Examiner.com: Colorado Springs Apartment Vacancy Rate Falls to 6 Percent, Rents Rise

The average rent in the Colorado Springs metro area rose year over year for the tenth quarter in a row, climbing 2.3 percent during the second quarter to $776. According to a report released today by the Colorado Division of Housing and the Apartment Association of Southern Colorado, the average rent for the region was up from $759 reported during the second quarter of last year, and was also up from 2012’s first-quarter average rent of $754.

The average rent increased year over year in all sub-markets measured during the second quarter except the Southeast region where the average rent fell 5.1 percent to $638. The average rent increased the most in the Security/Widefield/Fountain region where it was up 7.9 percent, year over year, to $622.

“The rent growth in the metro area continues, but the rate of increase has fallen off recently,” said Ron Throupe, a professor of real estate at the University of Denver’s Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management, and the report’s author. “The weak employment situation in the region is not ideal for pushing rents, so we’re seeing some moderation there.”

Read more: http://ow.ly/cwIJ5

Fox 21 News: Waldo Canyon Fire concert raises $288K

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The "Community Rises" concert to benefit victims of the Waldo Canyon Fire brought in almost $300,000 Wednesday night. Officials with the World Arena, which hosted the Independence Day concert, released totals Thursday. At the concert, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, CenterPlate and the arena collected $85,407.90 from concertgoers.










READ MORE: http://www.coloradoconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=773443#.UA3Y4I7u3yc

Denver Business Journal: Inside Casa Bonita, a Slideshow

Published in the Denver Business Journal | Date: Friday, July 13, 2012

Literally hundreds of Mexican restaurants dot the Denver landscape but there’s only one Casa Bonita. It is known well all over Colorado as the one place children like to go, and now, all over the world, because of the famous cartoon South Park.

With its pink walls, 85-foot bell tower and gold dome, Casa Bonita looms large over an otherwise nondescript strip mall along West Colfax Avenue. The interior of the 52,000-square-foot restaurant is meant to evoke a Mexican village, albeit one that has cliff divers, staged gunfights and a puppet show.

Picture Left--Behind the waterfall at Casa Bonita, where kids can encounter the infamous Black Bart

Click here to see the entire slideshow.

CSBJ: Displaced fire victims crowding tight rental market

Published by The Colorado Springs Business Journal | July 13,2012| Written by Amanda Miller

http://www.all-seasons.com

As evacuation orders were lifted and families went home last week, those who lost their houses to the Waldo Canyon fire started the hunt for new places to live. With almost 350 homes burned to the ground and countless others damaged, the rush to find housing has put a crunch on the already-tight local rental market.

The average metro-area vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2012 was 6.38 percent, according to the Apartment Insights survey released Tuesday. It was down to 4.24 percent on the city’s west side, where most of those who lost their homes want to live. 

Read more: http://csbj.com/2012/07/13/displaced-fire-victims-crowding-tight-rental-market/