Kayaking neighborhood to be underway soon

The kayaking young developers Katie Selby and her brother Jed Selby expect the first building permits for their South Main mixed-use neighborhood in Buena Vista, Colorado, to be issued by the beginning of July. The 40-acre project along the Arkansas River about 100 miles west of Colorado Springs will feature a whitewater park, being built through the joint efforts of the developers, the  2,500-person municipality, and Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO). GOCO is  a state-supported organization that uses money from lottery ticket sales to help pay for recreation and open space projects — in this case, a river park with trails and with five water features for kayaking, all near the small community’s historic downtown.

Along the river park near the center of the property is a square that will have buildings on three sides as well as a view toward the Arkansas. “That’s where the mixed-use core is,” says Katie Selby. The core will contain live-work units, apartments, rowhouses, and detached houses. The plan, produced by Dover, Kohl & Partners in a charrette, also calls for office space and for restaurants along the river. In all, South Main will have 315 units on nearly 200 lots. Work on infrastructure began a year ago.

styles include ‘mountain vernacular’
In the 45-lot first phase, Katie Selby says there have been three principal types of buyers: people who operate home-based businesses, people who are retired or near retirement, and second-home purchasers. Houses hew to three styles, which she calls “mountain vernacular” (featuring wood siding and metal roofs), “frontier Victorian,” and American Arts and Crafts. Buyers of lots in the first phase were expected to produce their own house designs, subject to design review. For the second of four phases, the Selbys are trying to simplify the process by having a number of pre-approved plans from which homebuyers can choose. An architectural charrette in coming months will produce those designs.  
“We had Steve Mouzon come for a traditional details of construction ‘boot camp’” May 11-12, Katie Selby points out. After one day of hearing Mouzon explain proper detailing, builders participated in correct traditional construction of eaves and in architectural reviews. The Selbys also organized a two-day “Built Green Colorado” workshop, showing builders how to construct “green” houses. The developers introduced the use of the SmartCode to Buena Vista and have tried (so far without much success) to interest Chaffee County in offering it as an optional overlay — an alternative to the county’s many two- to five-acre rural subdivisions.
Since starting the project, “we’ve purchased about 80 lots between the historic downtown and our property to blend it seamlessly,” Katie notes. South Main is laid out to form a view corridor to the former Chaffee County Courthouse, built in 1882-83. Outside of town are the Collegiate Peaks, rising to 14,000 feet.