Few apartments are being constructed these days in Colorado Springs, but a Denver group has proposed a 230-unit project on 13.3 acres southwest of Union Boulevard and Woodmen Road on the city’s north side. SW Woodmen LLC is asking the City Planning Commission to sign off on a conditional use permit for the project. The complex would consist of one, two and three-bedroom apartments; future amenities would include a playground and picnic area. Some nearby residents, including members of the Cottonwood Creek Townhomes, have expressed concerns about drainage from the project, the height of one of the buildings, noise and traffic, among other issues. In 2001, another apartment complex was proposed for the site, but never developed. Three years later, a neighborhood shopping center with a grocery store was proposed, but also didn’t get off the drawing board. The City Planning Commission will consider the project when it meets at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, at the Pikes Peak Regional Development Center, 2880 International Center in central Colorado Springs. Here’s a link to the commission’s Dec. 17 agenda: http://www.springsgov.com/Agendas.aspx?AMID=353



The 19th annual economic forecast breakfast sponsored by the Southern Coloado chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management will take place Thursday, Feb. 11 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 2886 S. Circle Drive on Colorado Springs’ south side. Registration takes place at 7 a.m., breakfast is at 7:30 a.m. and the program runs from 7:45 to 9:45 a.m. The speakers will be: Kent Mau of Sierra Commercial Real Estate, who will discuss the commercial market; Doug Carter of Sperry Van Ness Real Estate, who specializes in apartments; Bruce Betts of Re/Max Advantage, who will talk about the single-family home market; Sara Martin of Land Title Guarantee Co., who will discuss lending; and Mike Kazmierski of the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Devlopment Corp., who will discuss the outlook on jobs. The cost to attend is $40 if reservations are made by Jan. 29; the cost of the event will be $60 for walk-ins. More information:
Forbes Magazine loves Colorado Springs. Having named the Springs this year as one of the top cities for a housing recovery and one of the best places for business and careers, Forbes on Nov. 30 ranked Colorado Springs as the ninth best “bang -for-the-buck” city when it comes to desirable places to live. The nation’s largest 100 metropolitan areas were part of the report. Among various factors used to determine the rankings, the Springs fared somewhat poorly when it came to housing affordability and foreclosures. However, the Springs fared better in areas such as real estate taxes, home prices, unemployment and future job creation, which helped the city achieve its ninth place ranking. Here’s a link to the story: 
The Pikes Peak Association of Realtors issued its monthly report for November that showed a 59.1 percent increase in sales for the month when compared with the same time last year, while median prices for homes sold in the month increased 0.5 percent — the first gain in more than two years. Among other interesting factoids in the report that suggest the re-sale market is showing signs of life after a severe slump:
The Colorado Springs area has passed another unfortunate milestone on foreclosures. In early November, with nearly two months left in the year, El Paso County registered its 4,603rd foreclosure filing — breaking the record of 4,602 filings in 2008 and setting a third consecutive annual record. On Friday, Dec. 4, the county recorded its 5,000th foreclosure filing — a mark that a few years ago “would have been unimaginable,” El Paso County Public Trustee Tom Mowle said in a statement. Foreclosure filings are the first step in a legal process that can lead to the loss of a home, although roughly 40 percent of filings are resolved before that happens. Meanwhile, as part of Gov. Bill Ritter’s “Feed Colorado” initiative, Mowle said his office will collect non-perishable food items to assist people in need. ”Let’s try to reduce the number of people making a choice between food and housing by contributing non-perishable items,” Mowle said. The Public Trustee’s food drive starts Monday, Dec. 7, and runs through Wednesday, Dec. 16; items can be dropped off at 105 E. Vermijo Ave., Suite 101, in downtown Colorado Springs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Pikes Peak Community Action Agency is partnering with the Trustee’s Office on the effort; donated food items will be taken to the PPCAA’s Billie Spielman Center at 1616 W. Bijou St. More Springs. More information: Call the Trustee’s Office at 520-6780 or go to the PPCAA Web site at
On the same day he was indicted by a grand jury on charges he misled investors in business deals, Colorado Springs developer Ray Marshall (right) also lost several high-profile properties that had fallen into foreclosure months earlier. Marshall was involved in partnerships that owed $18.9 million on four undeveloped parcels, totaling 76 acres, along retail hotbed Powers Boulevard, on the Springs’ east side. At a Nov. 25 foreclosure sale held by the El Paso County Public Trustee, the parcels were taken back by their previous owners – local business people who had sold the properties to Marshall, according to Trustee’s Office records. Under that arrangement, the previous owners acted as the lender and financed the purchase by Marshall and his partners. The properties had gone into foreclosure in July. Also on Nov. 25, a 4th Judicial District grand jury indicted Marshall, who is chairman of LandCo Equity Partners, and LandCoPresident James Brodie on charges they stole thousands of dollars from investors. A 33-count indictment alleged violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Act, securities fraud and theft, which are all felonies. The indictments followed a six-month investigation by the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office into the developers’ business dealings. A Marshall attorney denied the charges. LandCo had developed a downtown office building that will become the new headquarters for the Colorado Springs-based U.S. Olympic Committee.
For the first 11 months of 2009, the number of single-family building permits in Colorado Springs and El Paso County totaled 1,017, down from 1,180 during the same period last year. But the dollar value of those same residential permits year-to-date in 2009 totaled $346.4 million, compared with $244.4 million during the same time in 2008. Why do fewer building permits issued in 2009 carry a greater dollar value than those issued in 2008? Henry Yankowski, who heads the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, said the increased value of permits in 2009 results from the department’s decision to switch to a construction trade group’s standardized method for determining building costs per square foot. In the past, residential home builders estimated their construction costs; in April 2008, the Regional Building Department adopted a building cost method used by the International Code Council, Yankowski said. The ICC methodology already was used by the Regional Building Department for commercial construction, he said.