Tim’s Market Report
September 19, 2010
We reach to the past to find our future. I’ve said that dozens of times and its true. And in that vein, I
was thinking about the economy last week and whether or not we’re likely to recover soon. And in that
vein, I was reconsidering the Panic of 1837. In my mind, the Panic of 1837 very much resembles what
we’ve been struggling with. It was a time when “the American people gave themselves to an amazing
extravagance of land speculation”. . . when fraud was doubtless existent “but was incidental to the
honest delusion of intelligent men who had all drunk in the national intoxication over American success
and growth.”
The Panic of 1837 was a 5 year national depression that was brought‐on by the several previous years of
rampant real estate speculation; where you could buy government land for $1.25 an acre and resell it
“at the market”. That speculation was promoted by Federal Government and banking interest’s policies;
and while businessmen and bankers were “prostrate with anxiety or irremediable ruin”, the only
remedy for recovery was time, industry and frugality.
Rich and po’ folk alike were paddling the same canoe in 1837. They were all broke and inhaling the
brackish smoke drafting from the fire of revolution present in the highly charged political and financiallychaotic
atmosphere of the time. Seth Luther, (one of the great orators of the time) said during his 1837,
4th of July rally speech, crying for effective financial institutional reform, “We will try the ballot box
first. If that will not affect our righteous purpose the next and last resort is the cartridge box!” Wow!
That’s passion. An Albany newspaper wrote, “Remember the fate of the working men. They were soon
destroyed by rolling parties. . . They admitted into their ranks broken‐down lawyers and politicians.
They became perverted and were unconsciously drawn into a vortex from which they never escaped.”
(Hmm . . . Sounds like it was time for their tea party! . . )
Sincerely,
TJL Tim Leigh
719-337-9551
Tim@HoffLeigh.com
September 20, 2010
September 13, 2010
September 12, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
09.12.10
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 = $99.25 (NO CHANGE from last week)
We are currently tracking 80 office buildings for sale.
This is 752,017 square feet, which represents a total market value of $74,634,118
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $76.43 (DOWN $10.29 from last week)
We are currently tracking 66 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 838,281 square feet, which represents a total market value of $64,070,106
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/8.20.10.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
September 12, 2010
It was 6:00 O’clock already and by the time I looked up and out the window it was still dark outside. And I thought to myself “that can’t be good”. Where did the summer go? And you know it’s a slippery slope - the journey to the cold dark north. I know from first-hand experience. I grew-up in the cold dark north. I know how seductive a Vixen she is. First she lures you into a sense of false security; that the never-ending summer will never end. Ah, but she’s a wily trickster; she’ll ply you with her flirtatious nature; sizzling day-time temperatures followed by amazing, windless, icy-crisp evenings perfect for outdoor camp fires, a feisty merlot and deep sleep; and azure daytime skies so deep that when you stare at them against the black backdrop of the Colorado Rocky Mountains you have to squint or hurt your eyes. But, be warned, she is a trickster, so “enjoy the summer while you can”, because winter is on the way. . . .
Winter is on its way because we are spending ourselves broke. There’s no other way to say it. This year’s Federal deficit will be the 2nd largest in the past 65 years (2nd only to last year’s). And according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), we’ll have something like a $1.3 trillion dollar debt (a number followed by 12 zeros) for the foreseeable future. And here’s a revelation; that debt has to be repaid by someone. To continue this lunacy, someone has to invest a boat load of dough into US Treasury bonds every year and the big question is, “Who?” Some of those investors will be foreigners but the rest will be us by way of 1) an increase in taxes; or 2) people saving more and putting that savings into US Bonds (not likely) or 3) monetizing the debt (say inflation out loud 3 times). Choose your poison.
Relative to the size of the economy, this year’s deficit is expected to be at 9.1 percent of GDP which deficit will be exceeded only by last year’s deficit of 9.9 percent of GDP. Having a deficit of 9-10% of GDP is unsustainable. It leads to an ever increasing buildup of more debt on top of more debt that eventually triggers higher interest rates & (say inflation out loud 3 times.)
There’s a theory that says the way to a balanced budget is productivity; that you can “grow yourself out of a financial mess”; that if you produce & sell more, the extra income derived from those sales allows you to pay-down debt. Most bright thinkers say that as a national economy, we have to produce more stuff and sell more stuff to more people outside of our economy. (Pssst. . . Here’s a hint – we have to do the same thing locally!)
We need to brand ourselves and sell ourselves as a city worthy of consideration. We have to recognize that the enemy is not us; it’s the global economy. As a community, we need to work together (that would be the public sector & and the private sector) to present a unified front in the global marketplace. Hey, hey; call me crazy.
I’m just saying. . .
Sincerely,
TJL Tim Leigh
719-337-9551
Tim@HoffLeigh.com
August 23, 2010
August 20, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
08.22.10
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 = $103.52 (UP $0.65 from last week)
We are currently tracking 92 office buildings for sale.
This is 835,185 square feet, which represents a total market value of $86,458,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $87.59 (DOWN $1.68 from last week)
We are currently tracking 74 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 918,696 square feet, which represents a total market value of $80,471,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/8.20.10.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
August 22, 2010
I don’t like broccoli. I don’t like the texture, the taste or the smell. I don’t like recessions, deflation or systemic financial resets. Unfortunately, broccoli is good for you and unfortunately we have periodic resets. And as they say, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” if only you’ll lean back and learn from the now and the past and craft your future avoiding obvious mistakes. And my lesson learned from these experiences. . . “Avoiding mistakes is the key to long-term success!”
In the meantime, people I’m reading say that, at least for the immediately-foreseeable future, we should expect financial gloom & doom, uncertainty and chaos. It’s their contention that the so-called V shaped recovery was a myth; that it was driven by restocking inventories then the stimulus but was never sustainable because there was no concomitant demand. They say the problem will be exacerbated now by resetting commercial estate loans which will not be “reset” but called and sold at a discount.
Previously, questionable commercial real estate loans had been hidden on bank balance sheets by design. The Treasury Department told banks to “extend the loans & pretend the market would recover”. This was also known as “delay & pray”. . . and, yes he said cynically, “that was a great strategy!” Now the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is telling banks to take the loss; eat the broccoli; get poorly performing loans off-the-books. Unfortunately, typically, the government’s plan is screwing up the system. Their idea of “poorly performing” encompasses loans that are performing well by themselves, but where the borrower has other, non-performing loans (even with another bank). Banks are being told to look at the borrower’s aggregate situation and place all of his loans into the same “poorly-performing-bucket” if he has “any” chinks in his armor. Loans are being tarred with a singularly unfair brush. Ah, but, would we expect any less from Federal Regulators?
And speaking of loans, last week was a bitter-sweet adventure for me. I had a few partners bail-out of deals and others reaffirm their commitment. That’s called perspective & time-line. The folks who bailed-out are good guys; they just see the world through dark, gray, foreboding lenses. They believe the market’s still tanking and in that case it’s better to cut & run. The folks who recommitted may not be any more optimistic about the short run, but they’ve concluded that at some point values will recover and that it’s better to keep riding the pony they’re on rather than sell short for the loss.
