Marbleton moves on housing

by Cat Urbigkit

The Marbleton Town Council took action Monday night to begin the process of annexing 11 acres into the town, a move that supports a development proposal that would provide 100 entry-level housing units on the property in less than a year.

The property is located between Third Street and First Street, bordered by the Ball property on one side and Columbine Street on the other. It’s more commonly known as Spencer Nichols’ horse pasture, but if all goes as planned, it will become Valley View Estates.

Cheyenne attorney Kevin Keller is the developer working on the proposal to turn the horse pasture into 50 twin homes. Keller explained that he owns a series of companies that focus on bringing entry-level housing into communities, with projects in Cheyenne, Casper, Rock Springs and Gillette. His companies delivered 220 housing units last year, with plans in place for 400 to 500 units this year, and up to 1,000 in 2007.

His manufacturing process resulted in the delivery of 300 homes since October 2002 in Cheyenne, Keller said. His businesses provide the housing, from IGC Management, which is the planning group, through completed subdivisions with landscaping and fencing.

Keller said his companies provided 136 homes in Rock Springs since last March, with another 138 proposed within the next 10 to 12 months in Rock Springs. The new homes already on site are located in the Summit View Estates Subdivision off Sweetwater Drive, near the new Home Depot building.

“We have not come to a small town yet,” Keller said, but is working on plans for developments in Wamsutter, Marbleton, Rawlins and possibly even Pinedale.

“It takes us about 12 weeks to build these houses,” Keller said. The homes are stick-built, with vinyl siding, windows and fencing, and come complete with all appliances.

“We will not cut corners on our quality,” Keller pledged.“We can plan quickly,” he said, noting that engineering for the development could be completed in four or five weeks, with the first houses delivered in early fall. Keller said his developments try to use local subcontractors and suppliers, but if they are not available, he will bring in his own crews. One of his companies recently purchased an airplane that could be used for daily flights for workers.

The typical twin home is a two-floor, three-bedroom, two and one-half bath unit with a two-car garage and about 1,475 square-feet of living space. Prices for the units range from $140,000 to 161,000, Keller said.

“We are the only people in the state, to the best of my knowledge, who are doing this,” Keller said.

The council approved a petition kicking off the annexation process, agreeing to consider the preliminary plat on June 12, with plans for the final plat approval and annexation set for mid-July. The council noted that providing services to 100 new homes may become an issue for the town, and began discussions about whether to drill another new water well to provide water for the new development.