Gazette: Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Memorial Lease

Published by The Gazette | Written by Andrew Wineke | August 29, 2012

Ricardo Munoz of RMS Sign Co. puts a new banner bearing the University of Colorado Health logo over an existing Memorial Hospital sign Tuesday night, August 28, 2012 after it was announced that Colorado Springs voters had voted Tuesday to lease the city-owned hospital to University of Colorado Health. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette 

Colorado Springs voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a plan to lease city-owned Memorial Health System to University of Colorado Health.

The proposal passed, 83 percent to 17 percent. About 41 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the mail election.

The lease agreement will pay the city $74 million up front and $5.6 million annually, which the city plans to put into a new foundation dedicated to local health needs. UC Health will also pay $3 million a year toward establishing a medical school at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Mayor Steve Bach called the result a “mandate” for the decision to lease the hospital.

“We are at the doorstep now of a wonderful future,” said Mayor Steve Bach.  “I’m so proud to be standing here today and so thankful.”

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/health-143849-colorado-city.html#ixzz24x0b5cfv

CSBJ: Lower Rents Changing Downtown Tenant Mix

Published in Colorado Springs Business Journal | August 10, 2012 | Written by Amanda Miller 

When Kati Brewer started looking for a downtown storefront for her Pure Nutrition shop earlier this year, she was blown away by the affordability off Tejon Street.

She’s paying $900 a month for her location at 22 E. Bijou St.

“That’s really good for a retail spot,” Brewer said.

And the landlord gave her the first two months free so she could decorate the space and get it ready without rent expenses before opening to customers.

Rents and concessions such as those are common these days, especially downtown, says Mark Useman, a broker with Sierra Commercial Real Estate.

“I think downtown is going through a transition right now,” Useman said.

Lower rents and front-end deals for tenants have invited different retailers into the fold.

Where high-dollar stores like Lulu used to sell $200 jeans, Cottonwood Art Studios sells locally produced pieces. Nearby, at 230 N. Tejon St., Halo Boutique has replaced Ellie K.’s higher-priced women’s clothing with trendy business casual pieces priced between $15 and $60. The Candy Bar, a 1950s style candy shop, has taken the place of longtime luxury retailer Johannes Hunter Jewelers, which moved to University Village Colorado on North Nevada Avenue.

Asking rent downtown is the lowest it has been since 2004, according to Sierra’s records. And the lower rents are changing the makeup of the downtown retail scene, which experts say is not necessarily a bad thing.

Read More: http://csbj.com/2012/08/10/lower-rents-changing-downtown-tenant-mix/

FOX21 News: Housing Market in Colorado Springs Making a Comeback

Published in Colorado Connection | Written by Abbie Burke | 05.01.2012

For years the housing market has been a sore subject, but that's all changing, at least locally. According to the Pikes Peak Realtor Services Corporation 784 homes were sold in Colorado Springs last month. That is a nearly five percent increase from last year.

"We talk to a lot of people who have what we call 'the consumer confidence' thing going on, where they're feeling like their job is a little better, they may have got a pay increase for the first time in awhile, they're just stepping out and purchasing a home," Joe Clement, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX properties, said.

Sale prices have also gone up.

"The average prices went up to 223 which is a 3.9 increase over last month, so that's good news," Clement said.

Hank Poburka, Broker with The Platinum Group Realtors, called the current market "neutral," meaning it's a good to time to buy or sell.

"Now is a great time to buy, you've got the high 3's on the rate, you still have good prices," Clement said. "The thing that's happening though is the inventory is going down, so the selection is depleting, and what that means then is that the prices are gonna start going up," he added.

Sellers last month were able to get closer to their asking price than they have in more than a year.

Read more: http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=748758#.UDPmjo7u3yc

Gazette: Colorado Springs Company Bounces Back, Doubles Staff in One Year

Published in The Gazette | August 16, 2012 | Written by Wayne Heilman

Image by Christian Murdock of The Gazette 

Shawnee Huckstep, CEO of TechWise, is pictured in her downtown Colorado Springs office on Wednesday. The local company has won $26 million in training program development contracts and contract renewals with the Air Force, Army and the United Arab Emirates during the past year.

