November 3, 2009

November 1, 2009


Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer or Tenant Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
November 1, 2009


Attached is our complete listing of all properties for sale in Colorado Springs, based on property type - office, industrial and condo. This is the most complete listing that we are aware of. It’s our goal to provide this information, updated weekly. We develop these lists by basic research and cross-checking data points from the PPCIE, local broker's individual web sites, The Turner Book and any other public information domain we can find.

You are receiving this information because, at some point, you asked or a friend referred your name to be included in our e-mail Insider’s List. If you no longer wish to receive this information, send an e-mail reply to me (tim@hoffleigh.com) and ask to be removed. Alternatively, if you know someone who could benefit from the receipt of this information, forward this e-mail to them, and suggest they contact us, so we can consider adding them to our exclusive list.

All Market Average Office Building Sale Price PSF = $109.28 (DOWN from $109.95 last week.)
We are currently tracking 147 office buildings for sale.
This is 1,526,152 square feet, which represents a total market value of $167,781,033.

All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $81.92 (NO CHANGE from $81.92 last week.)
We are currently tracking 141 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 1,728,519 square feet, which represents a total market value of $141,603,756.

To View Tim Leigh’s ad, please click below!
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/Tim%20Leigh.pdf

To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/10.16.09.pdf


Tim’s Column

Because there are heroes, I’m looking at the never-ending pile strewn across my desk, while warming my perched-feet on the Titan Electric, safe and snug in my cocoon, gazing across the top of the LaQuinta as the sun’s rays expand ever larger from the east, washing the snow covered Pikes Peak in an array of pinks and blues, coloring another amazing, Colorado blue-bird-sky backdrop. And I’ll be on the mountain later today enjoying its natural beauty and the solitude that comes with mountain-trail running because there are heroes.

Because there are heroes, Captain John Lee is a friend of mine. He’s a combat veteran who’s currently fighting in the war in Afghanistan. He rented a house from me once; on 31st Street, and he’s still got some of his stuff in our mini-storage. He bought and is storing a fast, red Corvette like he always wanted before his last deployment. He’s planning to come-back; because there are heroes.

I received a letter from John, from Afghanistan yesterday. I’ve decided to let John write this week’s column, because in spite of dour economy and people’s personal struggles, John’s letter challenged me to pause and consider that most of what we do and most of what we argue about is mostly pedestrian. It’s not life-threatening and the problems are generally solvable. And we’re permitted to have our differences, because there are heroes.

“Family and Friends,

Quite a bit has changed since I wrote that last e-mail over the fourth of July, and frankly, I’m not sure what to write to bring you up to speed. A train wreck of a national election has come and gone, which will be revisited later this week with the run-off election.

We have conducted patrols through the towns and up mountains, attempted to empower a local government in its easily corruptible infancy, and have promoted development in a region, that with the exception of automatic rifles, motor vehicles, and the occasional misplaced token piece of western technology, operates much as it has for centuries. We’ve learned the area and how to operate in it. We’ve learned who the local power brokers are and what their agenda is, as we have learned who is responsible for the violence in the area against us and the civilian population.

Likewise, the Taliban has learned how we operate, and has fully exploited its ability to target us. The frequency and intensity of attacks have increased significantly, as they have throughout the country. In the last few months we’ve fired more artillery rounds in my little corner of the country than has been fired in all of Iraq this year.

The battles are usually very one-sided and very costly for the remarkably resilient Taliban. Regardless, we’ve had some bad days out here recently. One of my closest friends out here was killed by a sniper September 10. Great guy, I miss him.

On October 3rd our unit fought a battle that everyone in our unit will remember their role in it for the rest of their lives. There are some amazing stories from that day that still haven’t been publicly told. I’m sure it will be told in greater depth in the future.

You can read about it here:
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/10/10/the_battle_of_cop_keating_an_earwitness_account
Universally, across my unit, largely composed of fellow Iraq vets, we all agree that this deployment has been unlike anything that we’ve experienced before. Sure, each conflict has its own set of unique dynamics, characteristics, and challenges, but the stark contrast between what we’ve seen here and what we saw in Iraq has required 110%, and then some from everyone in our unit. The lack of responsibility in Kabul and the indecision currently in Washington over the desire to make this fight a national priority as is required to successfully introduce a functioning government and a stable society, or to allow it to remain as a under-resourced stalemate that is read about in the third page of the news that remains a breeding ground for expeditionary Islamic extremists, has added to our frustration. Frequently, I’m asked what I’d like sent in care packages. Personally, I’d like to just get more helicopters, soldiers, and unmanned aircraft. If someone can figure out a way to FedEx those out here it’d be greatly appreciated.

