On July 10, the Town of Basalt will celebrate the groundbreaking for the construction of the new Midland Residences at 140 Basalt Center Circle. Located at the corner of Two Rivers Road and Midland Avenue at the site of the old Clark’s Market, the new edifice will also feature a market and restaurant operated by Aspen-based CP Restaurant Group as well as an expanded home for Jimbo’s Wine and Liquors.
Midland Residences will feature a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments — 60% of which are already sold out. Seventeen of the units are required to be deed restricted.
In March, Basalt Town Council signed Ordinance No. 06 of 2025, which permitted nine of the deed-restricted units to be owned by Colorado Mountain College for its staff. The remainder of the deed-restricted units are prioritized for educational staff, emergency services and other local workers on a “waterfall list.”
Shaw Construction will be building the new residences, and completion is anticipated sometime between late 2025 and early 2026.
Taxes for housing
During the regular council meeting, Town Planning Director Michelle Thibeault led a presentation on possible long-term funding mechanisms to address affordable housing concerns in Basalt.
In 2024, Town staff contracted Economic Planning Services to create a housing needs assessment, which gathered data on housing costs and availability in Basalt and proposed strategies to mitigate rising rates.
As proposed by the housing needs assessment, Basalt has expanded its income categories in its inclusionary housing ordinance and developed programs to purchase deed restrictions in partnership with Eagle and Pitkin counties.
However, Town staff have identified that existing deed-restricted housing in Basalt is largely the result of mitigation on new development, which is not meeting the demands for more affordable housing. According to Thibeault, additional funding will be necessary in order to keep up with rising needs.
Other communities across the Western slope have employed a variety of different revenue sources. Towns like Gypsum and Winter Park have employed lodging taxes specifically to fund affordable housing projects, while Summit County and Vail have employed sales taxes. Thibeault stressed that there is no “silver bullet,” and a mix of strategies is likely to be necessary.
Basalt’s housing needs assessment identified four possible dedicated funding sources: a sales tax, property tax, lodging tax and short-term rental (STR) regulatory fee.
An increase of sales tax is anticipated to generate the most revenue of the four. At a 0.25% increase, the tax could generate $8.7 million in 10 years. At a 1% increase, the 10-year revenue quadruples to $34.9 million.
Currently, Basalt-Pitkin County and Basalt-Eagle County have a sales tax of 9.3% and 8.2%, respectively. In comparison, Aspen has a sales tax of 8.3%, and Carbondale a sales tax of 11.9%.
An additional mill levy of 1.0 would increase property taxes by 1%, generating $3.4 million over 10 years. Based on Basalt’s current median home price of $2.6 million, property taxes for residents would increase by $30 per month, or $356 per year.
A lodging tax increase of 0.25% is anticipated to generate $384,000 over 10 years. Currently, Basalt charges a 4% lodging tax rate, which is double the rate in both Carbondale and Aspen.
In May, a conflicted council approved a STR regulatory fee of $2,532 per bedroom annually. However, this measure is anticipated to generate the least revenue of the four sources suggested in the housing needs assessment.
Councilor Angèle Dupre-Butchart preferred a combination of sales and lodging tax, as she believed that, as property values in Basalt increase, an increased property tax would place too much of a burden on already financially strained residents.
Councilor Ryan Slack and Mayor David Knight both agreed a property tax would unfairly burden Basalt residents, and that the burden of sales and lodging taxes would be more evenly spread across visitors and residents alike.
Town Council directed Town staff to pursue drafting a sales and lodging tax to be voted on in separate municipal elections. The lodging tax vote will be prioritized with a possible presence on a November ballot at the earliest.