It’s been a good year for TechWise.

The Colorado Springs-based company has won $26 million in training program development contracts and contract renewals with the Air Force, Army and the government of the United Arab Emirates during the past year, allowing it to double its staff to nearly 200 employees.

About 70 of the 100 employees that were added work in the company’s offices in Dubai, where they are helping the United Arab Emirates government design training programs for military, homeland security and emergency preparedness, said TechWise CEO Shawnee Huckstep. The other 30 new hires are working on either new or renewed contracts for military training development, logistics and facility support contracts at Peterson and Schriever Air Force bases near Colorado Springs, Fort Benning in Georgia and Fort Sill in Oklahoma, she said.

The expansion represents a major turnaround for TechWise, which cut its 250-person staff in half in 2010 as its military customers shifted work from contractors to their staff as part of a Department of Defense initiative to reduce spending on outside contractors by 30 percent. Under the 2009 initiative, the department had planned to shift 33,000 contractors to civil-service positions by 2015 to free up funding for ships, fighters and weapons systems. But the plan was dropped a year later when it failed to produce the anticipated savings.

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/past-143252-springs-staff.html#ixzz23pw0GIqd

CSBJ: Springs Orleans might expand to both coasts

Published in the Colorado Springs Business Journal | August 16, 2012 | Written by Amanda Miller

Springs Orleans head breakfast chef Joey “Moonfish” Duplessis serves up the dishes that have attracted national attention.

Downtown restaurant Springs Orleans could soon become the flagship of a new national chain.
Owner Perry Sanders said he didn’t go out looking for opportunities to expand to new locations, but when opportunity came knocking, he opened the door.

It started when an investment group from the Atlanta area came courting him a couple months ago. They want a Cajun restaurant for their development in the popular Buckhead area outside downtown Atlanta. They were getting ready to sign papers with a chain based in Louisiana when someone among their ranks who had been to the Colorado Springs restaurant stopped them.

“They were raving about the restaurant,” Sanders said. “And even though it’s in Colorado, the group wanted to check it out.”

He said a representative visited and spent days eating the food.

In the end, Sanders said the culinary scout told him it’s wasn’t even a close call. They wanted Springs Orleans, which is part of Sanders’ Mining Exchange Hotel.

“They said we want to deal with you if you want to deal with us — and I said, ‘Oh yes, I want to,’” Sanders said.

Read more: http://csbj.com/2012/08/16/springs-orleans-might-expand-to-both-coasts/

The Gazette: More Solar Gardens Sprouting Up in Colorado Springs

Published in The Gazette | August 7, 2012 | Written by Andrew Wineke

MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE

In this Nov. 29, 2011 file photo, 
Sarah Rice, foreground, 

and Garrett Jacobs with SunShare help 
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, 

right, place a solar panel at the 
solar garden at Venetucci Farm.

It’s been almost a year since the Colorado Springs City Council approved community solar gardens, allowing anyone in the city to buy or lease solar panels in a central installation and receive a credit on their home electric bill.

The program has hit some potholes along the way, but the first, 500-kilowatt solar array, built by local company SunShare at Venetucci Farm, is sold out and more projects are in the works.

Councilwoman Brandy Williams said she thinks the program has been a tremendous success.

“I think it helped the utility to see that it really can be done and it helped the public see that government can partner with the private sector,” Williams said. “It’s been exciting. It’s brought the community together and people are now getting solar who never dreamed of getting solar.”

SunShare is planning to begin construction this month on a second solar garden a few miles from Venetucci at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church and already has commitments for most of the panels there.

A second company, Carbondale-based Clean Energy Collective, plans to begin a project in September on land it’s leasing around a Colorado Springs Utilities substation near I-25 and South Academy Boulevard. If the first project goes well, CEC plans to build a second solar garden on the same site.

