Is downtown Colorado Springs prospering or suffering?

Depends on who you ask. Take Eric Brenner, owner and executive chef at Red Gravy Italian restaurant, and Ryan Prickett, the managing partner and part owner of Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. Though the businesses are just blocks apart on Tejon Street, downtown’s central strip, the two men’s views of downtown are miles apart.

“It’s just stunning, how beautiful (Colorado Springs) is. The downtown area is so cute, so quaint. … I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather do business other than downtown,” said Brenner, who is a self-described “cheerleader for downtown.”

“I just don’t see anywhere else in the city that has the same amount of foot traffic, tourism and investment … to help drive people to your business.”

But Prickett, pointing to issues with the homeless and customers’ unhappiness with paid parking, said, “I quite frankly am shocked that people even come downtown anymore.”

Certainly, downtown has come a long way over the last decade or so, and signs of progress are everywhere.

Four new hotels and two office building conversions added almost 800 guest rooms to downtown since 2012. More hotels are on the way, including a planned 181-room, extended-stay property on downtown’s southwest side.

A multifamily building boom that started small with the 2016 opening of the 33-unit Blue Dot Place has swelled to around 2,000 apartments that were opened as of the end of 2024, according to the Downtown Partnership advocacy group’s economic development director, while another 1,000 apartments are on the way and expected to open in the next two years.

New restaurants and entertainment venues, including some well-known Denver-area concepts, have expanded to the area, while amenities such as the AdAmAn Alley — an easy-to-ignore corridor off Tejon Street that was made over into an engaging public space — have enhanced its character.

And the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum, Weidner Field and the Ed Robson Arena on the campus of Colorado College joined America the Beautiful Park, the Uncle Wilber fountain at Acacia Park and other attractions to draw thousands of people into the area, who, in turn, patronize stores, restaurants, art galleries at the like.

In fact, since 2013, $2.3 billion worth of downtown projects have been completed, are under construction or are on the drawing board, according to a Downtown Partnership estimate from last year’s State of Downtown report.

Investment efforts continue in Colorado Springs’ core district. In March, the city will begin revamping the Tejon Street corridor from Colorado Avenue to Boulder Street. Officials said changes like a reconfiguration of vehicle and pedestrian traffic, wider sidewalks, more outdoor dining space and additional amenities like trees and benches will boost business activity, public safety and accessibility downtown.

The Downtown Partnership, the area’s leading advocacy group, also is in the early stages of updating its Experience Downtown Master Plan, last updated in 2016, which guides downtown development and implements public policy initiatives. Over the next year, the partnership will lead the process to “substantial(ly) update” the document that will guide area planning efforts for at least 10 years.

A candid discussion

But even as that update gets launched, downtown — long considered by civic leaders, politicians and business people as the city’s economic, cultural and government hub — still faces challenges.

Data provided by the Downtown Partnership in the fall show that from Jan. 1 through Aug. 30, retail sales were down 4.3% over 2023, totaling $131.8 million. Foot traffic from Jan. 1 through Oct. 27 was down 1.4% — 13.5 million people, compared with 13.7 million people at the same time in 2023. Service industry sales were up 1.8%, or $85.5 million from January through August, and revenues for restaurants and bars were up 1% over 2023. Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 15, 20 downtown businesses closed their doors, but 28 new businesses opened in that same period.

The Downtown Partnership will present economic data and market trends for all of 2024 at its annual State of Downtown event March 20.

During a candid discussion between downtown business owners and city leaders in the fall, some merchants and building owners said they were chiefly concerned that paid parking and the homeless population were discouraging people from visiting the area.

Brenner believes the city’s investments downtown are paying off. Sales and foot-traffic data reflect fluctuations in market and industry trends — and decreases are not necessarily signs that downtown is struggling, he said.

“There are businesses, I would suggest, who made it through the COVID pandemic with the help of funding from the government and other tax credits, but as that runs out they’re back to surviving of their own volition. From that, I think there is some natural attrition that will take place,” Brenner said. “I think the tendency to blame someone is just human in nature, but I don’t necessarily think that downtown is in trouble.”

He credits Red Gravy’s success over recent years to changes he made during the pandemic that focused on his employees and enhancing dining service. Brenner said he created new jobs with benefits, hired more people, and ensured his staff was well-trained. This created a highly positive working environment that drew in more people, he said.

Brenner’s restaurant at 23 S. Tejon St. just had the best months in its history. Red Gravy recorded its best January, historically its slowest month, and in February the restaurant recorded its best weekly and daily sales, and broke its record for attendance.

