DOWNTOWN ENDS YEAR WITH RECORD-SETTING BUSINESS GROWTH - Downtown Partnership

More than 30 new street-level businesses opened or announced in 2016

January 4, 2017

Colorado Springs, CO – Downtown Colorado Springs ended 2016 with record-setting growth of street-level businesses. From retail boutiques and restaurants to services and coworking spaces, 23 new street-level businesses opened Downtown in 2016, and another 12 businesses announced they would be opening in 2017.

“We are seeing tremendous growth in our urban core,” says Sarah Humbargar, Director of Business Development & Economic Vitality for the Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs. “Nationally, trends show more people want to live and work in an urban environment. With our cost of living and proximity to the outdoors, Downtown Colorado Springs is perfectly poised for this growth.” Humbargar also says long-time retailers like Terra Verde, Mountain Chalet, and Sparrow Hawk Gourmet Cookware, along with eateries such as Poor Richards, Josh & John’s and Jose Muldoon’s have attracted new businesses to the area with their proven success. Several properties that have been vacant for years are now filled, with a retail vacancy of less than 4%, according to Humbargar. “We’re seeing infill projects in formerly vacant lots. There are new apartments and condos under construction, and the Hilton Garden Inn is ready to break ground,” continued Humbargar.

Of particular note, the Downtown culinary scene will expand with several high-profile chefs and eateries opening in 2017:

  • Chef Brother Luck, who in 2016 “Beat Bobby Flay” on the Food Network, will open his flagshikp restaurant Downtown this spring.
  • Longmont brewer Oskar Blues, which recently has expanded to notable markets such as Austin, TX and the RiNo district in Denver, will open in the former Old Chicago space at 118 N. Tejon Street in early summer. The 15,000 sqft space leased in less than 6 months.
  • Nationally recognized gluten-free eatery Coquette’s purchased and is renovating a new, modern space at 616 S. Tejon Street, opening in spring 2017.
  • Chef Mark Henry, who just won Food Network’s “Chopped” in December, announced he will open Rooster’s House of Ramen Downtown in 2017.

Economic growth Downtown benefits the entire community, with the one-square mile footprint providing 14 times its geographic weight in tax revenue.