Mt. CB secures Homestead rights, ready to move forward

Engineering firm hired

By Kendra Walker

The town of Mt. Crested Butte successfully closed on the Homestead settlement on June 30 and has secured the rights necessary to complete construction of the unfinished affordable housing development. Development has been at a standstill for nearly two years as construction stopped in the fall of 2021 when developer Lance Windel of Homestead Housing LLC went into default of his contract with the Homestead owners. While some buildings in the project have walls and roofs, none have been completed and are in obvious disrepair while construction on some has not even started.

In December 2022, the town council approved a General Mutual Release and Settlement Agreement related to the issues between the town and Windel. Under the terms of the agreement, the town agreed to pay Homestead Housing LLC $750,000 to acquire all Homestead property rights, including ownership, rights to construct and sell affordable housing units.

Through its Request for Proposals (RFP) for an engineer to complete the project, the town selected SCJ Alliance (SCJ) for its civil and structural engineering services. The town council approved the town’s contract agreement with SCJ during their regular meeting on July 18.

According to town manager Carlos Velado, the original civil and structural design and 2020 construction documents for the project were prepared by Williams Engineering LLC, which was recently acquired by SCJ. 

The project consists of 22 units and eight multi-family residential buildings, and the properties are now in the town’s possession. SCJ visited the Homestead site in January for an initial assessment of the work completed to date. 

According to SCJ correspondence with the town, “Three buildings have been constructed to a structural completion level of framed and sheathed enclosure and three have been constructed to a structural completion level of concrete foundation placement only. Construction of the remaining two structures has not begun.”

Now SCJ will work with the town to determine which revisions to the original civil and structural construction and construction documents are needed to complete the construction.

“They have done some preliminary work there,” said Velado. “Now they really need to get in there and take a closer look at the guts.”