What’s my prediction: We’re going to live with a new reality – instead of the hoped-for, sharp-spike of recovery, the economy will “slog along” interminably (5 – 7 years); profits will remain flat; GDP will remain flat to neutral; the national savings rate will increase because anxious spenders will not spend; we’ll experience higher-than-normal unemployment (the new normal) and the continuous deleveraging of real estate will cause continuously diminishing values in the mid-term; taxes will increase causing a further drag on the economy; the Bush tax cuts disappear and personal tax rates increase January 1st; the marriage penalty grows; the child tax credit halves and the death tax returns; and, to add insult to injury, the capital gains tax will increase from 15% to 20%!
Is there any good news? Sure; remember, 10% unemployment means 90% employment; crashing real estate values spells OPPORTUNITY. It’s a great time to reset your values, bargain hunt and ready yourself for the next cycle. Tough times are God’s way of telling us to adjust our lives - personally & professionally. Those who adjust move on and some prosper; those who don’t will get caught in the mire and bilge and flounder.
And speaking of opportunity – an update: the 6 acres we’re selling on North Carefree & the building on LaSalle Street, both, which are being Dutch Auctioned, drop their respective prices $50,000 this week. Both started at the Assessor’s value and will drop $50,000 every 2 weeks until they sell. If you want to find out more, call me (719-337-9551).
And from the Campaign
A friend (who knows I’m “at play” for an At Large Council seat) called to ask if I could help him. He wanted to be connected with someone in the police department so he could plead for patrols in his neighborhood. His business is located on South Sierra Madre Street, in an industrial area that continues to be overrun by homeless folks who normally spend most nights and much of each day in deep sleep around the Labor Ready building. I told him to “forget about it!” We don’t have the policing horse-power to patrol chronic, but mostly benign situations.
His problem points to a larger philosophical question however that merits discussion. “Do we want and do we have adequate police and fire protection?” OK, I get that we don’t want to raise taxes for the general fund because we don’t trust “the leaders” to do the “right thing”. But, who doesn’t want adequate police & fire protection?
As for the cops; the staffing is so low that you’re called to report your minor crime “on-line” and then “forget about it!” For major incidents, I’ve been told the guys can only staff-up for 1 at a time. Think of a shooting at a downtown nightclub and a simultaneous major car accident on I-25. At current staff levels, we have to pick one. Or consider how unmotivated a 20-something guy with a couple of small kids at home must be when he’s asked to report, “guns-a-blazing” to a gang-violence incident when he feels like nobody appreciates the sacrifice?
As for the fire-guys; I’ve ridden around with them and they’re awesome but they’re not really fire-guys. They’re mostly our 1st response medical team. Here’s the conundrum. We want to pay less and get more. This is bad economics and bad policy. Do you really want the 1st response for your heart attack to be from the lowest bidder?
So, here’s an idea worthy of consideration; let’s talk about increasing the PSST (that is the special sales tax that specifically helps fund the police and fire guys) and let’s take care of the guys who take care of us. Let’s play this game at a higher level and fund to obtain & retain the best of the best. And, yes, I know the arguments about pensions and pay and frankly, I wouldn’t do what they do for what we pay. In fact, I think these guys should be paid hazardous duty pay. And surely, with our strong military orientation, we should understand that. In this specific area of government, public safety, I’d like to have an “A” team and I’m willing to pay to get it.
Oh, and for the cynics out there, I was not solicited by the police or fire guys to advocate this thought. It just seems that this is a common sense approach to solving this public policy problem, which because of other “issues of the day” is not getting any forward looking thought.
I’m just saying. . .
Sincerely, TJL Tim Leigh 719-337-9551 Tim@HoffLeigh.com
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
08.22.10
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 = $103.52 (UP $0.65 from last week)
We are currently tracking 92 office buildings for sale.
This is 835,185 square feet, which represents a total market value of $86,458,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $87.59 (DOWN $1.68 from last week)
We are currently tracking 74 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 918,696 square feet, which represents a total market value of $80,471,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/8.20.10.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
August 22, 2010
I don’t like broccoli. I don’t like the texture, the taste or the smell. I don’t like recessions, deflation or systemic financial resets. Unfortunately, broccoli is good for you and unfortunately we have periodic resets. And as they say, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” if only you’ll lean back and learn from the now and the past and craft your future avoiding obvious mistakes. And my lesson learned from these experiences. . . “Avoiding mistakes is the key to long-term success!”
In the meantime, people I’m reading say that, at least for the immediately-foreseeable future, we should expect financial gloom & doom, uncertainty and chaos. It’s their contention that the so-called V shaped recovery was a myth; that it was driven by restocking inventories then the stimulus but was never sustainable because there was no concomitant demand. They say the problem will be exacerbated now by resetting commercial estate loans which will not be “reset” but called and sold at a discount.
Previously, questionable commercial real estate loans had been hidden on bank balance sheets by design. The Treasury Department told banks to “extend the loans & pretend the market would recover”. This was also known as “delay & pray”. . . and, yes he said cynically, “that was a great strategy!” Now the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is telling banks to take the loss; eat the broccoli; get poorly performing loans off-the-books. Unfortunately, typically, the government’s plan is screwing up the system. Their idea of “poorly performing” encompasses loans that are performing well by themselves, but where the borrower has other, non-performing loans (even with another bank). Banks are being told to look at the borrower’s aggregate situation and place all of his loans into the same “poorly-performing-bucket” if he has “any” chinks in his armor. Loans are being tarred with a singularly unfair brush. Ah, but, would we expect any less from Federal Regulators?
And speaking of loans, last week was a bitter-sweet adventure for me. I had a few partners bail-out of deals and others reaffirm their commitment. That’s called perspective & time-line. The folks who bailed-out are good guys; they just see the world through dark, gray, foreboding lenses. They believe the market’s still tanking and in that case it’s better to cut & run. The folks who recommitted may not be any more optimistic about the short run, but they’ve concluded that at some point values will recover and that it’s better to keep riding the pony they’re on rather than sell short for the loss.
What’s my prediction: We’re going to live with a new reality – instead of the hoped-for, sharp-spike of recovery, the economy will “slog along” interminably (5 – 7 years); profits will remain flat; GDP will remain flat to neutral; the national savings rate will increase because anxious spenders will not spend; we’ll experience higher-than-normal unemployment (the new normal) and the continuous deleveraging of real estate will cause continuously diminishing values in the mid-term; taxes will increase causing a further drag on the economy; the Bush tax cuts disappear and personal tax rates increase January 1st; the marriage penalty grows; the child tax credit halves and the death tax returns; and, to add insult to injury, the capital gains tax will increase from 15% to 20%!
