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Durango gets higher-end condos

Allen Best

DURANGO – Downtown Durango continues to redevelop in a way more commonly seen in large cities. The latest Main Street project is a $15 million structure that will offer space for a bank on the ground floor and 42 residential and office condos on the upper floors. Starting prices in the project, called Crossroads Durango, will be just shy of $300,000.As in Denver and other large cities going through a downtown-living renaissance, the target market for the condos are young professionals who want to have their job and social life close at hand. Also targeted are people freed of child-rearing and retirees.The news was greeted by Bob Kunkel, a coordinator for the Durango Central Business District. “You must have people who live, work and play all in the downtown if you want any kind of surviving retailers,” he told the Durango Herald.Old housing debate echoes in Sun ValleySUN VALLEY, Idaho – While Sun Valley is considering a law that would require developers to include deed-restricted affordable housing when they build projects, some city council members worry about asking too much. The fear is that Sun Valley could be picking up the slack for surrounding communitiesWhile Sun Valley-Ketchum seems to be lagging far behind the growth-on-steroids economies of many Rocky Mountain ski towns, the need for affordable housing is becoming more evident. A 2002 survey found need for 665 deed-restricted housing units in the region, while housing advocates expect to deliver no more than 400 units in years ahead, if that, reports the Idaho Mountain Express. The region currently has virtually no deed-restricted affordable housing.The situation is becoming worrisome enough that the Sun Valley council actually imposed a moratorium on new projects while it considered affordable housing requirements. Mayor Jon Thorson urges the council not worry too much about which other communities are not pulling their weight. He says keeping some workers in or near to Sun Valley is imperative. “If you can’t service the community, the community somewhere along the line is going to go downhill.” If this dialogue sounds familiar, it may be because all these same points and counterpoints were made in Vail and Aspen and some other faster-growing resort communities 10 and 20 years ago.Vail, Colorado


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