TREC sat down with District 3 County Commissioner Kris Holstrom and County Manager Mike Bordogna for some answers during challenging times.
The pace of change has slowed a little and technology is certainly a big part in the proactive change according to Holstrom. Telluride and the surrounding areas expect to see new public orders from the state next week. Holstrom indicated there was a draft for indoor and outdoor events, space dependent, being worked on, as well calls regarding county fairs this week.
Since traffic will be down, our team wants to know what’s next for lodging?
Bordogna indicated that we are at 25% capacity now and we’ll know by June 18th if we could be moving to a 50% capacity by Monday June 22nd. The decision will be based on the information and metrics as they sit as of Thursday. Adhering to the current standard of 3 weeks, we could see 75% occupancy by July 13th.
The Economic Recovery Committee will meet Friday, June 19th . They will be looking at how the town and county can support local restaurants. Holstrom encourages the public to attend.
But we will see a spike this summer? It all depends on the numbers Bordogna said, and where the outbreak occurs. At present, 12 or 13 cases would be a spike in San Miguel County.
Holstrom added that the positives are that there are now options like the Telluride Farmer’s Market, Gondola, restaurants and outdoor places to sit and eat. She added that the towns are in a great place as far as collaboration. The Town of Telluride is seeking additional alcohol permissions to support restaurants and the Gondola is giving away free masks to every passenger. Bordogna added that they are in the process of rolling out several variances to the state order, and 38 are known in the initial round.
In the meantime, people all over the country are re-evaluating their quality of life. We’ve seen the greatest shift in wealth in recent times with the stock market rallying every other day. We’ve seen that people are discovering that they can work remote, remotely. We predict that the industry will continue to show an increase in sales as a result of people looking at real estate in remote areas like Telluride where they have traveled and are familiar. We may see big homes move in the Town of Mountain Village this summer. In other cases, buyers have been traveling and investigating properties online and were teed up to buy before the pandemic. The world essentially collapsed for our friends in higher density areas, and the flight to safety and hunting for more space is real. Telluride’s lack of supply plus the quality control in growth over the years makes it a gem for quality of life. Now that we are opening our doors again, we hope that others will come visit us and fall in love. We have just over 70 houses available and buyers have every reason to be confident with access to our really Big Backyard, at 112 acres a person.
With everything our luxury lifestyle has to offer, stay tuned for the possibility of Open Houses beginning July 4th. We are working on being strict about abiding by protocols while offering you the experience you deserve.