Is there any good news? Sure; remember, 10% unemployment means 90% employment; crashing real estate values spells OPPORTUNITY. It’s a great time to reset your values, bargain hunt and ready yourself for the next cycle. Tough times are God’s way of telling us to adjust our lives - personally & professionally. Those who adjust move on and some prosper; those who don’t will get caught in the mire and bilge and flounder.
And speaking of opportunity – an update: the 6 acres we’re selling on North Carefree & the building on LaSalle Street, both, which are being Dutch Auctioned, drop their respective prices $50,000 this week. Both started at the Assessor’s value and will drop $50,000 every 2 weeks until they sell. If you want to find out more, call me (719-337-9551).
And from the Campaign
A friend (who knows I’m “at play” for an At Large Council seat) called to ask if I could help him. He wanted to be connected with someone in the police department so he could plead for patrols in his neighborhood. His business is located on South Sierra Madre Street, in an industrial area that continues to be overrun by homeless folks who normally spend most nights and much of each day in deep sleep around the Labor Ready building. I told him to “forget about it!” We don’t have the policing horse-power to patrol chronic, but mostly benign situations.
His problem points to a larger philosophical question however that merits discussion. “Do we want and do we have adequate police and fire protection?” OK, I get that we don’t want to raise taxes for the general fund because we don’t trust “the leaders” to do the “right thing”. But, who doesn’t want adequate police & fire protection?
As for the cops; the staffing is so low that you’re called to report your minor crime “on-line” and then “forget about it!” For major incidents, I’ve been told the guys can only staff-up for 1 at a time. Think of a shooting at a downtown nightclub and a simultaneous major car accident on I-25. At current staff levels, we have to pick one. Or consider how unmotivated a 20-something guy with a couple of small kids at home must be when he’s asked to report, “guns-a-blazing” to a gang-violence incident when he feels like nobody appreciates the sacrifice?
As for the fire-guys; I’ve ridden around with them and they’re awesome but they’re not really fire-guys. They’re mostly our 1st response medical team. Here’s the conundrum. We want to pay less and get more. This is bad economics and bad policy. Do you really want the 1st response for your heart attack to be from the lowest bidder?
So, here’s an idea worthy of consideration; let’s talk about increasing the PSST (that is the special sales tax that specifically helps fund the police and fire guys) and let’s take care of the guys who take care of us. Let’s play this game at a higher level and fund to obtain & retain the best of the best. And, yes, I know the arguments about pensions and pay and frankly, I wouldn’t do what they do for what we pay. In fact, I think these guys should be paid hazardous duty pay. And surely, with our strong military orientation, we should understand that. In this specific area of government, public safety, I’d like to have an “A” team and I’m willing to pay to get it.
Oh, and for the cynics out there, I was not solicited by the police or fire guys to advocate this thought. It just seems that this is a common sense approach to solving this public policy problem, which because of other “issues of the day” is not getting any forward looking thought.
I’m just saying. . .
Sincerely, TJL Tim Leigh 719-337-9551 Tim@HoffLeigh.com
August 8, 2010
August 8, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
August 8, 2010
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 = $102.82 (UP $0.05 from last week)
We are currently tracking 89 office buildings for sale.
This is 822,894 square feet, which represents a total market value of $84,613,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $89.06 (DOWN $0.93 from last week)
We are currently tracking 76 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 936,019 square feet, which represents a total market value of $82,295,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/8.6.10%20Colorado%20Springs%20Business%20Journal%20Ad.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
This is the day the Lord has made. . . Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Mr. Tim’s favorite thanksgiving admonition
And this is the day the Lord hath made baby Maria Grace Trinidad. While she hasn’t made her official appearance, (she probably has a couple more hours to percolate), Holly called RD and me off the golf course and now they’re at the hospital. I’ll always be grateful to the Little Maringo; she saved me from what may have been one of the worst rounds of my life. I had already lost 3 balls on the 1st two holes and it was going down-hill fast! Damn, I lost 1 ball with a tee-shot from a par three. I know - in unison - “That’s pathetic!” RD on the other hand was playing the round of his life. And speaking of life, I hope he knows that the one he knew is over.
And in the meantime, I’ve been studying Dave’s Data. Dave’s our chief statistician. His trend numbers don’t look any better now than they have for the past couple of years. The “office buildings for sale” market continues to be overpriced by nearly $32 per square foot when compared to the Assessor’s value. The “industrial buildings for sale” market is similarly overpriced. In dollars & cents that means we’ll have to clip around $27,000,000 from the price of office buildings and $28,000,000 from the price of industrial buildings to properly align ourselves with Mr. Market.
By zip code, the most overpriced areas are downtown and the old north end, the area along West Colorado Avenue, South 21st Street and interestingly, the areas along Fountain Boulevard and East Pikes Peak Avenue. Conversely, the least overpriced (attention K-Mart shoppers) are 80906 (Broadmoor Valley Road, Quail Lake Loop, Lake Plaza Drive, etc.), 80909 and 80917. The 2nd and 3rd zip codes include the awful real estate on Potter Drive where the highest & best use would be as a target for a wrecking ball; the area around the Citadel Mall, which I consider a looming disaster as the retail trade in that area continues to decline, Rebecca Lane, Carefree Circle, Academy Place and generally, the central Academy corridor, about which Fred Crowley said “without public & private partnership, it will take about 20 years to recover.”
And the CSBJ reported that we currently have a 10 year supply of vacant commercial property. Actually, I reported that statistic months ago and the data for that report should be rightfully attributed to Paul Turner who did the hard work. Turner also said it would take something like 20,000 new jobs to fill the existing available space. These numbers cry-out the very pressing need for continuous economic development and city-wide teamwork.
And, here’s a loose Tim Leigh paraphrase to think about - “Yea shall know the truth and it shall set you free (or totally jack your brain).” Rock Spencer recognized the truth last week. He agreed to Dutch-auction his 6 acres at the corner of Central Academy & North Carefree. We had it listed for $950,000. He agreed to immediately drop his price to the assessor’s valuation and then committed to continuing price reductions of $50,000 every 2 weeks until it sells. His lot will either prove to have no value or someone will determine its mark-to-market value and make a preemptive offer. Then another friend asked if we’d implement the same program for him. We agreed, and on Monday we’re going to start selling 2210 East LaSalle on the same basis. We’re starting at the Assessor’s valuation and dropping the price by $50,000 every 2 weeks . . . ah, the drums are beating and the dancers are dancing to the rhythm. . . Hearing all this, Steve Pope said I reminded him of PT Barnum to which I replied that he reminded me of Leo Tolstoy. . . I’m just saying.
And of course we’re on a continuous hunt for “good” deals with the operative word being “good”. We’ve been hunting for the fabled fountain of youth - income property with decent tenants & upside. Currently, we’re looking to deploy $500,000 in the 1st case and up to $3,000,000 in the 2nd; and in the 2nd case we’d also consider making hard-money conduit loans. In our quest, the kids managed to uncover a hidden gem; an “unlisted” property that they were able to broker to a friend.
