Apartment boom continues with Briargate proposal [Gazette, The (CO)]

Yet another apartment complex is being proposed for Colorado Springs, this one in the Briargate area on the city's far northeast side by an Indiana development company.

It would be the seventh apartment project planned or started over the last several months, as falling vacancy rates, record-high rents and a lack of construction in recent years - among other factors - have combined to trigger a flurry of multi-family development in the Pikes Peak region.

The latest project, the 272-unit Apartments at Briargate, is being proposed for 12 acres southeast of Powers Boulevard and Briargate Parkway, along Grand Cordera Parkway, according to plans recently submitted to the Colorado Springs Land Use Review office.

Pedcor Investments of Carmel, Ind., just outside Indianapolis, plans to buy the property from High Country Land Co. in Colorado Springs, formerly known as La Plata Investments, said Doug Quimby, president of affiliate La Plata Communities. The purchase isn't scheduled to be completed until September; Pedcor still must obtain a rezoning and development plan approval, among other regulatory OKs, Quimby said.

Pedcor Investments is a division of Pedcor Cos., which develops, builds and manages housing communities in the Midwest and western United States, according to its website. Pedcor has developed more than 10,000 apartment units in a dozen states, the website says.

Pedcor officials couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

The start and completion dates on the Briargate project were not known. But planning documents show a first phase that would include 128 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in four buildings. Plans also show a clubhouse, pool, playground and garages. A second phase would add 144 apartments in another four buildings.

Quimby described the project as a high-quality development, slightly below what would be considered as a luxury complex. It would be Pedcor's first project in Colorado, he said.

"Pedcor is a very good company," Quimby said. "They're a very well established company."

In addition to Pedcor's project, Nor'wood Development Group, one of the Springs' largest real estate companies, plans four apartment complexes in Colorado Springs and Fountain, south of town, totaling 1,075 units.

Meanwhile, construction is under way on a 230-unit complex at Woodmen Road and Union Boulevard in the Springs by Utah-based Talos Holdings and a 177-unit complex in Monument, north of town, by Springs-based Vision Development.

Developers are rushing to build apartments because of shifts in the local residential market favoring multi-family projects, said Doug Carter, a Springs commercial real estate broker with national real estate firm Sperry Van Ness.

As the economy soured in recent years, some people couldn't obtain mortgages to purchase homes or chose not to buy because of concerns about job security, Carter said. Others lost their properties to foreclosure.

That - along with more troops coming to Fort Carson - has resulted in an influx of renters. And since few apartments have been built in recent years, existing projects have filled up and rents have soared. Springs-area rents averaged a record $778.35 per month in the third quarter of last year, while the vacancy rate was 6.2 percent, down from double digits several years earlier.

Rising rents and falling vacancies are big incentives for developers, who can borrow money at today's low interest rates and buy land at lower prices because of the down economy, Carter said.

Another incentive for developers: Once their projects are built and generating steady revenues, they become attractive to institutional buyers - such as real estate investment trusts and insurance companies - that are looking for new investments, Carter said.

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