Hundreds of thousands of square feet of new multi-family or lodging accommodations are going vertical within the city limits of Steamboat Springs currently.

From the buzz of crews working, to construction cranes reaching into the sky, to elevator and stairway stacks rising from the ground, residents and visitors can see at least seven multi-family projects or hotels under construction in the city right now.

Longtime commercial real estate professionals in Steamboat say the current multi-story commercial construction boom follows an expected cycle after the influx of people moving to Routt County during the COVID-19 pandemic and then an associated residential boom.

“A lot of the projects were planned a while back,” said Commercial Broker Jim Howser, immediate past president of the Altitude board of realtors, of the multi-family and lodging construction. “Typically, commercial does follow residential by two years. We had an explosion of residential a couple of years ago.”

“A lot of people moved into town in 2021-22,” Howser said. “It’s just the economics of our time. We came out of the COVID era, now people own land they want to build on.”

“Commercial people don’t built speculative properties,” Howser noted. “They build because there is a demand, and they’ve already vetted and financially planned it all out.”

Howser and colleague David Baldinger Jr., a local commercial broker for 30 years, described a variety of factors leading to the current boom, which follow similar commercial construction booms around 2007 and 1998-99. At least three large hotels in south Steamboat have been converted to apartment-style residential housing thus increasing demand for hotel rooms. Rental housing remains extremely tight. Short-term rental rules have also impacted the Steamboat housing market.

“It’s a logical extension of several different factors of general viability and market health, and hotels coming off line and converting to housing being replaced by newer hotels.” Baldinger said.

Of the larger projects underway, Central Park Hotel next door to Alpine Bank is a 180-room, partial four-story project that combines two Marriott hotel concepts with a total gross of 114,709 square feet.

The L-shaped hotel will top out at 65 feet and include both Springhill Suites and TownePlace Suites connected by a common lobby entrance, NGC Group Superintendent Stuart Moore said this week. Completion is expected in March 2026.

Holiday Inn Express at 3300 S. Lincoln Ave. is a four-story, approximately 63,500-square-foot project constructed by hotel developer Bobby Amin and general contractor Maurer Construction from Montana. Completion is slated for June. The Holiday Inn Express is slated for 92 guest rooms with nine planned staff housing rooms.

The Amble, developed by East West Partners, now under construction adjacent to the Steamboat Grand, includes 107,000 gross square feet with the lower garage parking.

The Amble will top out at 62 feet and four stories similar in height to the Steamboat Grand, said Managing Partner Ryan Stone, a Steamboat resident.

The Amble will have 42 residences priced from $1.7 million for a lower floor one-bedroom unit to $8.5 million for a four-bedroom top floor corner unit.

Stone said 13 of The Amble units have sold so far, and the two-year construction is slated for completion in spring 2026. The name Amble comes from the fact that residents will be able to amble or walk across the road to the ski resort, he said.

The first phase of deed-restricted, for-sale housing of 86 one-, two- and three-bedroom condos called The Cottonwoods at Mid-Valley is under construction for nonprofit Yampa Valley Housing Authority.

The first phase of the project at 1648 Mid-Valley Drive next door to UCHealth Urgent Care is scheduled for completion by December.

Housing Authority officials say “due to expected high demand,” a lottery will be used to select from eligible applicants, with lottery implementation details expected by March. The second phase at the mid-valley location will include 150 affordable condos and rental apartments with expected completion by the end of 2026.

Likely the densest platted multi-family housing development currently underway in Steamboat Springs is the construction of 104 rental apartments at Riverview next door to Natural Grocers.

The overall downtown project includes four large development parcels, and two of the multi-family parcels are currently under construction for multi-story apartments for housing developer Gorman & Co. Riverview will include a mix of studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom rental apartments with marketing for leases to start in 2026, said Kimball Crangle with Gorman & Co.

The high-density parcel adjacent to Natural Grocers includes lower-level parking and 72 rental apartments slated for completion in late spring 2026. The separated medium-density parcel along Fourth Street will feature 32 apartments on top of parking.

Riverview will include 11 apartments with a rent cap in the building behind Natural Grocers for people earning up to 80% of the Area Median Income and will be set aside first for city employees, Crangle said.