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Colorado - Thu. 06/05/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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CITIZENS OF 12 COUNTRIES BANNED FROM TRAVELING TO U.S.
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President Trump on Wednesday signed a sweeping travel ban on 12 countries, largely in the Middle East and Africa, and introduced more-limited travel restrictions on seven others. The ban will completely bar travel to the U.S. by citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Citizens from an additional list of countries will be barred from permanently immigrating to the U.S., along with applying for tourist or student visas. Those countries are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Citizens from these seven countries will still be eligible for other temporary visas, such as the H-1B temporary work visa.
The ban only applies to people outside the U.S., though anyone currently in the U.S. who leaves could get stuck abroad as a result of it. It also excludes any nationals of these countries who hold green cards, along with anyone traveling to the U.S. for coming major sporting events, including the World Cup in 2026 and the Olympics in 2028. Afghans who receive special immigrant visas, reserved for Afghans who worked alongside the U.S. military during its two-decade presence in Afghanistan, are also exempt.
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DENVER REAL ESTATE MARKET HAS THE MOST UNSOLD LISTINGS AVAILABLE IN 14 YEARS
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The monthly update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors reported there were 13,599 properties on the market at the end of May. That is the most unsold listings available since 2011. It is 50 percent higher than the 9,159 listings available, May 2024 and a whopping 6.5 times the number of listings available in May 2021, which is the record low for the month of May. There were 7,284 new listings in May, a 4.5 percent increase from a year earlier. That isn’t a big jump, but the backlog has been gradually building. In the first five months, sellers listed 29,881 homes and condos, up 17.5 percent from the same period in 2024, according to the report. There were 4,036 homes sold in the Denver metro area last month, a decline of 2.6 percent from April and a 9.5 percent decline from May 2024. As long as new listings continue to outpace closings, the inventory will continue to back up, putting pressure on sellers.
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DENVER OIL GIANT WITH PERMIAN BASIN HOLDINGS SELLS FOR $4.1 BILLION
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Sitio Royalties Corp., a Denver-based oil royalties giant announced Tuesday it will be acquired for $4.1 billion in an all-stock transaction by Viper Energies Inc., a Texas subsidiary of oil and gas Texas-based Diamondback Energy Inc. Sitio owns roughly 25,300 net royalty acres in the Permian Basin with an additional 9,000 in the Denver-Julesburg, Eagle Ford Group and Williston basins as well. Viper is buying Sitio primarily for its Permian Basin assets, however. With the acquisition, Viper is expected to own roughly 85,700 net royalty acres in the Permian Basin, producing some 66,000 barrels of oil daily. A Sitio spokesperson declined to comment on whether or not the company plans on staying headquartered in Denver.
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GSA LISTS 2 DOWNTOWN DENVER PROPERTIES FOR “ACCELERATED DISPOSITION”
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Two Denver buildings in northern downtown could be sold quickly after being identified for “accelerated disposition” by the U.S. General Services Administration. The federal properties neighbor each other in the Five Points neighborhood and include the California Street Federal Garage, at 2106 California St., and the Welton Street Federal Garage, at 2101 Welton St. They are currently the only Colorado properties slated for accelerated disposition. Information posted to the GSA’s website states the California Street property has 1,646 square feet of rentable space, while the Welton Street garage has 12,034 square feet of rentable area. The GSA site, gsa.gov/real-estate/real-estate-services/real-property-disposition/assets-identified-for-accelerated-disposition, has all properties listed and GSA states interested parties should "express interest to accelerated.disposals@gsa.gov."
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THE RETURN OF A MUSIC FESTIVAL TO BOULDER
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On Monday, Boulder nonprofit Roots Music Project announced it will host the first true music festival the city has seen since Communikey (CMKY) left a decade ago. The inaugural Roots Music Festival will debut Oct. 17-19 with a three-day event featuring some 400 artists. In the announcement, Roots said the initial lineup will feature Colorado icons Yonder Mountain String Band, Boulder’s Banshee Tree, Denver swamp-pop group Rootbeer Richie & The Reveille, Denver DJ Danger Foley and Lafayette rising star Wrenn Van. Pearl Street will have large and small outdoor stages for the festival, but there will also be stages at downtown cafes, bars, storefronts and even an odd rooftop. The first round of venues announced on Monday includes the Boulder Theater, eTown, The Velvet Elk, Odd Fellows and Stone Cottage Studios.
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COUNTIES ON THE WESTERN SLOPE STEP UP TO ASSIST FOREST SERVICE
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The U.S. Forest Service has had budgets slashed and on the Western Slope, counties and local organizations and individuals are stepping up to provide money and staff to fund and operate backcountry trail crews, visitor education campaigns and management of campsites and trailheads. The Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association is administering $62,500 by the Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee in Gunnison County to support three seasonal Forest Service employees. Eagle County and its communities have raised $160,000 to support the Front Country Ranger program, which supports White River National Forest workers managing visitors on public lands in the Eagle River Valley.
Pitkin County is supporting two backcountry rangers through the county’s sheriff’s office, giving the rangers the ability to enforce rules around fires and reservations in heavily trafficked zones. This year the White River National Forest, which is the most trafficked forest in the country with as many as 20 million annual visitors, has lost 43 full-time employees, a 29 percent reduction. The forest also is not hiring about 50 seasonal workers.
