Basalt median home price races past a million bucks
Aspen – It takes $1 million to buy into Basalt these days, according to a recent report in The Aspen Times.
The red-hot real-estate market has sent the median price of single- family homes for sale in and around Basalt above the $1 million barrier, according to an analysis real-estate agent Wendy Lucas performed for The Times.
“The prices are getting higher and higher,” Lucas said.
Lucas is a longtime real-estate agent in the Roaring Fork Valley who started a Basalt-based firm this month. She examined sales and listing prices of homes through the Aspen Board of Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service. The area she studied was from Holland Hills to the Dakota subdivision by Blue Lake. Basalt is halfway between Aspen and Glenwood Springs.
She said appreciation is so rapid right now that the seller of a new home cannot set a price based on recent sales of comparable properties. Her research demonstrated that point.
The median price of the 27 single-family homes that sold in and around Basalt through mid-May was $695,000. The median price of 19 homes currently under contract in that same area is $899,000. The median asking price for the 19 homes listed for sale is $1,195,000.
DENVER
Metretek says SEC probing subsidiary
Metretek Technologies Inc., a Denver-based company that makes energy-measurement devices to track the use of natural gas and electricity, on Monday announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an informal investigation into a Metretek subsidiary.
The company said in a securities filing that the SEC is looking into “a chronology of recent events” relating to orders received by its subsidiary, PowerSecure Inc., which provides on-site power generation systems to commercial and industrial users of electricity.
Metretek officials could not be reached for comment.
LONGMONT
Sports/fitness arena’s plans to be unveiled
Officials with Continuum Clubs, a Napa, Calif.-based company, will unveil details today of a 180,000-square-foot sports and fitness arena in Longmont.
The facility, to be called ProAction Arena, is one of several planned across the country and will hold national sporting events, a spokeswoman said.
Continuum Clubs is building a facility in Clayton, Ohio, that is also called ProAction Arena and will feature hardwood basketball courts, a 50,000-square-foot fitness floor, a day spa, therapy pools and retail space.
DENVER
Hotel occupancy rates down slightly in April
Average hotel occupancy rates fell slightly for metro Denver in April compared with the same month last year but continued to rise along with average daily rates across the state, according to the latest Rocky Mountain Lodging Report released Monday.
In the metro area, occupancy rates declined by 2.2 percentage points last month, to 60.3 percent. Average room rates increased $9.54, to $97.84. Statewide, occupancy rates rose by 0.7 percentage points, to 55.6 percent. Room rates jumped up $9.33, to $98.96.
DENVER
Qwest adds HDTV in Highlands Ranch
Denver-based Qwest said Monday it has added high-definition TV service to its video service in Highlands Ranch and areas around Phoenix.
The $14.99 package includes local stations and cable channels like ESPN and TNT. Qwest has been working to expand its reach in the TV business, last week getting approval from 33 cities in the Denver metro area for a model franchise agreement it needs as a first step toward offering its own TV service. Qwest also resells DirecTV.
SCHAUMBURG, Ill.
Motorola to design Xcel wireless network
Motorola Inc. has been selected by Xcel Energy to design and install three wireless radio networks covering service territories in Denver/Boulder, Minneapolis/St. Paul and west Texas.
In the Denver/Boulder area, Motorola will upgrade the existing radio system to provide coverage to seven transmitter sites.
GULF OF MEXICO
Oil producer reopens after Katrina closure
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it has restored output at its Mars platform, the biggest producer in the Gulf of Mexico, nine months after it was shuttered because of Hurricane Katrina.
Shell, the world’s third-biggest oil company, said in a statement that production will reach pre-Katrina levels, or the equivalent of 140,000 barrels of oil a day, by the end of June.
MOORESVILLE, N.C.
Lowe’s first-quarter profits rise with sales
Lowe’s Cos., the second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, said first-quarter profit rose 44 percent on higher sales of appliances and lawn mowers. The shares had the biggest drop in three years after the company cut its annual revenue forecast.
Net income climbed to $841 million, or $1.06 a share, from $586 million, or 73 cents, a year ago. Sales increased 20 percent to $11.9 billion, Lowe’s said Monday in a statement.
REDMOND, Wash.
Microsoft takes money-saving step
Microsoft Corp. has told about 1,000 technology contract workers to take seven days off, without Microsoft pay, in a cost-saving move that came as the company unveiled a series of new perks for its internal staff.
Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said Monday that Microsoft told vendors who supply the contractors that about 1,000 workers globally would not be needed this week.
MINNEAPOLIS
Northwest reaches early deal with union
Northwest Airlines would be able to lay off roughly 700 ground workers under a tentative agreement with their union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said Monday.
The exact number of layoffs won’t be known until the airline decides which positions to eliminate and workers decide whether to accept a company buyout, a union spokeswoman said.
SAN FRANCISCO
Google to begin online video ads
Google Inc. will begin distributing online video ads for the first time this week, continuing the Internet search engine leader’s effort to diversify beyond the static written messages that generate most of its profits.
The video expansion will affect thousands of websites that rely on Google to post ads related to the surrounding material on a page.
