Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The newly opened EagleRidge Lodge represents a new species in the mix of vacation properties in the Steamboat Springs market. The 35-unit lodge is being managed similarly to a full-service hotel, but with the additional room and comfort of a traditional condominium project.

"We have the ability now to offer more top-of-the-line services," Donna Boese said. She is the director of marketing for EastWest Resorts, which is handling short-term rentals of the lodge units.

EagleRidge Lodge is on Flattops Circle, just off EagleRidge Drive and Mount Werner Circle, near the base of the ski area.

Boese said guests at the lodge will enjoy front desk check-in, bellman and concierge service. The lower level has a fitness center with a good range of exercise equipment and locker rooms with steam rooms. The lobby has a large gas fireplace ringed by moss rock and rough-hewn wooden timbers. Guests can relax there and enjoy a leather couch and several overstuffed chairs while warming by the fire.

The lodge amenities also will be available to owners of 49 townhomes now under construction in the first of 14 buildings ringing the south side of the lodge in an arc.

Mike Buckley, sales manager for Summit Habitats, which developed EagleRidge, said this week that 50 percent of the units in the lodge have sold for prices ranging from $300,000 to $350,000. Most of the units offer two bedrooms and two baths. There are a few studio condominiums available.

Buckley predicts about 90 percent of the lodge owners will place their units on the short-term vacation rental market.

Buckley said he thinks size alone separates the project he is selling from the nearby Steamboat Grand Resort. American Skiing Co.'s property also is being managed as a hotel on behalf of its condominium owners.

"We have a different clientele: people who are high-end who want the coziness of the mountain lodge," Buckley said.

Buckley is telling lodge owners they can expect to net anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000 a year in rental income from their units. Association fees range between $300 and $350 a month.