So in other news… I went to Pakistan the other day. The Pakistani military was very glad to have the opportunity to meet with us. They would make good used car salesmen. Enough said about that one. Last week I experienced a 6.2 earthquake. I was taking a shower and didn’t think anything of it. Our shower building is close to the landing zone on my base and I assumed that a helicopter had decided to hover over the shower building a little longer than normal. As soon as I got back to my room and saw everything on the floor I realized I might have been mistaken. I just celebrated my 27th Birthday last week. A group of my co-workers and me got together and watched a comedy. I think we all needed that…I think it was the third movie I’ve seen since I’ve been here. There just doesn’t seem like there is enough hours in the day. Birthday’s while deployed are definitely starting to feel normal now. 24th was in Kuwait, 25th in Iraq, and now no 27th here. Colorado was a good place for number 26; hopefully it’s where I’ll be for 28.

A considerable amount of time has passed since you last heard from me. I apologize for that. What you just read is my best attempt at a three month update. Hope all is well with everyone.
Take care, John”

And now the pedestrian, because there are heroes:

Average office building sale prices continue their nominal slide. Matt reports that the average office building sale price is $109.28 per square foot. That’s down mere, cents per square foot from the previous week and I believe, barring some catastrophe, we’re near the bottom.
We’ve written 2 office building sale contracts in the past week (and several leases). And, while 2 weeks don’t make a trend, it’s a positive indicator and tells me that at least some folks have finally accepted the reality of the current political and business climate and are starting to feel optimistic or opportunistic. Now, please realize those deals are not great deals, but they’re deals; they’re a start. And realize that fear & greed drive all markets and I’m starting to feel that we’re on the cusp of a greed-binge.

So what are we seeing on the ground? Here’s a chef’s sampler:

405 South Cascade Avenue is a 29,300 square foot office building whose price dropped from $2,650,000 to $1,950,000. While that’s a move in the right direction, it still falls short of what the assessor says - $1,524,000. Obviously, this still has some room to go; and who drops their price $700,000 in 1 week. Come-on; he’s either been the victim of really bad advice or he’s sobered up.

2993 Broadmoor Valley Road is an 8,016 square foot office building; 1970’s style woody-walk-up, whose price dropped from $649,000 to $589,000. Don’t you love pricing? It’s a real science. It’s called throw-a-dart and hope! In this case, the assessor says the property’s worth much more; $835,000. Who ya gonna believe? (By the way, the new asking price is $246,000 less than the assessed value and is only $73.48 psf. Hmm. Could be an opportunity lurking?
3132 West Colorado Avenue is a peach; it’s a pearl; it’s a house being sold a commercial building. Its former use was Asian massage parlor and I guess that’s commercial. No wait, it gets better; this place actually burned-out; No wait, it gets better; it’s located right next door to a day-labor office. No wait, it gets better; it’s in the main path of the new homeless camp recently written about in the Gazette. And the price continues to drop because nobody wants it. Now there’s a revelation. There is an old axiom that says “Good real estate is good real estate. The rest is a target – for a wrecking ball.”

The Seller dropped his price at 3132 another $10,000 this week; from $209,000 to $199,000. The assessor says a good offer would be $148,500. Are you kidding me? I’d think about it at around $75,000; if I could get 100% financing; if I could get no money down; if I could get non-recourse; if I could get low-interest. Dang, that’s starting to sound like some of the deals we did a couple of years ago. Ah, the good old days.

Re-read John’s letter and read the links.

We can dream big dreams, poke fun at each, argue religion, politics & sports; and worry about bottom lines, profit margins and ROI because there are heroes.
Have a profitable week,

Tim Leigh

By the way, please don’t forget we earn our living helping small business and professional practices with their leasing, buying, selling and managing real estate needs. If you know anybody that needs these types of professional services, please call and let me know. 719-337-9551 or shoot me an e-mail Tim@HoffLeigh.com.

Sincerely,

TJL
Tim Leigh
719-337-9551
Tim@HoffLeigh.com

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