“I don’t think the food is the main reason someone is going out; I think it’s their overall experience, so we’ve leaned into that,” Brenner said.

While he acknowledges that paid parking and homelessness can pose some difficulties for downtown merchants and visitors, Brenner believes the city and other stakeholders are addressing these issues appropriately.

“The city is responding in a way to figure out: How can we help these people?” he said of business owners.

Pay-parking complaints

But Prickett has had enough of downtown. For 40 years, Brown’s Shoe Fit at 119 N. Tejon St. has sold top-name brands of men’s, women’s and children’s shoes, boots, sandals, slippers, socks and other items downtown. Now, however, Prickett plans to move the store out of downtown and is close to finalizing a lease in another location.

Prickett, whose store is part of an Iowa-based chain, though it operates independently, said his business still isn’t close to bouncing back to its pre-COVID-19 sales numbers.

The retailer’s difficulty in recovering after COVID, however, has been exacerbated by downtown issues — with problems caused by the city’s homeless population being No. 1, followed closely by frustrations over the parking system, Prickett said.

“I feel like issues downtown have kind of been the issues they’ve always been, but they just seem to be worse than they used to be,” he said.

Prickett said he’s repeatedly cleaned human feces from the front and back of his business left by homeless individuals, some of whom also camp out in front of his store. The problem for downtown businesses is so pervasive that cleanup teams from the Downtown Partnership’s business improvement district perform cleanup on public streets, sidewalks and other areas.

Homeless individuals have slept on the flat roof of Brown Shoe Fit’s single-story building, apparently having used a Dumpster to climb up and reach the roof, Prickett said. Over a two-month stretch in the fall, one person stood in front of the business and screamed profanities, another banged his head on the side of the store building and another stole merchandise.

“I don’t feel comfortable with my wife coming down here alone. I would not bring my kids down here,” Prickett said. “I know the city’s spent a ton of money on the playground at Acacia Park a few years ago. It blows my mind to waste that money; it’s just going to get trashed by the homeless, have drug needles, have whatever. I have a 7-year-old daughter; I would not feel comfortable taking her there.”

And whether it’s metered parking in front of his business and along downtown’s streets, or public garages, his customers have to pay to park, which they don’t do at large shopping centers outside of downtown, Prickett said.

“The complaint I hear from customers is just simply having to pay for parking,” he said. “The rates went up, so you get less time for more money. The meters don’t work very well. People say, ‘I put money in there and it didn’t do anything.’ Or ‘I can’t work the (parking) app. I added money, but it didn’t add time.’ There’s just a lot of issues with the meters themselves. But people don’t want to pay for parking. Our competitors … don’t have the issues we have.”

Willingness to adapt

Derek Cohn who, along with partner Brent Baldwin, operate The Baldwin Cohn Group and own three prominent buildings in downtown’s core at 32 S. Tejon, 112-114 N. Tejon and 218 N. Tejon, said some of their tenants are performing well, especially in the 112-114 and 218 N. Tejon properties. Those businesses seeing success have shown a willingness to adapt to changing business conditions, he added.

The 112-114 N. Tejon building that includes The Crooked Cue pool hall, the Shrunken Head Tiki Bar and the Bloom Ultra Lounge, in particular, has seen strong customer activity, Cohn said.

“Good tenant occupancy and the tenants, to us, seem to be doing well,” Cohn said. “All three of those buildings on Tejon Street — those buildings are all bringing in more customers across the board than they have in years, and in some cases, decades.”

Even so, like Prickett, Cohn acknowledges that downtown businesses and properties have their problems. Many downtown visitors or would-be visitors, he said, are turned off by parking costs.

“That’s probably one of the biggest things that could make a difference in attracting people to the downtown area that aren’t already there,” he said. “Maybe not only reducing the fees or the times that they’re charging, but charging for Sundays. Most metro areas that charge for parking in downtown areas don’t charge on Sundays, as far as in my experience. But in downtown Colorado Springs, they do.”

At the same time, maybe a program could be created to provide some level of free parking to downtown shoppers and diners who make purchases at stores, art galleries, restaurants and other businesses, Cohn said, though he’s not sure of the logistics of such a program or how it could be implemented.

“Just to encourage people to spend money downtown, not just come park your car and walk around,” Cohn said. “When you spend money then you do receive some type of free parking voucher.”

