Successful backcountry yurt business for sale in the heart of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains

Property Features

Property Currently Has:

• One 20’ yurt with attached 12’ yurt as a bathroom. Both of these yurts are from Pacific Yurts of Oregon
• One 24’ tall-wall yurt with a separate detached bathroom building. This yurt is from the Colorado Yurt company of Montrose, CO. The yurt features three fully functional glass windows with screens, oven/range, custom built kitchen cabinets, full sized propane refrigerator, opening dome, quartz countertops and quartz topped custom-made bed headboard, huge trex-type deck with propane fire pit overlooking an 1,100’ drop-off to East Willow creek below (see pics) This yurt also has a full county-approved septic system installed at the time of construction in 2021
• Transferable Conditional Use Permit approved by Mineral County that allows: Building of a combination of 6-9 yurts, 2-4 cabins to allow up to 24 guests on the property at any one time. This number may be able to be increased with permission from the county. The permit also allows for a shower house and a lodge building with no specific size limitations mentioned in the permit. The Conditional Use permit is a substantial portion of the value of this business and likely impossible to duplicate today
• The Conditional Use Permit was originally issued in 1997 and was re-confirmed in 2021 in a meeting by the Mineral County board of commissioners. Currently it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to acquire a similar permit covering this level of activity and number of structures on the property
• New owner must complete buildout within 10 years of acquiring the property
• Transferable forest service access permits for crossing small portions of forest service land. This took me several years to acquire and allows full legal access to the property. Small annual fee of around $150 a year to maintain
• Featured in Denver’s 5280 magazine two years in a row, along with multiple publications over the years
• Contacted multiple times to consider filming of reality television shows
• Property is currently run only May-October but has a huge market for winter business which originally was the only time the property was operated. Owner doesn’t live in the area in the winter anymore. County will allow winter use with approved incinerating toilets for sanitation. Incredible opportunity for expanding to year-around rentals!
• No cell phone signal at all on the property. No Internet but now Starlink internet is available and works great and would also allow VOIP phone calls (I own a Starlink system and it works great up there). But after polling hundreds of guests I made the decision not to add any technology as the majority of guests find it restful to be completely disconnected for a couple of days
• Zero dollars spent on marketing for the last 20 years. I have no social media presence at all as I’ve had all the business I can handle for many years without trying. So this property is ripe for some high-tech marketing innovation as tiny homes and yurts are on fire on the Internet now
• Excellent opportunities for backcountry skiing, see video. For years my friends and I have hiked up and skied these mountains and there are some great lines to be had! Ski from the yurts and up head up Campbell mountain for some great skiing just 1/4 mile away

• County maintains and snowplows the county road to within 1 1/2 miles of the property in the winter. In past years snowmobile’s were used to easily and quickly (much faster than in summer) access the property on the 1 1/2 mile jeep road from where the county quits plowing.
• Mineral County Memorial airport has a 6,880’ X 60’ foot newly repaved (2022) asphalt runway allowing aircraft up to 20,000 pounds GVW
• Bureau of mines requested and was granted permission by me in the early 2000s to land a helicopter in the meadow of the yurt property. They stated it was the only open landing spot in the nearby mountains
• Owners’ vision for the future includes having upscale clients flown in by private jet into the Mineral County airport and then delivered by helicopter shuttle to the yurt property
• Owner is ready to retire after owning and operating the property for over 25 years
• Current Owner is willing to consult with new owner on future ideas if interested
• There is no well on the property at this time
• All future rental units built must adhere to Colorado Rule 43 regulations regarding sanitation (as was done with the new septic system on 24’ yurt in 2021)
• Owner is a licensed Colorado real estate broker and any offer must include that language in the contract
• Owner is offering a 3% commission to any broker that brings a buyer and does the paperwork for them. No exclusive real estate listing will be given, please don’t inquire. Just bring a buyer and I will sign a commission agreement with you for that client and you will get paid!

Price:
$3,000,000

Mark Richter
Phoenix Ridge Yurts, LLC
hutrentals@gmail.com
(303) 565-6787

Owner's Statement:

I have owned this amazing property for almost 30 years. I have made it my life’s mission to connect people back to nature and to the natural world which helps give all of us balance in our hectic modern-day lives.

I am a proponent of following the rules in business so that I end up with a business that can be easily sold without legal issues. That is why I spent years securing the Conditional Use Permit and forest service access easements through this and all of my properties which most people in this area don’t bother with. The transferable Conditional Use permit is priceless in a state where development rules and environmental regulations are stopping most others from being able to build this type of operation from scratch

When considering price, try playing with the numbers of up to 24 people paying each night, even an average of just $100/person/night. Using the income approach to value, it’s easy to see that this property is really a bargain. While it is true that the infrastructure buildout is not complete, the cost of putting up yurts is so much cheaper, faster and easier than traditional stick built buildings it’s easy to see the value. My vision for this property is as an upscale backcountry resort where guests will pay much more than $100/night each