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Page 8 — Retail Properties Quarterly — August 2017
State of Retail
T he retail and restaurant mar-
ket in the Pikes Peak region
continues to see improve-
ment and doesn’t show signs
of stopping, at least anytime
soon. Vacancies are maintaining a
downward trend, currently hovering
around 6.5 percent, there is posi-
tive absorption, unemployment is
at an all-time low and rent growth
remains steady.
All of this good news comes
despite negative headlines of store
closures and bankruptcies. So
where is the incongruity? I think it
can be explained by the fact that
consumer spending is still strong,
it is just changing, and “Amazon-
proof” concepts, such as restau-
rants, fitness centers, entertain-
ment venues and service providers,
are emerging and adjusting accord-
ingly. It’s an evolution. Colorado
Springs and the Pikes Peak region
continue to see a positive influx of
these types of businesses.
In the past few months alone, a
handful of new-to-market gyms
and fitness concepts secured loca-
tions or are in the hunt for space.
These include both large-format
gyms like Vasa Fitness, Chuze Fit-
ness and Crunch Fitness, as well
as specialty studios like Burn Boot
Camp and other sport-specific
training camps. These concepts are
great at backfilling larger vacancies
and bringing new life and activ-
ity to centers, many of which have
been deflated in years past by gro-
cery store closings.
Other planned or under construc-
tion retail activity includes numer-
ous multitenant
developments.
CVS Pharmacy is
making a splash
with various sites
around town, Oskar
Blues Brewery is
coming in to down-
town, and there
are an assortment
of local breweries
arriving – including
Trails End Self-Pour
Taproom, Goat
Patch Brewing, N3 Taphouse, JAKs
Brewing, Purple Toad and The Brass
Tap.
Likewise, there are many new
restaurants in town or on their way
that include Four by Brother Luck,
Prime 25, Rooster's House of Ramen,
Atomic Cowboy/Fat Sully’s Pizza/
Denver Biscuit Co. combo, Loyal
Coffee, The Melt, Blaze Pizza, Billy
Sims BBQ, DogHaus and Sawara
Sushi. Plus, we just got our very own
WhirlyBall (imagine equal parts bas-
ketball, lacrosse and bumper cars,
originating from Chicago). We are
fortunate to have a good velocity of
fresh restaurants, bars, entertain-
ment uses and retailers coming to
the market.
However, it’s not all new concepts.
Many of our staple quick-serve res-
taurants and fast-food groups are
growing as well. Qdoba, MOD Pizza,
Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Tokyo Joes,
Dutch Bros. and Fuzzy’s are expand-
ing or adding stores. Even our local/
region groups are adding units or
expanding, including Over Easy, Iron
Bird Brewing, Beauty Bar, Salsa Brava
and CogStone Brewery.
Another trend we are seeing is
the arrival of food-hall-type venues,
and tenants are flocking to them.
There are two fairly established
adaptive reuse projects that are
housing an array of unique local
eateries: Ivywild and Lincoln Center.
These unique properties, both for-
merly elementary schools, serve as
social gathering places that offer a
refreshing alterative from standard
strip centers.
Bristol Brewing Co. stands tall
as the anchor tenant at Ivywild,
among the Principal’s Office, Old
School Bakery, Axe and the Oak
Whiskey, and others. At Lincoln
Center, Goat Patch Brewery is the
newest tenant to join Cross Fit
Southern Colorado, Lincoln St. Bar-
bers, Building3 Coffee Roasters, Cafe
Red Point, Mountain Valley Market,
Nightingale Bread and more.
Additionally, a Denver developer
is under contract on a downtown
building to open a food hall similar
to Denver’s Avanti or The Source.
Finally, the Colorado Springs Pub-
lic Market recently signed a lease
downtown and should be announc-
ing its opening soon.
Notice a theme here? These are
restaurants, breweries, fitness and
entertainment retailers, which
are the types of retailers that are
thriving – the businesses that offer
things and experiences you sim-
ply can’t buy online. The Colorado
Springs and Pikes Peak region has a
great climate for these concepts and
it continues to improve. ▲
Tiffany Colvert
Broker, retail team,
NAI Highland,
Colorado Springs
Ivywild and Lincoln Center
Ivywild and Lincoln Center are two adaptive reuse projects that are housing an array of
unique local eateries. Both properties were formerly elementary schools.