Colorado Real Estate Journal - August 19, 2015
Great Wolf Resorts Inc. is expanding to Colorado. North America’s largest family of indoor water-park resorts recently purchased a partially constructed hotel east of Interstate 25 and InterQuest Parkway in northern Colorado Springs, where it will finish work on the property – which has stood idle for nearly six years – and build an adjacent water park. Expected to open in late 2016, Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs will feature more than 380,000 square feet of entertainment offerings and lodging amenities. The centerpiece of the resort will be a more-than-65,000-sf indoor water park, including a five-story funnel slide. Additionally, the property will include 311 guest suites that can accommodate at least six people, a variety of dining options and more than 20,000 sf of conference space. “We are so excited to bring the Great Wolf Lodge brand to Colorado," said Kim Schaefer, CEO, Great Wolf Resorts Inc. “The addition of Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs will feature many of the amenities and activities our guests know and love, as well as several experiences new to our brand." CBRE Hotels, along with Garfield Corp., an affiliate of Garfield Public/Private LLC, based in Dallas, completed an exhaustive search in the region to locate an ideal market and property for the Great Wolf Resorts business model and represented it in the acquisition of the property once proposed to be a Renaissance Hotel. “Great Wolf Resorts has an outstanding reputation as a regional destination in the markets in which they operate, and the partially built 300-room hotel provides the perfect framework for the next high-quality Great Wolf Lodge and water park. The combination of the exceptional amenities and attractions in Colorado Springs and a Great Wolf Lodge water park experience will create an excellent destination experience just over one hour from Denver,” said Mark Darrington with CBRE Hotels. Garfield Corp. engaged Darrington and Larry Kaplan, senior vice presidents for CBRE Hotels, to assist in its efforts to locate markets and properties regionally on behalf of Great Wolf Resorts. The Colorado Springs location will be the 14th Great Wolf Lodge resort.