The very clean industrial property closed at a 24% discount to the current mark-to-market appraisal. The buyer’s cap rate was something like 13%. And here’s a surprise, the biggest obstacle to closing was lending. The Buyer’s Denver bank, (with another leading market indicator), sent a kid who had never closed a commercial real estate loan. One could presume they fired their competent banker and restocked with a less expensive option. At least he was a Vice President and at least it closed.
When Sellers get real they’ll sell. But, at least for now it seems they’re content to enjoy a little smoke and be at peace with the world.
And then I noticed Sean Paige sent a friendly shot across my bow last week. According to Sean’s blog, “Tim Leigh is back . . . and in the hunt for an at-large City Council seat.” Sean, I’m not back; I never left. I’ve been in the low corner of the offensive zone digging for the puck of truth & clarity. I’ve continued to diligently go about the business of learning and building bridges to the future.
As you know, I’ve spent months learning about our city & systems and at some point I concluded that (at this time) I wasn’t likely the right guy for the Mayor’s chair. That revelation did not diminish my willingness to serve and Sean should applaud that I’m bright, mature & courageous enough to recognize and publicly admit that. Then, after personal reflection, I determined that because of what I’ve learned I could potentially be a valuable community asset; a well-informed and thoughtful at-large council person with some common sense. So, here’s an idea – instead of lobbing volleys, give credit where credit is due.
And by the way, I had not stopped traveling down the narrow path of the lone-wolf. In fact, just last week I was fortunate enough to have been included on a city leader’s tour of NORAD; I was involved in a conversation about “cutback management and the paradox of publicness” and I learned that we have around $8,000,000 in the bank that we can’t spend because we still don’t understand ramifications of the passage of proposition 300. And I fairly guarantee, that based on what I’ve since learned, if the average citizen fully understood what they voted for, they may not have voted the way they did on that issue. As you know, I contend that well informed citizens will normally make the right decision and the right decision is not normally knee jerk! And on that issue, I’m not sure the citizens were as well informed as they could or should have been.
Sean went on to say incorrectly, “Tim says he wants to be a candidate not of the people”. I don’t know where that’s coming from and of course it’s not true. I’ve always been a candidate for everyone from every corner of the city and from every subculture. I’ve said repeatedly that we need to leave our prejudices & predilections at the door and work together for the benefit of the aggregate.
I did say “I’m still committed to the city employees & staff and plan to be their political advocate”. . . (but, please catch this important next part of that same statement) . . . “I’ll expect them to respond in kind with excellence, team work and an attitude of partnership with the private sector.” Where’s the crime? I’d lead and have high expectations. I’ll commit to our folks because I believe that with strong, ethical leadership they’ll rededicate themselves to the high standards and lofty ideals I believe in.
At the board level, some of the executives have used city staff and employees as the Bogeyman. I don’t recall reading any leadership magazines lately which say it’s a good idea for leaders to berate their followers. In fact, our staff & employees are not the Bogeyman and the enemy’s not us! The enemy’s the global marketplace! So now I’m merely stating the obvious – our bureaucracy needs to be encouraged to creatively partner with the private sector in our attempt to create an interesting, diverse and vibrant local economy.
I feel like I’m beating a dead horse and maybe it takes kicking-it when it’s down, but we need to become a city worthy of consideration; a World Class Destination.
We get there by working together.
I’m just saying.
Sincerely,
TJLHoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
August 8, 2010
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 = $102.82 (UP $0.05 from last week)
We are currently tracking 89 office buildings for sale.
This is 822,894 square feet, which represents a total market value of $84,613,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $89.06 (DOWN $0.93 from last week)
We are currently tracking 76 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 936,019 square feet, which represents a total market value of $82,295,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/8.6.10%20Colorado%20Springs%20Business%20Journal%20Ad.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
This is the day the Lord has made. . . Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Mr. Tim’s favorite thanksgiving admonition
And this is the day the Lord hath made baby Maria Grace Trinidad. While she hasn’t made her official appearance, (she probably has a couple more hours to percolate), Holly called RD and me off the golf course and now they’re at the hospital. I’ll always be grateful to the Little Maringo; she saved me from what may have been one of the worst rounds of my life. I had already lost 3 balls on the 1st two holes and it was going down-hill fast! Damn, I lost 1 ball with a tee-shot from a par three. I know - in unison - “That’s pathetic!” RD on the other hand was playing the round of his life. And speaking of life, I hope he knows that the one he knew is over.
And in the meantime, I’ve been studying Dave’s Data. Dave’s our chief statistician. His trend numbers don’t look any better now than they have for the past couple of years. The “office buildings for sale” market continues to be overpriced by nearly $32 per square foot when compared to the Assessor’s value. The “industrial buildings for sale” market is similarly overpriced. In dollars & cents that means we’ll have to clip around $27,000,000 from the price of office buildings and $28,000,000 from the price of industrial buildings to properly align ourselves with Mr. Market.
By zip code, the most overpriced areas are downtown and the old north end, the area along West Colorado Avenue, South 21st Street and interestingly, the areas along Fountain Boulevard and East Pikes Peak Avenue. Conversely, the least overpriced (attention K-Mart shoppers) are 80906 (Broadmoor Valley Road, Quail Lake Loop, Lake Plaza Drive, etc.), 80909 and 80917. The 2nd and 3rd zip codes include the awful real estate on Potter Drive where the highest & best use would be as a target for a wrecking ball; the area around the Citadel Mall, which I consider a looming disaster as the retail trade in that area continues to decline, Rebecca Lane, Carefree Circle, Academy Place and generally, the central Academy corridor, about which Fred Crowley said “without public & private partnership, it will take about 20 years to recover.”
And the CSBJ reported that we currently have a 10 year supply of vacant commercial property. Actually, I reported that statistic months ago and the data for that report should be rightfully attributed to Paul Turner who did the hard work. Turner also said it would take something like 20,000 new jobs to fill the existing available space. These numbers cry-out the very pressing need for continuous economic development and city-wide teamwork.
And, here’s a loose Tim Leigh paraphrase to think about - “Yea shall know the truth and it shall set you free (or totally jack your brain).” Rock Spencer recognized the truth last week. He agreed to Dutch-auction his 6 acres at the corner of Central Academy & North Carefree. We had it listed for $950,000. He agreed to immediately drop his price to the assessor’s valuation and then committed to continuing price reductions of $50,000 every 2 weeks until it sells. His lot will either prove to have no value or someone will determine its mark-to-market value and make a preemptive offer. Then another friend asked if we’d implement the same program for him. We agreed, and on Monday we’re going to start selling 2210 East LaSalle on the same basis. We’re starting at the Assessor’s valuation and dropping the price by $50,000 every 2 weeks . . . ah, the drums are beating and the dancers are dancing to the rhythm. . . Hearing all this, Steve Pope said I reminded him of PT Barnum to which I replied that he reminded me of Leo Tolstoy. . . I’m just saying.
