REE Case Study: Steamboat Springs Resort Employee Housing Needs Assessment

The Challenge

Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation was considering investing in additional resort workforce housing as a component of the redevelopment of the Base Village at Steamboat. At the time, Steamboat was expecting to increase its skiable terrain by 20% over the next five years, which would result in strong growth in visitation to the resort and greater Steamboat overall. This expansion would require additional staffing at the resort, creating the need for additional workforce housing. With this in mind, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation engaged RCLCO to help quantify the amount and type of resort workforce housing necessary to support resort operations and expansion over the next five to ten years.

Solution

RCLCO began by compiling existing and pipeline workforce housing stock in the Yampa Valley, including both Steamboat Resort Housing as well as Yampa Valley Housing Authority supply. The next step was to analyze the demand for housing in the market, keeping in mind the projected expansion plans, as they would greatly affect demand going forward. RCLCO then quantified the mismatch between the demand for workforce housing and the existing/planned supply. After addressing these topics, RCLCO synthesized the findings from this analysis to provide strategic development recommendations for programming, pricing, amenities, and other key aspects.

Impact

Redevelopment is anticipated to be completed in 2022/2023, and Steamboat is expected to break one-million skier visits by 2023. Using RCLCO’s study, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation was able to thoughtfully anticipate the resort’s future workforce housing needs that would result from the increased visitor capacity.