This summer, two new hotel properties, Homewoood Suites and Holiday Inn Express opened, adding nearly 200 rooms to our bed base. Currently, two more hotel projects are teed up, a west side Fairfield Inn by Marriott, and a south end 2nd Avenue pair of hotels.

In the category of large commercial construction south of Walmart, Tractor Supply opened next to a new Vectra Bank, and Mercury Payment/Mercury Village plans to open in 2014. In downtown, 2nd Avenue Sports is slated to start construction on a new building at the northeast corner of College and 2nd Avenue, followed by a new First Southwest Bank building in 2014. A recent state of Colorado grant of $4.3 million allows for Wilson Gulch Road in Grandview to be connected to the Bridge to Nowhere. This makes Three Springs attractive to large-scale retailers and more residential development along the east Highway 160 corridor.

The real estate market for resales has improved as downtown inventory continues to shrink. New housing product in the Three Springs and Edgemont areas is getting attention. Twin Buttes on Highway 160 west is slated to start construction on up to 30 new homes in early 2014. The City Community Development department reports permitting 83 new dwelling units through mid-October compared to 33 through mid-October of last year. Several multiple-family housing projects are also in various stages of the planning process.

The City Parks and Recreation Department plans to start construction this fall on an industry leading new Whitewater Park at Smelter Rapids. When completed in 2014, this world-class facility will attract new river-sport enthusiasts and major-event competitions. In response to impressive regional passenger growth the airport board is planning for a new airport terminal and additional parking arrears.

Retail sales-tax revenue is up 5 percent year to date, and the lodging occupancy tax is up, in part because of higher volume and some increases in room rates. This year’s college enrollment is up 4 percent and mostly attributable to an increase in out-of-state students. Daily foot traffic downtown is consistently brisk while the downtown Durango Welcome Center is on pace to assist 100,000 visitors. The early summer Iron Horse Bicycle Classic and late season Cowboy Poetry Gathering and Heritage Celebration were sold out months in advance. The Business Improvement District recently reported that 2013 events held downtown have attracted more than 60,000 visitors downtown and the Community Concert Hall ticket office reports selling more than 7,000 tickets at the Welcome Center.

From my perspective, that activity begets activity, these larger-scale projects portend positive influences on our one-of-a-kind downtown. And, while all is not perfect in the kingdom, for those inclined to see the glass as half full, Durango and 2014 should get along just fine.

[email protected] Bob Kunkel is the downtown business development manager for the city of Durango.