And of course we’re on a continuous hunt for “good” deals with the operative word being “good”. We’ve been hunting for the fabled fountain of youth - income property with decent tenants & upside. Currently, we’re looking to deploy $500,000 in the 1st case and up to $3,000,000 in the 2nd; and in the 2nd case we’d also consider making hard-money conduit loans. In our quest, the kids managed to uncover a hidden gem; an “unlisted” property that they were able to broker to a friend.
The very clean industrial property closed at a 24% discount to the current mark-to-market appraisal. The buyer’s cap rate was something like 13%. And here’s a surprise, the biggest obstacle to closing was lending. The Buyer’s Denver bank, (with another leading market indicator), sent a kid who had never closed a commercial real estate loan. One could presume they fired their competent banker and restocked with a less expensive option. At least he was a Vice President and at least it closed.
When Sellers get real they’ll sell. But, at least for now it seems they’re content to enjoy a little smoke and be at peace with the world.
And then I noticed Sean Paige sent a friendly shot across my bow last week. According to Sean’s blog, “Tim Leigh is back . . . and in the hunt for an at-large City Council seat.” Sean, I’m not back; I never left. I’ve been in the low corner of the offensive zone digging for the puck of truth & clarity. I’ve continued to diligently go about the business of learning and building bridges to the future.
As you know, I’ve spent months learning about our city & systems and at some point I concluded that (at this time) I wasn’t likely the right guy for the Mayor’s chair. That revelation did not diminish my willingness to serve and Sean should applaud that I’m bright, mature & courageous enough to recognize and publicly admit that. Then, after personal reflection, I determined that because of what I’ve learned I could potentially be a valuable community asset; a well-informed and thoughtful at-large council person with some common sense. So, here’s an idea – instead of lobbing volleys, give credit where credit is due.
And by the way, I had not stopped traveling down the narrow path of the lone-wolf. In fact, just last week I was fortunate enough to have been included on a city leader’s tour of NORAD; I was involved in a conversation about “cutback management and the paradox of publicness” and I learned that we have around $8,000,000 in the bank that we can’t spend because we still don’t understand ramifications of the passage of proposition 300. And I fairly guarantee, that based on what I’ve since learned, if the average citizen fully understood what they voted for, they may not have voted the way they did on that issue. As you know, I contend that well informed citizens will normally make the right decision and the right decision is not normally knee jerk! And on that issue, I’m not sure the citizens were as well informed as they could or should have been.
Sean went on to say incorrectly, “Tim says he wants to be a candidate not of the people”. I don’t know where that’s coming from and of course it’s not true. I’ve always been a candidate for everyone from every corner of the city and from every subculture. I’ve said repeatedly that we need to leave our prejudices & predilections at the door and work together for the benefit of the aggregate.
I did say “I’m still committed to the city employees & staff and plan to be their political advocate”. . . (but, please catch this important next part of that same statement) . . . “I’ll expect them to respond in kind with excellence, team work and an attitude of partnership with the private sector.” Where’s the crime? I’d lead and have high expectations. I’ll commit to our folks because I believe that with strong, ethical leadership they’ll rededicate themselves to the high standards and lofty ideals I believe in.
At the board level, some of the executives have used city staff and employees as the Bogeyman. I don’t recall reading any leadership magazines lately which say it’s a good idea for leaders to berate their followers. In fact, our staff & employees are not the Bogeyman and the enemy’s not us! The enemy’s the global marketplace! So now I’m merely stating the obvious – our bureaucracy needs to be encouraged to creatively partner with the private sector in our attempt to create an interesting, diverse and vibrant local economy.
I feel like I’m beating a dead horse and maybe it takes kicking-it when it’s down, but we need to become a city worthy of consideration; a World Class Destination.
We get there by working together.
I’m just saying.
Sincerely,
Tim Leigh
719-337-9551
Tim@HoffLeigh.com
August 5, 2010
July 30, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
July 30, 2010
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 = $102.77 (UP $0.05 from last week)
We are currently tracking 90 office buildings for sale.
This is 826,478 square feet, which represents a total market value of $84,933,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $89.06 (DOWN $0.27 from last week)
We are currently tracking 74 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 924,969 square feet, which represents a total market value of $82,377,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/7.30.10.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
I don’t know if your part of town was caught in the tempest, but as the fetching Mrs. Leigh so profoundly put it, “the darkest storms seem to come in the middle of the night”. All the granimals (If you don’t have one, you won’t understand) were upset; nobody got any sleep and if I miss some short putts at the EDC golf outing today, at least I’ll have an excuse – I’ll be a dead man walking.
I’m granimal sitting because Shannon went to Ft Jackson for Bryan’s graduation from the army’s Basic Combat Training School where he was selected as the #1 graduate from his basic training brigade (1,300 soldiers) and will receive the Soldier Leader of the Cycle award with special honors. I mention this because many of you know Shannon & Bryan and some of you had a hand in directing Bryan to the army. This is my way of updating & thanking you. Bryan found his path.
And that’s the point, isn’t it? Finding your path? Whether you’re an individual, a family, a business or a city . . . What do they say? “A plane without a glide path lands in the ditch and thinks it’s completed the mission successfully.”
How many folks work at things that are not their choice? How many run the family business because it was expected? How many CFO’s or doctors or lawyers wish they were bakers or chefs or forest service guides? Life is what happens on the way to fulfilling our plan and in many cases it’s unexpected.
And as you know, I began traveling down a pathway on a journey of personal discovery many months ago which led to my unexpected conclusion. With much hubris & bravado I announced that I was going to run for mayor. I made the announcement ahead of anybody’s schedule (except my own) on purpose. My intention was to set a new standard for those seeking the mayor’s office; that you’d actually have to figure-out the job description and become knowledgeable about city functions “before” you were elected - a novel approach. I thought my path led to the Mayor’s chair but ultimately concluded that it did not.
I’ve not stopped searching to find my way and because I’m very interested in the community conversation I have decided to run for an “at large” city council seat. True to form, this is a very early announcement. But, what the heck, we all know what early birds get and dipped in chocolate, it might be OK.
I’m still committed to job growth in the local economy and I believe that that growth should start from within. If we make this a city worthy of consideration, a World Class Destination, folks and their businesses will naturally wish to gravitate here. Think of the New Zealand model (a lush garden – a paradise on earth). They don’t pay anybody to move to New Zealand. In fact, I’ve been told that you have to prove you add substantial value to their economy before they’ll consider your application.
I’m still committed to the city employees & staff and plan to be their political advocate. Right now, they have no voice. And, no, they’re not the problem, their missing leadership is. But, as their advocate, I’ll expect them to respond in kind with excellence, team work and an attitude of partnership with the private sector. Look the enemy’s not us, it is the global economy.
I’m still committed to the neighborhoods. In fact, I’m working on a project right now to convert the 31st Street ditch (which is really Camp Creek) into a neighborhood amenity; and I’m committed to the creation of a downtown neighborhood walking mall on Pikes Peak Avenue from Nevada to Cascade anchored by the Mining Exchange Wyndam Grand Hotel on the East and the Antler’s Hotel on the West. Imagine the possibilities!
