of creating new attainable housing on the west side of the city.

David O’Neil, the founder of Brynn Grey, touted his company’s track record of creating neighborhoods for locals in resort communities on the Western Slope.

The real estate company says it has approached multiple landowners in west Steamboat about the prospect.

They specifically mentioned the availability of the Steamboat 700 parcel as one of the opportunities available and noted millions of dollars worth of planning already was done to investigate the feasibility of infrastructure and other planning considerations.

After hearing some of the feedback the developers have gotten so far about the prospect from community members, the City Council invited Brynn Grey to come back in June as part of a work session.

“If any of this resonates with you all, we would love to come back here and take an hour and a half and share with you a vision of west Steamboat,” O’Neil said.

O’Neil said the vision would be a 30- to 50-year time perspective.

Brynn Grey developed the Wellington neighborhood in Breckenridge and the Peak One neighborhood in Frisco.

The representatives from Brynn Grey indicated they had met individually with some council members.

The developer’s potential interest in west Steamboat comes six years after voters here rejected a proposed annexation of Steamboat 700, which would have gradually added 2,000 home sites to the city.

The 536-acre development parcel was put back on the market in 2013 with an asking price of $30 million.

Melissa Sherburne, Brynn Grey’s director of acquisitions, told the council the company had heard several themes from the community, including a desire to maintain community character.

Council President Walter Magill said he thought a slow approach to planning development in west Steamboat would be “beneficial.”

And Councilman Tony Connell said the council is dedicated to helping solve the local housing problem.

“There are rumors that Steamboat is not open for business,” Connell said. “Taking a look at this, I do think that this council, at least on a couple of recent decisions, have looked to be creative and have tried to figure this out. We are open for business, and we want to help solve the housing problem.”

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210, email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottFranz10