Craig Daily Press

Craig — Craig has a strong economy, a sense of community, it’s a great place to raise a family and there’s need for new, affordable housing.

“I don’t think it’s too hard to tell that the local business economy is healthy,” said Fred Blum, a managing member of Western Skies LLC, which recently proposed a 149-home subdivision of the same name to the city Planning and Zoning Commission.

Planning and Zoning expects to review sketch plans for Western Skies, located west of the Ridgeview subdivision and north of Columbine Apartments, at its next meeting March 17.

Blum said the subdivision’s management group hopes to start “moving dirt” by summer.

He and his partners are here because they saw too much happening in Craig to believe residential development wouldn’t have a chance to flourish, he said. There’s the expanding energy industry, low unemployment, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and a housing market with increasing values and decreasing availability.

“You add all those things together,” Blum said, “and these weren’t happening three years ago in Craig.”

Three years ago, Blum and his partners recently had wrapped up a large-scale project in Steamboat Springs known as Silver Spur, a 129-home subdivision just north of the Steamboat II development.

As the last of the Silver Spur homes sold in 2003, the going rate was around $300,000, Blum said. When he and his partners checked the development last year, nothing was selling for less than twice that amount.

When they went to Routt County, officials said they wouldn’t be interested in anything less than 35-acre lots, Blum said.

“There was no way to create a nice subdivision that was somewhat affordable,” he said. “That’s what we do best and what we like to build.”

So, they started to look around the Yampa Valley. In years past, Craig didn’t show the potential it does now. There were some properties selling in Hayden then, Blum said, but the market moved slowly.

Last year, Craig opened its eyes to something different.

Blum said he saw 30-year-old residences selling for the equivalent of new ones.

“That’s a strong, strong housing market,” he said.

When he went to local officials and asked if a new large cluster of homes would benefit the city, they all answered the same: Yes.

And now, a year later, Blum said Craig has the same potential, and is served by a city planning department that makes developing residential property easy.

There won’t be 149 new houses going simultaneously, though. Blum said the market likely wouldn’t bear an injection of properties that big.

Silver Spur, for instance, took four years before it was completed, he said, estimating Western Skies would take around that long, as well.

Collin Smith can be reached at 875-1794 or cesmith@craigdailypress.com