I’m still committed to the city - the entire city. We can be a city of greatness, but we have much work to do to get there. We’ll need partnerships & collaboration. We’ll have to figure out how to play in the sand box without kicking sand on each other.
Here’s one example. From 80,000 feet, I’m not sure the newly approved Copper Ridge Shopping Mall benefits the entire city.
Instead of the open prairie, did anybody consider locating the project as a re-fill (revitalization) on the central Academy corridor? If Copper Ridge is going to be so cutting-edge, folks would drive Academy to get there.
Did anybody consider a partnership with the already approved redevelopment-developers at Highway 24 & I-25? The infrastructure is in place.
Did the developers think about working together, merging land parcels and sharing a longer range vision that would have benefited the entire city instead of singular constituencies?
By the way, as to the argument that the new mall will create new sales, I’m pulling the BS card. There are only so many dollars in an economy. Period. Over construction of new retail space merely cannibalizes existing sales and therefore your neighbor. Period.
When you think of unbridled new development, keep this analogous story in mind. It was the winter of 1609 when our forefathers in Jamestown, so desperate with hunger cannibalized each other. From the Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia,
“. . . driven by insufferable hunger to eat those things which nature most abhorred, the flesh and excrements of man, digged by some out of his grave after he had lain buried three days and wholly devoured him; others, envying the better state of body of any whom hunger has not yet so much wasted as their own, lay wait and threatened to kill and eat them; one among them slew his wife as she slept in his bosom, cut her in pieces, salted her and fed upon her till he had clean devoured all parts saving her head.”
This is what happens when you don’t work together.
Would somebody please pass the bar-b-q sauce?
Keep it real.
Sincerely,
TJL
Tim Leigh
719-337-9551
Tim@HoffLeigh.com
July 26, 2010
July 23, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
07.23.10
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 = $102.72 (UP $0.39 from last week)
We are currently tracking 89 office buildings for sale.
This is 817,118 square feet, which represents a total market value of $83,938,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $89.33 (UP $0.16 from last week)
We are currently tracking 71 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 905,614 square feet, which represents a total market value of $80,898,406.
Tim’s Market Report
I’ve been traveling this weekend to Gunnison country to see where the wild flowers grow. So please enjoy this week’s whimsical, short read, mostly from Count James Pourtales’ book, “Lessons Learned from Experience”. There’s a timely message contained in his writing for our time.
Colorado Springs was founded on the idea that it would be a World Class Destination and Count James Pourtales moved from Glumbowitz, Prussia to take advantage of the great economic opportunity he saw in this venture. Pourtales is the guy who founded the Broadmoor; 1st as a dairy farm and then when that didn’t work-out so well, a real estate development. Along the way he devised a scheme to build the original Broadmoor Lake to store and provide critically needed, scarce water to his new development, and to allay potential lot-buyer’s fears that the dike holding-back the water would fail releasing a torrential flood, he devised a further scheme to construct a World Class Casino on-top of the dike which served, “Oh, behave!” alcohol.
From Pourtales’ journal, ““It was my intention that the barroom should serve as a great attraction, for Colorado Springs is a temperance city. . .
He continues, “As is well known, certain states in North America have introduced what is called “prohibition”; that is, in such states, alcoholic beverages may not be sold openly and there are no taverns or saloons. A citizen is allowed to bring liquor in from other states only for his own use or he may – and this is in some cases made clear in the law – go to a drug store with a doctor’s prescription and buy alcoholic beverages or wine as medicine. (Hmmm . . . )
The prohibition movement is rather widespread over the whole of the United States and even has its own political party which always presents a candidate at the time of presidential elections in order to make propaganda for its own cause. Prohibitionists know that they can never get their candidate elected, and after proposing their candidate they usually make a compromise with either the democratic or republican candidate for president who in turn promises to support their platform. In the individual states, the legislature is able to introduce prohibition, and so it happens that actually several states in the west have enacted so-called “temperance laws”. In spite of the law, there is still drinking and it is often stated that there is more drinking in the temperance states than in the others where the individual can still order a drink legally. That this movement has gained such force is explained by the fact that many American families have been ruined by over-indulgence of the men.
We in Germany are also very fond of our drink – the ancient German used to lie on his bear skin and get drunk, but the modern German takes his drinks more slowly than the Yankee; he usually sits down in a tavern and drinks, be it schnaps or beer.
The American has other habits. The American barroom is furnished with a long table like a shop counter, which is set up along one side of the room and behind this stands the man who serves the drinks, the “bartender”, and here also the various drinks are kept. The American steps up to the counter and orders his drink and when he has swallowed it, he takes a 2nd and ad 3rd and leaves the shop – only to seek out another similar place at first opportunity and repeat the same rapid process. Usually several guests come into a bar together. Instead of sitting down in a comfortable fashion to converse while they drink one of them calls out, “Take the orders!” and the bartender then asks each one what he wants. The drinks are ordered and prepared by the bartender; the guests regard one another and say, “My regards” or “Hallo” or Here’s how” and empty the glasses at one swallow. If, for instance 4 men have come into the tavern together and one of them has ordered and the drink has hit-the-spot then the next one feels obliged to take his turn and he says to the bartender, “Take the orders!” and so it goes until each of the 4 has stood his turn. If one enters a tavern in a group, one expects as many drinks as there are people in the group. One can imagine that such a custom does not always bring good results and naturally a large share of income goes down the throat and the family suffers for it.
The women are very active in their efforts to check this habit. To drink at meal t time, as we do in Europe, is not the custom; the man drinks before meals and after meals, but during the meal ice water is usually served.
When the Colorado Springs Company formed their city they wished to have a place which would serve chiefly as a health resort for consumptives and those suffering from other ailments; so the stipulation was included in the statues that, whenever a title was granted, the “temperance clause” should be included as a restriction so that no alcoholic beverages could be sold within the original limits of the city. The subsequently elected city officials included this stipulation in the police regulations.
In Colorado Springs one could obtain alcoholic beverages only in drug stores with or without a prescription of a doctor. To procure a license to sell alcoholic beverages, the drug store proprietor had to pay at first $1,500 and later $1,000 yearly to the city. There are 10 or 12 such drug stores in Colorado Springs, which fact offers some proof that the temperance is not actually very widespread there. The efforts of the temperance people usually lead in my experience to hypocrisy, because the desire for drink is not done away with by forbidding it, especially if there are loopholes left. Drinking is done in secret and associates itself with false pretense and deceit.
Through the county commissioner, with whom I necessarily had to deal, I arranged so that I was allowed to install a bar in the Casino, for which privilege I paid the county $500 yearly. As might have been expected the news that a restaurant, which could serve alcoholic beverages and with the bar connected, was being built raised a storm of protest from the temperance followers and especially from the ministers of Colorado Springs. I was convinced that if the drinking could be well handled, the serving of drinks would be of greatest advantage to the Casino itself and to the land speculation.”
