Travel + Leisure magazine honors Springs hotels

Prestige is the word of the year over at The Cliff House at Pikes Peak. The 19th Century Manitou inn had a cameo role in the feature film "The Prestige" and has seen its international reputation polished to a high sheen this year by being named among Travel + Leisure magazine's list of the world's top 500 hotels. The readers poll last summer had The Cliff House 19th in North America and the just released list prepared by T+L's editors and reporters has the inn 24th among 212 North American hotels. Ten Colorado hotels made the editor's list with The Cliff House (87.71 rating) third in the state behind the Ritz Carlton at Beaver Creek (88.26) and Little Nell at Aspen (87.78) , and just ahead of The Broadmoor (86.49).

Marketing agency for small businesses moves

Art of Design i.d., a design and marketing agency focused on small business, has moved to new offices at 1621 W. Colorado Ave., #110.

The new office has 850 square feet of space, which is three times the size of the previous location, according to Debbie Tuzel, principal of Art of Design i.d..

The move was necessary because of the company's recent business growth. The company's gross revenue has nearly tripled in the past three years, Tuzel said. The company has been in business for 20 years.

For more information, visit http://www.artofdesignid.com/

Colorado Springs Young Professionals is 3

The , group, one of the largest young professional groups in the nation with about 1100 members, is celebrating its third anniversary 6-9 p.m. Jan. 31 at Blondie's a new downtown venue, next to the Red Martini. (The CSYP group will be the first to see the inside of the new venue.) More than 500 people are expected to attend this event. Drinks and food will be complimentary.

For more information, visit http://www.csyoungprofessionals.com/ or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/csyoungprofessionals/

A side order of restaurant news

Champps Entertainment Inc. of Littleton has agreed to sell its assets to a New York private equity firm. Champps owns and operates 49 restaurants and franchises or licenses another 13. Champp's has a restaurant at The Promenade Shops at Briargate plus two in the Denver metro area, at the Park Meadows and Aspen Grove shopping centers. Under the terms of the deal, an investment entity formed by Kinderhook will pay $75 million for the company and assume all of its liabilities, including outstanding debt. The Champps corporate entity will remain a publicly held company and intends to invest the proceeds from the sale into another business. ....

The Taco Bell restaurant at 405 East Platte Ave. - long a favorite of Palmer High students - is closed at least until March in order for the franchisee to do a complete remodel to a more modern design that the chain calls "Bold Choice." ...

Anthem wants universal health coverage for children

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield released a plan this month that calls for public and private initiatives to address the growing numbers of uninsured.

The plan supports expanding state health care programs to cover more of the 180,000 children living in Colorado who were not covered by health insurance last year. The state could do that, Anthem said, by extending the financial requirements to cover children in families than earn up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. That's about $60,000 for a family of four.

In addition to opening public programs to more children, the plan advocates state health care programs to include low-income parents and childless adults living at the poverty level.

Anthem also supports premium assistance programs for families with private insurance and pools to provide insurance to high-risk people.

Anthem said it will donate $30 million over the next three years to support community and state-based programs that address initiatives for the uninsured, which total 770,000 adults and children in Colorado. That's 17 percent of the state's population.

Nationally, 46 million Americans under age 65 do not have health insurance, reports Anthem.

Barnes Marketplace continues to expand

Nor'wood Development Group continues to move its six-month-old Barnes Marketplace closer to full occupancy. Old Navy is projected to open at the Barnes Road and Powers Boulevard shopping center Feb. 21, followed this spring by the Colorado chain restaurant the Egg & I and a branch of the Security Service Federal Credit Union. On the Border restaurant, a Circuit City electronics store and a 7/Eleven are due to open this summer, joining the existing outlets for Checker Auto Parts, Good Times Burgers and Frozen Custard, Hobby Lobby, Mardel Christian and Education store, Bed Bath & Beyond, Noodles and Backyards and Billiards. The Old Navy store will be the third in Colorado Springs - joining those at The Citadel and Chapel Hills Mall - and seventh in the state.

Eat up: Annual real estate forecast breakfast on its way

The Institute of Real Estate Management will hold its 16th annual economic and real estate forecast breakfast 7 a.m. Jan. 25 at the Sheraton Colorado Springs Hotel, 2886 S. Circle Drive, on the Springs' south side. The popular event -- typically attended by several hundred business people -- provides an overview of the local economy and real estate market. This year's speakers will be Tucker Hart Adams, a Springs resident, president of The Adams Group Inc. consulting firm and an econmist with U.S. Bank, who will speak about the local economy and whether a recesson is looming in 2007; Mary Frances Cowan, a veteran commercial real estate broker for Grubb & Ellis/Quantum Commercial Group in Colorado Springs and who will discuss the commercial market; Doug Carter, a Springs real estate broker who will talk about the apartment market and Fort Carson's effect; and Mike Kazmierski, president of the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp. and who will talk about the economy and the EDC's role and initiatives. More information: Pikes Peak Association of Realtors at 633-7718 or e-mail Linda Littlefield at littlefield@ppar.org.