As Kevin Riegler and his wife, Gaby, stood outside the nearly completed Lofts at Steamboat Basecamp, he spoke about the development, which the couple hopes will fill a critical gap in the local housing market.

“Move-ins will start mid-November, and we’re about 65% leased already,” Gaby said of the property. “We have a broad spectrum of residents including some seasonal folks, some long-term folks, as well as hospital-related deals and people who work at the ski resort. It is a mix and match of all the users we would expect in town.”

The Lofts at Steamboat Basecamp is currently in the process of leasing residential units including studios, one-bedroom units and three-bedroom suites. Residents are expected to start moving in to their units this November. The retail portion of the building, which will include a café, bike shop, fitness center and an extension of the M3 Golf Lab, are all expected to be finished and open for business as residents begin arriving.

The Rieglers said the general contractor, Deneuve Construction of Boulder, has been moving along and is in the process of completing the final details of the first phase of the Steamboat Basecamp.

“They were recommended by the Yampa Valley Housing Authority,” Kevin said. “We saw them (at work) as we were going through our approvals, and we were impressed. I would say with unequivocal certainty that they just added a ton of value to be able to pull off stuff in the mountains. It’s one of their specialties.”

The idea behind Steamboat Basecamp has not shifted since May Riegler Properties announced in 2021 that the company was going to develop the building that formerly housed the Steamboat Pilot & Today operations on the west side of Steamboat Springs.

The renovation included tearing down the portion of the building that housed the newspaper’s printing operations and replacing it with a five-story addition that included 73 units and 101 bedrooms. It also repurposed the newspaper’s offices as a large space that will house several retail operations as well as the entrance for the residential portion of the building.

The 73 units, which will all be leased, start at $1,950 for a studio, $2,400 for a one-bedroom unit or $1,400 a person for a three-bedroom suite that was designed as three separate locking bedrooms with a shared kitchen and living area.

“They are co-living spaces, so effectively you do not need to know your roommate and you have your own locked off room and bathroom,” Gaby said of the three-bedroom suites.

All of the units include high-end finishes, Frigidaire appliances — including refrigerator and freezer, cooktop and dishwasher — as well as well as an in-unit Electrolux washer and dryer. The units also have air conditioning, designer lighting and ceiling fans in the bedrooms and gear storage walls with ski and snowboard grabbers, bike hangers and utility hooks.

There is a residential lobby with secure package lockers and a mailroom, coffee station and water bottle filler, along with a communal table and banquette seating and a bike and ski tune-up area.

There is also a fifth-floor rooftop lounge and outdoor deck featuring an outdoor grill and dining area, a fire pit with Adirondack seating, wet bar, kitchenette with a full wall-oven — the studios and one-bedroom units have toaster ovens but not a range — and a mini-fridge. There is lounge seating with a smart television and views of Emerald Mountain and Steamboat Resort.

The Lofts also offer on-site bike storage, a dog and bike wash station, secure building access, pet friendly options, parking, easy access to the Yampa River Core Trail and on-site rentals, all steps away from the Steamboat Springs Transit free bus.

On Monday, Kevin and Gaby took a few minutes to tour the nearly completed residential space, and the retail space that is still coming together. The couple feels like the Lofts at Steamboat Basecamp fill a gap for those that want to lease, but my not quality financially for many of the recent affordable housing projects in Steamboat Springs.

“In a town like this, where there’s a lot of seasonal employees, people are not necessarily always coming and wanting to set up shop for three years in a house or a condo, and obviously, with all the pricing that has happened over the last three years, a lot of things are unfordable,” Kevin said. “This is not affordable housing from a technical sense like the Yampa Valley Housing Authority, but it gives people an attainable price point where they can have a high-quality life with a gym downstairs, a coffee shop, rooftop deck and a bunch of other amenities including built-in Wi-Fi, furnished units, full kitchens with dishwashers and laundry in their units — a lot of things that Steamboat just hasn’t had.”

The Lofts are the first phase of the community that is taking shape at U.S. Highway 40 and Elk River Road. Work has begun on seven of the 27 planned townhomes on one of the lots in front of the Lofts, which are expected to be completed by December. The other part of that phase will also include a container restaurant and an area that is still being planned but will create a community gathering space.

The Rieglers are the first to admit there are plenty of challenges that come with building a community like Basecamp Steamboat, but the project remains focused on creating what they call “soulful housing.”

“We want to create a place people are proud to come home to and are excited to come to — not just this was the only place they could find,” Kevin said. “It’s supposed to be like-minded folks, people who want that and are desiring little bit more energy and community in their home, not just their town.”