If we look to our past, we’ll find our future . . . .
Keep it real.
Sincerely, TJL Tim Leigh 719-337-9551 Tim@HoffLeigh.com
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
07.23.10
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 = $102.72 (UP $0.39 from last week)
We are currently tracking 89 office buildings for sale.
This is 817,118 square feet, which represents a total market value of $83,938,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $89.33 (UP $0.16 from last week)
We are currently tracking 71 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 905,614 square feet, which represents a total market value of $80,898,406.
Tim’s Market Report
I’ve been traveling this weekend to Gunnison country to see where the wild flowers grow. So please enjoy this week’s whimsical, short read, mostly from Count James Pourtales’ book, “Lessons Learned from Experience”. There’s a timely message contained in his writing for our time.
Colorado Springs was founded on the idea that it would be a World Class Destination and Count James Pourtales moved from Glumbowitz, Prussia to take advantage of the great economic opportunity he saw in this venture. Pourtales is the guy who founded the Broadmoor; 1st as a dairy farm and then when that didn’t work-out so well, a real estate development. Along the way he devised a scheme to build the original Broadmoor Lake to store and provide critically needed, scarce water to his new development, and to allay potential lot-buyer’s fears that the dike holding-back the water would fail releasing a torrential flood, he devised a further scheme to construct a World Class Casino on-top of the dike which served, “Oh, behave!” alcohol.
From Pourtales’ journal, ““It was my intention that the barroom should serve as a great attraction, for Colorado Springs is a temperance city. . .
He continues, “As is well known, certain states in North America have introduced what is called “prohibition”; that is, in such states, alcoholic beverages may not be sold openly and there are no taverns or saloons. A citizen is allowed to bring liquor in from other states only for his own use or he may – and this is in some cases made clear in the law – go to a drug store with a doctor’s prescription and buy alcoholic beverages or wine as medicine. (Hmmm . . . )
The prohibition movement is rather widespread over the whole of the United States and even has its own political party which always presents a candidate at the time of presidential elections in order to make propaganda for its own cause. Prohibitionists know that they can never get their candidate elected, and after proposing their candidate they usually make a compromise with either the democratic or republican candidate for president who in turn promises to support their platform. In the individual states, the legislature is able to introduce prohibition, and so it happens that actually several states in the west have enacted so-called “temperance laws”. In spite of the law, there is still drinking and it is often stated that there is more drinking in the temperance states than in the others where the individual can still order a drink legally. That this movement has gained such force is explained by the fact that many American families have been ruined by over-indulgence of the men.
We in Germany are also very fond of our drink – the ancient German used to lie on his bear skin and get drunk, but the modern German takes his drinks more slowly than the Yankee; he usually sits down in a tavern and drinks, be it schnaps or beer.
The American has other habits. The American barroom is furnished with a long table like a shop counter, which is set up along one side of the room and behind this stands the man who serves the drinks, the “bartender”, and here also the various drinks are kept. The American steps up to the counter and orders his drink and when he has swallowed it, he takes a 2nd and ad 3rd and leaves the shop – only to seek out another similar place at first opportunity and repeat the same rapid process. Usually several guests come into a bar together. Instead of sitting down in a comfortable fashion to converse while they drink one of them calls out, “Take the orders!” and the bartender then asks each one what he wants. The drinks are ordered and prepared by the bartender; the guests regard one another and say, “My regards” or “Hallo” or Here’s how” and empty the glasses at one swallow. If, for instance 4 men have come into the tavern together and one of them has ordered and the drink has hit-the-spot then the next one feels obliged to take his turn and he says to the bartender, “Take the orders!” and so it goes until each of the 4 has stood his turn. If one enters a tavern in a group, one expects as many drinks as there are people in the group. One can imagine that such a custom does not always bring good results and naturally a large share of income goes down the throat and the family suffers for it.
The women are very active in their efforts to check this habit. To drink at meal t time, as we do in Europe, is not the custom; the man drinks before meals and after meals, but during the meal ice water is usually served.
When the Colorado Springs Company formed their city they wished to have a place which would serve chiefly as a health resort for consumptives and those suffering from other ailments; so the stipulation was included in the statues that, whenever a title was granted, the “temperance clause” should be included as a restriction so that no alcoholic beverages could be sold within the original limits of the city. The subsequently elected city officials included this stipulation in the police regulations.
In Colorado Springs one could obtain alcoholic beverages only in drug stores with or without a prescription of a doctor. To procure a license to sell alcoholic beverages, the drug store proprietor had to pay at first $1,500 and later $1,000 yearly to the city. There are 10 or 12 such drug stores in Colorado Springs, which fact offers some proof that the temperance is not actually very widespread there. The efforts of the temperance people usually lead in my experience to hypocrisy, because the desire for drink is not done away with by forbidding it, especially if there are loopholes left. Drinking is done in secret and associates itself with false pretense and deceit.
Through the county commissioner, with whom I necessarily had to deal, I arranged so that I was allowed to install a bar in the Casino, for which privilege I paid the county $500 yearly. As might have been expected the news that a restaurant, which could serve alcoholic beverages and with the bar connected, was being built raised a storm of protest from the temperance followers and especially from the ministers of Colorado Springs. I was convinced that if the drinking could be well handled, the serving of drinks would be of greatest advantage to the Casino itself and to the land speculation.”
If we look to our past, we’ll find our future . . . .
Keep it real.
Sincerely, TJL Tim Leigh 719-337-9551 Tim@HoffLeigh.com
July 20, 2010
July 16, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
July 16, 2010
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 = $102.33 (UP $0.05 from last week)
We are currently tracking 88 office buildings for sale.
This is 824,650 square feet, which represents a total market value of $84,383,536.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $89.17 (DOWN $0.82 from last week)
We are currently tracking 71 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 907,334 square feet, which represents a total market value of $80,903,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/7.16.10%20Colorado%20Springs%20Business%20Journal%20Ad.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
“I met a girl who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news, but she just smiled and turned away;
I went down to the sacred store where I’d heard the music years before, but the man there said the music wouldn’t play.
And in the streets the children screamed, the lovers cried and the poets dreamed;
But not a word was spoken, the Church bells were all broken.
And the three men I admired most, The Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost, they caught the last train for the coast.”
American Pie
Don McClain
OK. . . OK. . Some of you are economists but most aren’t and the following graphs are for those who aren’t. They’re designed to illustrate a very simple point - we’re traveling down the dirty, bumpy, washed-out road called too much debt, where the hot, dry wind sucks the air from your lungs and the swirling dust clouds your vision. And, if you merely consider the graphs and think about the world from 80,000 feet you’ll get the general idea. And no, it’s not a story of a man named Jed – that guy who “went looking for some food and found some bubbleing crude”, it’s a story of the global economy; our national economy; states, counties and city’s economies all enmired in too much debt.
