Chelsea Gondeck has been named the chief executive officer of the Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs.

Gondeck, who first joined the organization in 2021 and has served as its interim CEO since June, will begin her permanent position Jan. 1. The nonprofit merchant group announced her appointment during its holiday mixer on Thursday evening.

The Downtown Partnership selected Gondeck from among 125 candidates nationwide, including more than 30 local applicants, Board Chair Jen Furda told The Gazette. Gondeck was one of three finalists for the position and the selection process took a year.

She will continue leading major projects that will shape the city’s future and ensure downtown remains Colorado Springs’ economic, cultural and civic center, the organization said in a news release.

“I’m both honored and thrilled,” Gondeck said of her appointment in an interview with The Gazette this week. “… I just knew I found my life’s work when I (started) working for the organization. … I love this city, supporting small businesses and strengthening partnerships to make our community stronger and more vibrant. I’m excited to lead this next chapter as we continue to elevate what downtown means for the community and strengthen the ecosystem that really powers Olympic City USA. I think we have a lot of incredible opportunities.”

Gondeck has held key leadership roles with the Downtown Partnership over the last four years, such as director of planning and mobility, executive director of the Greater Downtown Colorado Springs Business Improvement District and chief operating officer.

Among other transformational projects, she led the award-winning AdAmAn Alley reconstruction — the largest placemaking project in downtown’s history, the Downtown Partnership said in the release.

The reconstruction marked the 100^th anniversary of the AdAmAn Club’s role in the region. It upgraded utilities and repaved the alley located between two buildings at 15 and 17 S. Tejon St., stretching east to South Nevada Avenue. The project also installed artwork in the alleys bounded by Nevada Avenue, Colorado Avenue and Tejon Street. It reopened in December 2022.

Gondeck stepped in as the Downtown Partnership’s interim CEO in June. She replaced former interim CEO Hannah Parsons, who held the interim role from October 2024 through May after former CEO Susan Edmondson stepped down last fall.

The Downtown Partnership’s “rigorous and comprehensive” CEO search “affirmed Gondeck’s proven leadership and deep understanding of downtown’s priorities as the top choice for CEO,” the organization said in the release.

Furda highlighted Gondeck’s institutional knowledge, her connection to the Colorado Springs community and her passion for the organization’s work as characteristics that made her the right choice to lead the nonprofit.

“Chelsea has done such a good job of really shining through in everything that she does. From Day One at Downtown Partnership to now as the CEO, she really knows what she’s doing,” Furda told The Gazette. “… We enthusiastically support and feel Chelsea is the right person for the job. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

In the last seven months as interim CEO, Gondeck has guided major initiatives for the nonprofit.

The Downtown Partnership in the summer launched its Clean & Safe program, for instance, a three-part, 19-month pilot program that added a larger private security presence, a new outreach team for homeless residents in the area and ambassadors who promote downtown businesses.

Gondeck also led the organization through the Elevate Downtown Plan, which is receiving its first update since 2016 and will guide improvements in downtown Colorado Springs over the next decade.

Some projects in the queue include Palmer High School’s $100 million renovation and the COS Creek Plan that will establish a vision for future investments and stewardship of the Fountain Creek Watershed, with a focus on Monument and Fountain creeks adjacent to downtown, the project website said.

The city, in partnership with the Downtown Partnership’s Downtown Development Authority, also improved two blocks of Tejon Street downtown this year. The $8.6 million Tejon Street Revitalization project widened and improved two blocks of Tejon Street, between East Kiowa Street and Colorado Avenue. The blocks now have wider and more accessible multimodal walkways, expanded outdoor dining space for restaurants, the center lane was removed and deliveries relocated to new zones on side streets, and new lighting, trees, benches, bike racks installed, among other aesthetic changes.

“My top priorities include retaining the economic vitality of downtown, from small businesses to the hospitality and office environments. … We really want to strengthen the concept of living, working and playing downtown,” Gondeck said.

“The changing of work was very much prompted by the pandemic, but also, looking at how people travel, how people spend their money, and the growth of online and e-commerce platforms, we need to be flexible with how we can support the downtown economy and still drive foot traffic to our downtown businesses. Downtown has its own unique character … (and) it’s really about driving energy to a place,” she added.

Through Jan. 12, the public can review the draft Elevate Downtown Plan on the Downtown Partnership website at downtowncs.com/experience-downtown-plan-update.

The organization is taking public comment on the draft. It will then go to the city’s Downtown Review Board, Planning Commission and City Council for approval.

“I think we have a great opportunity to build from the success of the last decade,” Gondeck said. “And I think the next decade will be even more successful.”