Review: Week of February 28 – March 4, 2022  

• Housing & Non-Residential Demand #3 – February 28, 2022
• Natural & Built Sustainability #4 – March 1, 2022
• Stewardship & Project Economics #3 – March 2, 2022
• Infrastructure #5 – March 3, 2022

Combined Focus Team Attendance Total: 76

Top 10 things we heard 

• The community wants homeownership opportunities, from the “affordable” market segment,  through the “move-up” segment. Prioritize homeownership in Phase 1 to the greatest extent  possible per project economics.
• People are open to lots of different housing types at Brown Ranch including multifamily  options, long as there are amenities that support long term living: access to gardening  space, yards for pets, and garages to store our outdoor toys. Most high-density places don’t  have any of this.
• Community overall seems comfortable with density around 10-15 units per acre, as long as  we balance preserving the character and identity of the town as we develop.
• Sustainability Team is asking Economics Team to be sure to assess and prioritize long-term  affordability over first time cost. “Economics of efficiency.” Model for future conditions /  understand building performance for the full life cycle of the project.
• Sustainability Team is asking Infrastructure Team to be sure when modeling for energy use  in buildings & water, to model for future climate projections (2080). Are the teams looking  at the right analysis and time horizon?
• Design to provide infrastructure for handling waste in a way that is most efficient. It would  be good to have centralized pick-up for recycling, compost, trash, rather than curbside. • YVHA should prioritize seeking outside subsidy and maximizing other sources of revenue to  help cover infrastructure costs and make housing as affordable as possible.
• Modular homes are a great option to reduce construction waste and efficiently produce  units. However, the cost of producing modular homes is increasing and the gap between  modular and stick built is decreasing.
• Community is interested in exploring ground source heat pumps as option to reduce  electricity demand. Need more information.
• Community is interested in consultants’ ideas to integrate storm water management with  the task of improving riparian function at Slate Creek.

Top things we learned 

• There is a mismatch between local housing needs and cost to build in Steamboat.  • It likely costs $200M – $400M to build out infrastructure at the site (average of $100,000/unit). The more YVHA can subsidize infrastructure, the less expensive houses will  be.
• Denser development (product types like apartments and townhomes) result in less infrastructure costs.
• There is demand for a large first phase of housing development at Brown Ranch, and more  housing early on will help reduce costs and enhance feasibility.
• Water and electricity are limiting constraints for development at Brown Ranch. Need to  design for resource conservation. One primary way to do so is by maximizing density.  • More education/conversation is needed around density and the key tradeoffs.  • Today, there are a large number of families and empty nesters in the Steamboat area. In the  future, there will be more small families and more seniors. There are trade-offs between the  degree to which Brown Ranch caters to existing households vs. expected new households. • There are trade-offs between the amount of housing and types of housing Brown Ranch can provide.