Increase public safety

It’s also a struggle as property owners to keep up with problems created by the homeless, which “definitely contribute” to area residents avoiding downtown, Cohn said. He and Baldwin employ a private security company that sweeps their downtown buildings once in the early evening and again in the middle of the night to ensure properties are secure, clean and nobody is camping in elevators or elsewhere, Cohn said.

“When they’re camping out in front of our buildings, unfortunately, they just don’t camp there,” he said. “They leave messes. They go to the bathroom. They huff paint, which leaves a huge mess. They dismantle electrical panels. We’ve seen it all. It’s a challenge that we don’t really deal with as often at our other properties peripheral to downtown Colorado Springs.”

Problems created by the homeless always have a ripple effect, Cohn said. For example, someone who used drugs and smoked something set off a building fire alarm and then damaged the equipment, which had to be replaced, he said.

“Those are major problems,” he added. “We run first-class buildings, so it’s very important for us to make sure that they’re cleaned and maintained very, very well on a regular basis. And when we have these things occur, these are unique challenges that we really don’t run into at other properties.”

After hearing from downtown business owners late last year, the city and Downtown Partnership rolled out several initiatives to increase public safety and encourage more people to come downtown during the winter holidays, one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.

Changes included updates to the downtown parking policy, which will continue indefinitely in 2025, officials said. Parking in three city-owned garages and nine lots is now free on Sundays; it typically costs $1 per hour to park in city-owned parking facilities. Metered parking hours were also shortened to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 1-8 p.m. on Sunday.

“A lot of people have this perception of downtown that A, it’s hard to park, and B, there are too many homeless people. The reality is, it’s not really like that down here. It’s not hard to find parking, and … I have seen far fewer homeless people than I ever have downtown,” said Carrie Hibbard, who co-owns the Terra Verde boutique at 208 N. Tejon St., across from Acacia Park. “It really is just a perception. It’s thriving down here and it’s safe.”

Hibbard added that paid parking is a necessity downtown because it prevents employees who work in the area from using up premium parking spaces that potential patrons could use. Meters also encourage turnover so more people can come downtown and enjoy shopping, dining, the arts and more. Hibbard added she’d still like to see shorter evening meter hours, to encourage more people to shop after work.

Similar downtowns

While business owners — “the lifeblood” that keeps downtown districts thriving — have every right to voice their concerns, many downtowns across Colorado and in the U.S. face similar challenges, said Terri Takata-Smith, president of Downtown Colorado Inc., a Denver-based nonprofit that advocates for the state’s downtowns. She’s also vice president of marketing and communications for the Downtown Boulder Partnership.

For example, many downtowns compete with public concerns about parking, homelessness and a shift toward hybrid and remote work that has driven up office vacancy rates and decreased the numbers of lunch and happy-hour customers downtown.

Carrie Simison, a spokesperson for the Downtown Partnership, said the work her organization does every day keeps downtown Colorado Springs economically vibrant, safe, clean, walkable and welcoming.

“As an advocacy organization, the Downtown Partnership is in constant communication with our downtown businesses as well as with the city regarding the concerns they have. … All of these efforts are ongoing and as a city grows, they certainly won’t be solved overnight,” she said.

But is it any worse in Colorado Springs than in other cities?

Takata-Smith agrees that a person’s experience downtown is relative to the city’s overall culture. But business owners have a vested interest in ensuring their downtown is vibrant, safe and strong, she said.

“As key stakeholders, they absolutely have the right to voice their concerns and be heard. At the same time, two-way conversations allow business owners to understand challenges from different perspectives,” she said.

Downtown organizations, law enforcement, city officials, community groups and merchants often view the same issues from different perspectives.

“Understanding resources and limitations of all these various entities is essential in problem-solving and implementing solutions,” she said.

Take paid parking, for example. It’s a constant debate among many downtown districts that will elicit answers from all perspectives on its purpose and results, Takata-Smith said. Likewise for discussions about public safety and homelessness.

“It’s not surprising that some business owners in Colorado Springs see these factors as deterrents, while others feel the challenges are minor compared to larger cities,” Takata-Smith said.

Mom-and-pops

Downtown Colorado Springs is much more than the high-profile stores, restaurants and bars along the Tejon Street corridor and nearby side streets. Over decades, it’s been home to a broad mix of businesses that includes banks, auto repair shops, law offices, art galleries, residential and commercial real estate brokerages, yoga studios, nail salons, thrift stores and tattoo parlors.

