Downtown Colorado Springs shows stable growth in 2024

Downtown Colorado Springs showed stable growth and resilience in 2024, despite challenges like inflation and political uncertainty. The Downtown Partnership reports strong support for the area and optimism for its future. Investment in downtown reached nearly $2.5 billion since 2013. In 2024 alone, completed projects surpassed $1 billion. This included 824 new apartment units opened in the last half of the year. More than 1,000 additional units are set to open in both 2025 and 2026. However, vacancy rates increased to 34.6% at the end of 2024. This was expected due to the new apartments. Yet, among established multifamily properties, the vacancy rate was only 8.8%, lower than the citywide average of 12.6%. The area also attracted more overnight visitors. Hotel occupancy reached 66.8%, slightly below the pre-pandemic rate. Additionally, the number of hotel rooms has doubled since 2019, leading to a record in occupied room nights for downtown. Hannah Parsons, the Downtown Partnership's Interim President and CEO, presented the findings in the group’s 10th annual State of Downtown report. She criticized media reports that depict downtown as struggling and emphasized that the area is stronger than it seems. Key highlights from the report included over 16.2 million visitors to downtown in 2024, including over 12.3 million tourists. The downtown area accounted for a significant number of building permits issued in Colorado Springs. Asking rents for apartments declined slightly, reflecting an increase in available units. The population in downtown grew by 8% from 2020 to 2024, which is much higher than the citywide growth rate. Finally, 29 new businesses opened downtown in 2024, maintaining the same level as the previous year.