Colorado Springs News & Developments

[Front_Range_Guy]

An excerpt from an article in today's Colorado Springs Business Journal about Dan Robertsons new loft projects on Bijou, across from Acacia Park.

The yet-unnamed building will feature hip, urban architectural design, and residential units will be priced from the $200s. The fa

[MJLO]

I missed my chance to get up to CS because of work, i'm bound and determined I'm shooting for June now.

[Front_Range_Guy]

LOL... hopefully the masses will have settled and the econemy will have started to work itself out by then. These are tense times in ole' cs.

[Front_Range_Guy]

Quite a bit has happened since my last update. Some bad, some good. I'll focus on the good news.

1) On October 24, the city opened it's new 525 space parking garage at Colorado and Nevada downtown.

2) Front Range Express, "FREX", run by Colorado Springs Mountain Metro Transit, put 39 new busses into service on October 15. They are pictured on the FREX homepage.

3) The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Expansion opened. I will post exterior photos in The Colorado Springs Photo's thread.

4) Colorado College received a huge grant for construction projects, which should end the debate over whether to spend the money for LEED certification on The Cornerstone Arts Center.

5) Work is expected to get underway any day now on Stratton Pointe. A new, 6-story office building downtown at Colorado and Tejon. LandCo is also set to start three other, smaller re-development projects in the downtown area.

6) Cooper Tower has a new architect, marketing firm, and has registered www.coopertower.net.

7) The Southwest Downtown Urban Renewal Project is still alive, and some work may get underway any day now.

8) The Bijou Street Bridge is open.

9) Cimarron is set to close for rebuilding.

10) Developer Chuck Murphy has done gorgeous rehabs on several smaller downtown buildings, and plans an eclectic arts district in the losely organized Depot Arts District.

11) Teampain will design a large new skate park at Memorial Park.

12) One City Centre is getting a new facade.

We're still stuck in the "so much potential" phase... but we could see some earth start to move in the next year. In fact by summer we could have 2 or 3 cranes downtown, for this city, that is a lot.

[RestedTraveler]

I found this while looking at details about the Easley Town Center here in South Carolina. Yet another lifestyle/mixed use center: The Mercado. It looks to be out in the ever-expanding Woodmen Road/Powers Boulevard area. I hadn't seen it mentioned here before, so forgive me if somebody already mentioned it.

[Front_Range_Guy]

I'm aware of The Mercado. I'm also aware of the fact that a 10-story hotel will either be under construction or is under construction at I-25 and Interquest Parkway. I intentionally ignore developments outside of downtown and the west side. The suburban developments get plenty of attention from the Republicanzette.

Anyway... not much going on downtown right now.

The original soup man is gone, but another sandwich shop is taking it's place. A small shop where you can get sundries, cigarettes, snacks, and periodicals will open at Tejon and Bijou. "Bancorp Plaza" the new encarnation of "One City Center", and headquarters of a locally based bank is well under-construction. I will post a photo if I ever bother to take one. Work continues inside Stratton Pointe... Colorado Springs is in a pissing match with Chicago over the headquarters of The United States Olympic Committee. Rumor here is that USOC has agreed to move into Stratton Pointe, and an incredibly ugly sky bridge will be built connecting Stratton Pointe to the city's new parking structure to sweeten the deal. If I were them, I'd go to Chicago... They will likely announce their plans in May. The 11-Story Alamo Corporate Center is apparently The Compass Bank building now, per new signage.

Sales are slow at Gold Hill Mesa. Given the mortgage mess, no reason to be surprised about that... unfortunately, the lack of home construction has meant clouds of toxic sand blowing into downtown whenever a cold front blows through.

No word on how pre-sales are going at Cooper Tower. I don't know if I mentioned this here... I went to a public meeting about Cooper Tower. At the time, it was potentially going to be extended to 26-stories in order to make room for the USOC. Cooper Tower decided to back out of the deal and go back down to 23-floors. The funny part is, most of the people in the room were outraged that it would be 26-stories and okay with 23. Huh? Some don't think buildings taller than 14-stories should be allowed. Apparenlty 14-story buildings don't block the mountains? Nimby's make no sense.

That's about it.

[Front_Range_Guy]

It's probably worth mentioning that the cornerstone at The Cornerstone Arts Center on the Colorado College Campus was engraved yesterday, and that the new Science and Engineering Building at UCCS was topped off today.

I still haven't been able to find any firm answers on whether Cornerstone is Leed certified or not. I know that was the goal...

Check out the cornerstone link. That's a damn sexy project for our city, right across the street from The Fine Arts Center... and it's gotten so little press...