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BIG PROJECTS IN STORE FOR SNOWMASS SKI RESORT THIS SUMMER
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The Aspen Skiing Company has begun a summer of major infrastructure projects at Snowmass Ski Resort, with an estimated price tag approaching $80 million. Skico will replace its 30-year-old Elk Camp high-speed lift with a six-seat lift, adding 50 percent to the uphill capacity. It is also replacing the 28-year-old Cirque Poma Lift with a T-bar, doubling the capacity. Both lifts will be ready for the 2025-26 season. Along with the lifts, Aspen Skiing Company will add an outdoor-covered deck to the Elk Camp Restaurant, increasing the restaurant’s capacity by 120 seats. The deck will be complete by the beginning of the 2025/26 ski season.
The Ullrhoff will also see a remodel. The reconstruction of the 58-year-old building will increase the seating capacity from 325 to a maximum of 690, including indoor and outdoor seating, in a three-story, “modern mountain” design. The restaurant will open for the 2026/27 winter season. The construction will not significantly impact summer activities, with the exception of a shorter season lift service for mountain bikes at Elk Camp. The existing Elk Camp Lift will take bikes uphill June 21 to Aug. 4 rather than through the end of September as normal so crews can complete the replacement. As a result, summer bike passes will be $200 instead of the normal $364.
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DEVELOPERS PULL THE PLUG ON PROPOSED SPRING VALLEY DEVELOPMENT
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Georgia-based firm Storied Development was under contract to purchase the 6,000-acre Spring Valley Ranch above the Spring Valley Campus of Colorado Mountain College south of Glenwood Springs. The contract was contingent on securing the approval of a Planned Unit Development plan by the Garfield County commissioners for a proposed 577-home private golf and ski community on the property. The PUD application had drawn strong opposition from neighbors who were critical of its planned water consumption and traffic impacts from the increased density. Storied Development submitted two applications for the PUD, requesting substantial modifications and amendments to the original Spring Valley Ranch PUD approved in 2007 for 577 units. On May 9, Storied Development withdrew from the PUD application and now is no longer under contract to purchase the property, citing their frustration with Garfield County over timeline constraints.
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WATER IS BACK IN HIGHLINE LAKE, SO ARE BOATERS
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Last year, the water level at Highline Lake State Park was so low that motorized watercraft were not allowed. State park officials completely drained the lake in November, and it was completely refilled by the end of May. The lake opened in mid-May and there were more than 20 boats, many smaller craft and paddleboarders on the lake over the Memorial Day weekend. Zebra mussels were first found at the lake in Highline Lake State Park in 2022, making it the first lake in the state with the invasive mussels. After several attempts to eliminate the mussels, Colorado Parks and Wildlife resorted to completely draining the lake. CPW officials say that despite that, the mussels could still exist, but so far, testing has found no adult mussels.
Highline Lake and the Colorado River and canal system are all considered infested with the mussels, which requires increased testing until there are five consecutive years of negative tests. To help keep new mussels from spreading into Highline Lake, the state park has six additional employees to help clean and inspect boats. To assist the inspection process, CPW officials ask boaters to get off the water a little earlier to give them time to inspect and decontaminate them. Cleaning, draining and drying everything that has been in the river or Highline Lake is the primary way people can help prevent the spread of the mussels to other bodies of water.
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AS SYMBOLIC OF CANADA AS THE MOUNTIES, HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY SHUTTING DOWN
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Just over a month ago, Hudson’s Bay Company marked its 355th anniversary, by far the oldest company in North America. In 1670, Britain set up the company, with the full name the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson’s Bay, granting it territory equal to about a third of Canada. In March, Hudson’s Bay, commonly known as the Bay, filed for bankruptcy and last Sunday, permanently closed its 80 department stores throughout Canada.
Among its best-known items were the blankets with their distinctive green, red, yellow and indigo stripes, which were first used in the 18th century to trade for furs with Indigenous people. Although considered “uniquely Canadian,” the blankets also were symbols of the love-hate relationship with the Bay. For all the nostalgia Hudson Bay evokes, First Nation people and others see the ambivalence of a company built on the exploitation of native lands and the fact that Indigenous trappers who were the key to the first prosperity of the company were never fairly compensated.
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ANOTHER LOOK AT WHAT WE IMPORT
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With the uncertainty of tariffs, on and off, how much, etc., it is not always clear which countries are affected, in terms of the items they provide to the U.S. For instance, China’s largest exports to the U.S. in terms of dollar value are electronics. But the U.S. also imports electronics from many other countries. In terms of imported baby carriages, however, nearly 100 percent come from China. Nearly all of the imported precious metal watches to the U.S. come from Switzerland. Here are some other percentages of U.S. imports coming from countries:
- +99 percent of imported live pigs from Canada
- +99 percent of imported calcium phosphates from Peru
- 98 percent of chromium ore from South Africa
- 98 percent of precious metal watches from Switzerland
- 97 percent of baby carriages from China
- 94 percent of self-propelled rail transport from Mexico
- 93 percent of natural cork articles from Portugal
- 89 percent of synthetic reconstructed jewelry stones from India
- 86 percent of vermouth from Italy
- 85 percent of palm oil from Indonesia
- 80 percent of vanilla from Madagascar
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2025 WORLD’S HAPPIEST CITIES
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The Institute for Quality of Life conducts research on various aspects of quality of life. It monitors, analyzes and studies areas related to community decision-making, the creation of social policies, the implementation of public services, and the effectiveness in addressing new challenges and crises faced by developing communities. In its 6th edition of the Happy City Index, it evaluated cities in six categories: Citizens; Economy; Governance; Health; Environment; and Mobility. These were at the top in 2025 index:
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Singapore, Singapore
- Aarhus, Denmark
- Antwerp, Belgium
- Seoul, South Korea
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Munich, Germany
- Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Top North American city: Vancouver, Canada, No.11
- Top U.S. city: New York, N.Y., No. 17
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MARKET UPDATE - 06/04/2025 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 05/29/2025)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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