Completion of Colorado Mountain College apartments in final stretch

This story ran in the Aug. 19, 2023 edition of the Steamboat Pilot. Click the link below to read the complete story. 

By Suzie Romig / Steamboat Pilot & Today

Construction workers moved in a swarm of activity Wednesday at the new three-story student apartment building on the Colorado Mountain College campus in Steamboat Springs trying to get it ready for occupancy before classes start Monday.

J.C. Norling, vice president and campus dean, said the goal of the housing project — one of four new apartment complexes across the college system — is to house more students on campus and thus free up more units in the mountain towns.

Yet the same harsh winter that slowed other construction projects hampered progress on the student apartments that had a hopeful move-in date of Saturday. The projected move-in date is now Wednesday.

“We were fortunate to be able to move them in the week of school starting,” Norling said.

Norling said the college is working and communicating closely with each incoming tenant and providing rooms gratis in a hotel as needed. Other students are staying with friends or remaining in the Hill Hall dorm until the apartments are completed.

Michelle Barnett, director of student life and housing, said the campus received approximately 75 applications for the 35-unit apartment complex that includes 24 studio and 11 two-bedroom unfurnished units. The apartment prices are targeted at 10-15% below market rate and include all utilities at a monthly rent of $1,076 for a 378-square-foot studio and $1,549 for a 750-square-foot two-bedroom unit. Many of the students are moving on to the apartments after previous years housed in Hill Hall, freeing up space for more students in the dorm.

“Students and the community are really excited that the college stepped up and made the investment during a housing crisis,” Norling noted.

Go to Colorado Mountain College apartments for the complete story and photos.