That’s what Brenner, Hibbard and Richard Skorman, a former Colorado Springs councilman and the co-owner of Poor Richard’s Restaurant and Bookstore, Rico’s Cafe and Little Richard’s Toy Store for the past 50 years, said they love about the area.

“What’s really unique about downtown is 90% of the businesses are individually owned, although there have been some Denver chains,” Skorman said. “Here, it’s really mom-and-pop shops, and I think that’s a huge benefit. The people who run their businesses downtown really do care about their employees, they care about the city, and they care about their customers.”

A downtown business such as Tayco Screen Printing & Embroidery might be more commonly found in an industrial park. But the more than 40-year-old business operates a production plant, offices and a showroom, at 117 S. Nevada Ave., across the street and just south of the City Administration Building.

The company’s plant employs semi-automatic silk-screen presses to screen print company names, logos and artwork on items such as T-shirts, sweatshirts and canvas bags. Designs also are embroidered onto dress and polo shirts, jackets and ballcaps, among other items, using sophisticated programmable embroidery machines.

Tayco has been on South Nevada since 2012, but has operated in other areas of downtown — first at Rio Grande and Tejon streets and then on South Tejon before the company moved to its current location, said owner Marty Taylor.

On Nevada Avenue, the business has its own 30-stall parking lot for employees and customers. Its building — constructed in 1933, according to El Paso County land records, and once home to Ford and Studebaker car dealerships — is made of brick, which retains heat and makes it easier to start up equipment in the morning, Taylor said.

Tayco’s location on Nevada, in particular, has been a plus for the business, Taylor said.

The location is convenient for a wide range of Colorado Springs-area businesses, nonprofits and other Tayco customers, including Colorado Springs Utilities and the  Police Department’s operations center a few blocks south on Nevada, he said. Personnel from Fort Carson — another customer — can drive straight north on Colorado 115 before it turns into Nevada Avenue, he said.

And as Taylor competes with increasing numbers of online businesses, he feels his company can offer better customer service and its location provides easy access.

Taylor, however, is aware that downtown has its issues.

His business has been a victim of tagging in the past, though graffiti removal crews quickly sandblasted and painted over the damage, Taylor said. Years ago, buses arriving at the now-demolished Greyhound bus station a block away on Weber Street would drop off “all sorts of strange folk,” who sought to use the bathroom or phone or wanted directions to the Springs Rescue Mission, he said.

Downtown also is missing some of the buzz it had in the past, when events such as Springs Spree — a downtown festival — brought people into the area, Taylor said. Acacia Park, he said, was more “user friendly,” and downtown was home to more runners and bicyclists.

Now, Taylor said of downtown, “it has lost a lot of the vibe that it had before.”

The surge in apartment development in recent years, however, is being counted on to help infuse downtown with more residents who will patronize stores, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and museums and perhaps restore the vibe.

“We do get people who say they now live downtown and this is where they come to do their computer work, or this is their place,'” Skorman said of the customers who patronize his café and book and toy shops. “I’m sure that will just be more and more as people move into new apartments.”

Impact of new housing

Austin Wilson-Bradley, the Downtown Partnership’s economic development director, said the impact of newly opened apartments is work in progress.

The Downtown Partnership has heard from some downtown businesses that they’re seeing increased traffic from renters who’ve moved into the area, Wilson-Bradley said.

He cited an as-yet-unreleased survey of downtown merchants by the partnership, which showed about one-third of them reported they had seen a year-over-year increase in holiday sales of 3%-7%, and another 15% of survey respondents said they had seen an increase of more than 7% over the previous holiday season.

“Certainly, I think the data is starting to show it,” Wilson-Bradley said of the impact that new apartment dwellers are having on downtown businesses.

And yet, of new apartments now open in downtown, 800 of them only came on the market later in 2024, he said. Though some of them are leasing up strongly, it takes six months to a year for an apartment project to reach “stabilization,” or an occupancy rate of about 90% or higher — a figure that varies from project to project, he said.

As a result, Wilson-Bradley said he doesn’t expect that downtown businesses will see the full impact of the influx of new apartments and residents for another two years.

“We’re already starting seeing the early, early results, but really, I think by the time we get into the start of 2026, into 2027, that’s really when we’re going to feel the meat of these results,” Wilson-Bradley said. “By the time we hit that point, we’ll be looking at 3,000-4,000 units downtown, and by that point, we’ll expect the majority of them to be stabilized or close to stabilized. So, really, that’s about when we’ll start really feeling the impact.”