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/projects-142842-solar-works.html#ixzz22z0FJ0It

Obama tickets available today for Thursday events in Colorado Springs, Pueblo

President Barack Obama is going to be in town Thursday afternoon for a campaign event, and one in Pueblo on Thursday morning. Entrance is free for both events. Here in Colorado Springs, the president will be at the Cutler Quad, at Colorado College, and doors open at 11 a.m.

Before that, in Pueblo, the president will be at the Palace of Agriculture at the Colorado State Fairgrounds, and doors for that event open at 8:30 a.m.

Tickets for both events, however, are available today, starting at 5 p.m. They’re strictly one per person, will be handed out on a first-come first-served basis, and have to be picked up in person.

In a statement, the Obama campaign said, “The President will discuss his plan to restore middle-class security by paying down our debt in a balanced way that ensures everyone pays their fair share and still invests in the things we need to create jobs and grow our economy over the long term, like education, energy, innovation, and infrastructure.

“The President will also repeat his call for Congress to act now to give middle-class families some certainty by preventing a scheduled tax increase on 98 percent of Americans, including families across Colorado.”

Tickets for the Colorado Springs event can be picked up at any of the three locations below:

Warner Campus Center

Colorado College

902 N Cascade Ave

Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Obama campaign office- Briargate

7608 N Union Blvd, Suite E

Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Obama Campaign office – Woodland Park

1075 E US Highway 24

Woodland Park, CO 80863

Tickets for the Pueblo event can be picked up at the following two locations:

Downtown Obama campaign Pueblo field office

330 S. Union Ave

Pueblo, CO 81003

Pueblo East campaign field office

1402 E. 4th St

Pueblo, CO 81001

The Denver Post has details about Obama’s visits to Denver and Grand Junction on Wednesday. Check it out here.

WALDO CANYON FIRE: Governor requests more federal funds

Published in The Gazette | August 2, 2012 | Written by Ryan Maye Handy

Gov. John Hickenlooper has requested that additional federal funds be made available to El Paso County to cover more than three million dollars in damages not eligible for reimbursement under the initial declaration.

After the June 28 presidential disaster declaration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA, designated funds to El Paso County to reimburse costs incurred for “Emergency Protective Measures,” such as the overtime work done by Colorado Springs firefighters, police officers and sheriff’s deputies. But the grant covers only one of seven categories of reimbursements for local governments’ disaster-recovery related projects, including repairs to damaged buildings or equipment.

The first grant, known as a Category B, covers 75 percent of all costs that fall under the “Emergency Protective Measures” umbrella. El Paso County officials have not totalled those costs, county spokesman Dave Rose said Thursday. Still, preliminary damage assesments done by FEMA and local officials estimated that $3.28 million worth of losses are not coverd by the Category B grant.

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/funds-142642-federal-paso.html#ixzz22VbQOy00

Seeking Alpha: It's Time To Buy Real Estate

Published in Seeking Alpha | August 1, 2012 | Written by Markos Kaminis

If you can afford to invest in it now, it's time to buy real estate. Housing may never be more affordable again in most markets. Mortgage rates are at record lows and based on a recent report, home prices are on the rise again. So, for those who have a safe store of wealth, strong job security and are not living in their own home yet, I suggest investing in real estate now. Those who are a bit better off, might wisely add income earning property to their portfolios. Even as the economy slows anew, threatening to stymie real estate demand, I see other factors that could price real estate out of bounds for most Americans in the future.

The Federal Reserve's efforts to stop the bleeding in housing and rejuvenate the critical sector have combined with international issues to drive U.S. interest rates down. Mortgage rates seem to strike a new record low each week, though the impact to housing demand has been diffused by ongoing economic sluggishness. Yet, those who can afford to buy a home should not let the inability of others affect their decision making now, or risk missing an opportunity to secure unprecedented low fixed mortgage rates.

Read more: http://seekingalpha.com/article/769631-it-s-time-to-buy-real-estate

...and when you're ready to buy a home for your family, call:

Matthew RogersAll Seasons, LLCmatt@all-seasons.com(719) 387-4144