Building figures in Routt County outpacing last year

Steamboat Springs Building in Routt County in the first half of 2014 has outpaced the same stretch of last year, with the number of permits and construction valuation up, according to the Routt County Regional Building Department.

While both Steamboat Springs and the rest of Routt County have seen an increase in building activity, the greatest gains were within Steamboat city limits.

Total construction valuation overseen by the department was up almost 10 percent compared to last year, and the number of building permits in Steamboat and the county increased by about 42 percent.

But while construction valuation in Steamboat Springs was up about 60 percent, it fell more than 30 percent in the county despite there being more building permits issued, 76 to 58.

About $4 million of that valuation increase in Steamboat was from two permits being pulled for the 42-unit SkiView apartment building (formerly SkyView) being constructed by Brinkman Partners, but there also have been 17 single-family home building permits issued so far this year as well as one duplex permit.

Initially, according to department staff member Dana Seidenberg, the homes were larger, but more modest projects have come along as of late.

Overall in Steamboat, there have been 131 building permits issued through June compared to 88 in the same period last year, an increase of almost 50 percent.

Revenues for the Routt County Regional Building Department were almost $570,000 through June, up about 40 percent compared to last year.

Weve been seeing that every year is a bit of an incline, Seidenberg said, adding that the department has hired another staff member to do inspections through the summer.

Seidenberg said the new inspector was hired in June and likely will work till November or December.

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Building figures in Routt County outpacing last year