A Denver real estate company likes us, it really likes us

Why does a Denver-area real estate company invest in Colorado Springs? For DPC Development Co., which on July 5 paid $25.2 million for the downtown Colorado Square building, the company is bullish on the Springs for several reasons, said president Chris King (right). While the Springs' commercial real estate market is growing, several national investors still haven't made purchases here, which leaves the field open for a mid-range investor such as DPC Development, King said. In addition, the company believes the Springs has a diverse economy, what with tech companies, defense contractors and service sector businesses, King said. DPC also believes downtown Colorado Springs is poised to make "a pretty good turnaround," King said. The Colorado Square building was especially attractive. Constructing a similar building in downtown probably would have cost the company twice as much, he said. DPC hopes to keep two subsidiaries of Houston-based El Paso Corp. as tenants; they occupy about 90 percent of the building. If not, the building would be attractive to a wide range of tenants, King said. "Hopefully, they'll stay," he said.