Featured Listing March 31st

Each week we will be featuring one of our listings. This weeks featured listing is The Shops at Powers.

The Shops at Powers is an 8,100 SF building located at the intersection of Powers Boulevard and Galley Road. This beautiful copper roofed building is available immediately, with spaces available from 1,450 SF.

Please click the link for more in depth information



The Shops at Powers

The "R" word and the effects on Commercial Real Estate

By now, most of us have heard the word recession being thrown around. Whether or not you believe we are in a full blown recession or headed there, the economy is depressed and to a certain extent already affected the commercial real estate market. Specific to retailers, we are seeing the national retailers reign in their expansions. Consumer confidence and consumer spending are weak right now which is the main cause of the retailers being much more deliberate in their site selections. That said, their are still deals to be made out their but it takes landlords realizing that this is not 2003/2004 and retailers are not opening new locations at the clip they once were. By now readers are probably fully aware of why the retailers are pulling back. Pretty simple equation: costs of fuel and other necessities like groceries have risen, in some cases dramatically, over the past few years and that has caused consumers to cut back on the non-essential consumer goods which equals less consumer spending. Both quick serve and full service sit down restaurants are seeing their sales decline and numerous national retailers are closing stores or closing all together. Okay, that's the bad stuff. What's the good news in this economy?

The good news is that there are plenty of deals to be had for savvy buyers and investors. Interest rates remain low and that is great news for those looking to buy properties. In many cases, it's actually cheaper to buy a property than it is to lease it. This bodes well for owner/users that are looking to purchase an asset rather than to continue leasing. Well healed and diligent investors are also able to take advantage of the low interest rates. While some business or property owners may be in trouble, this opens opportunities for others to come in and bail out some one that might be in trouble or that is having difficulty making their loan payments.

In closing, it's not all doom and gloom out there. Opportunities are out there, but it's a matter of timing, as is typically the case with most real estate transactions.

Colorado Springs Insulated from Recession?

Local economist and UCCS professor Fred Crowley recently spoke about the recession and it affects on Colorado Springs. Below is an excerpt from the Colorado Springs Gazette with a link to the rest of the article.

Job growth insulates Springs from recession, economist says

By RICH LADEN

March 12, 2008 - 6:14PM

THE GAZETTE

The nation has already slid into a recession, but the Pikes Peak region has been spared so far because it has continued to add jobs, local economist Fred Crowley said Wednesday.

"Are we in a recession? I'm pretty sure we're in a recession right now," said Crowley, a senior economist with the Southern Colorado Economic Forum at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He spoke to about 75 people during a Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs breakfast meeting.

A growing list of national economic indicators prompted Crowley to ratchet up his recession talk from two months ago, when he told the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors the na- tion was on the brink.

Click here for the rest of the article