The 1st graph shows US debt as a % of gross domestic product (that’s all the stuff we produce). When I was a kid, my mom always told me that if I’d consistently “tuck a buck a day away” I’d be fine. The 1st graph’s a picture of a country that hasn’t figured-out that simple idea and uless it changes its way, it will not be fine. Put simply, you can’t prosper with too much debt because you spend too much of your money paying somebody else.
You can have money or you can have things but you can’t have both (I know – that is, until your productive capacity exceeds your propensity to spend.) In this case, if the debt is too great you can have neither.
Let’s call the next graph “wishful thinking”. It’s a chart of something politicians wish could be, but frankly, cannot be. The US cannot borrow $15 trillion (that’s a $15 with 12 zeros behind it) over the next 10 years without going broke. Long before that, the bond market will rebel causing interest rates to rise and “the financial aftermath will make the last crisis seem like a cakewalk.”
And here’s some financial news to think about from around the world:
Ireland is in a financial depression;
The Baltic States & Hungary are in financial depressions;
Greece is right behind them;
Japan has been in a terrible financial mess for over a decade;
The entire global financial situation is in a precarious condition.
About ½ the pundits say we’re in a recovery while the other ½ expect a double dip; therefore, people don’t know what to expect. Uncertainty breeds anxiety; anxiety spawns indecision and indecision births stagnation. Now there’s a formula! OK, but check time; how is your business doing? How are you feeling about the next 12 to 24 to 36 months? Everywhere I go, folks tell me they’re merely “holding their own”. Not exactly a sterling endorsement.
And more financial headlines to think about, from around the country, from the past 60 days:
King County, WA city council members propose raising sales tax;
Santa Barbara, CA Sheriff wants new sales tax;
Maywood, CA plans to lay-off almost all of its employees;
Wilkes County, NC approves budget with 8% property tax increase;
Chautauqua County, NY county executive discusses plan to fix shortfall;
Kern County, CA to cut programs to close deficit;
Fresno, CA proposes 225 lay-offs to reduce deficit;
Wayne County, MI lays-off 700 workers;
Gainesville, FL to lay-off 37 employees in order to close city’s budget gap;
Alameda County, CA budget will eliminate jobs and services;
Duluth, GA raises taxes to eliminate shortfall;
Haber Springs, MI anticipates future budget shortfall;
St Louis, MO adding furlough days;
Lake County, FL lays-off 27;
Laguna Woods, CA is raising trash fees;
Maywood, CA will outsource all city functions;
Milton, WA eliminates water coolers in city buildings;
Poughkeepsie, NY sells more excess property;
CA, FL, MI and NY teetering on the verge of bankruptcy;
Winston-Salem, NC is considering a 4 day work week;
Morris County, NJ taxable property values are down $1.3 Billion;
Chattanooga, TN approves a $37 cent property tax increase;
Miami, FL expects more job cuts;
Tulare County, CA working to fix deficit;
El Centro, CA raises trash collection fees;
Dallas, TX city manager says 500 lay-offs forthcoming;
Lorraine County, OH closing offices to save money;
Northport, AL to lay-off employees;
Clark County, OH expects deficit next year;
Lee County, FL cutting 50 transportation jobs;
Jacksonville, FL mayor proposing pay cuts and tax hike;
Riverside, CA may eliminate 500 more jobs;
Osceola County, FL institutes 2 weeks furlough for employees;
Maricopa County, AZ raising property tax;
Contra Costs County, CA property values continue to decline.
USA Today reports that many state & local governments are planning layoffs hoping to close budget gaps. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com said "up to 400,000 workers could lose jobs in 2010 as states, counties and cities grapple with lower revenue and less federal funding”. And, “it is likely to worsen as now, states face a cumulative $140 billion budget gap for fiscal 2011”.
All of this is to say, we need to be sharply mindful of our resources; we need to be creative “out of the box thinkers” and realize the roads are not paved with cheese and it’s likely that the rebound is not going to be robust, but more likely a long-term slog. The world we knew left the station; the world we’re left-with is what it is; it’s our market reality; and the world we create will be made by informed, (hopefully, forward looking) wise decision.
And to that point, the city council has to make or not make a recommendation to keep approximately $600,000 they expect from excess tax collection. That shouldn’t even be a question; adversus solem ne loquitor. Of course they should keep the revenue. The 2nd immediate question shouldn’t be, however, “what cool thing can we spend it on?” rather, it should be “how can we save these funds for future emergencies?”
If we don’t keep the money it’ll be distributed by way of a very nominal residential utility-bill-refund. And as you may imagine, the mechanism for the refund is flawed. It goes to residential consumers only, so commercial utility consumers get screwed in the process, and frankly, the individual refund would be so nominal that the average recipient wouldn’t even notice it.
Let’s keep the money. Let’s don’t look for a pet project; let’s don’t ask the staff for their highest and best use; let’s don’t expect to drive $900,000 of value from a $600,000 bus; let’s keep the money in the emergency reserve fund. There will be another rainy day, and as my mother used to say, she never met a family that had too much in savings!
Keep it real; and who knows –
Sincerely,
TJL
Tim Leigh
719-337-9551
Tim@HoffLeigh.com
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
July 16, 2010
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 = $102.33 (UP $0.05 from last week)
We are currently tracking 88 office buildings for sale.
This is 824,650 square feet, which represents a total market value of $84,383,536.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $89.17 (DOWN $0.82 from last week)
We are currently tracking 71 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 907,334 square feet, which represents a total market value of $80,903,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/7.16.10%20Colorado%20Springs%20Business%20Journal%20Ad.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
“I met a girl who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news, but she just smiled and turned away;
I went down to the sacred store where I’d heard the music years before, but the man there said the music wouldn’t play.
And in the streets the children screamed, the lovers cried and the poets dreamed;
But not a word was spoken, the Church bells were all broken.
And the three men I admired most, The Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost, they caught the last train for the coast.”
American Pie
Don McClain
OK. . . OK. . Some of you are economists but most aren’t and the following graphs are for those who aren’t. They’re designed to illustrate a very simple point - we’re traveling down the dirty, bumpy, washed-out road called too much debt, where the hot, dry wind sucks the air from your lungs and the swirling dust clouds your vision. And, if you merely consider the graphs and think about the world from 80,000 feet you’ll get the general idea. And no, it’s not a story of a man named Jed – that guy who “went looking for some food and found some bubbleing crude”, it’s a story of the global economy; our national economy; states, counties and city’s economies all enmired in too much debt.
The 1st graph shows US debt as a % of gross domestic product (that’s all the stuff we produce). When I was a kid, my mom always told me that if I’d consistently “tuck a buck a day away” I’d be fine. The 1st graph’s a picture of a country that hasn’t figured-out that simple idea and uless it changes its way, it will not be fine. Put simply, you can’t prosper with too much debt because you spend too much of your money paying somebody else.
You can have money or you can have things but you can’t have both (I know – that is, until your productive capacity exceeds your propensity to spend.) In this case, if the debt is too great you can have neither.
Let’s call the next graph “wishful thinking”. It’s a chart of something politicians wish could be, but frankly, cannot be. The US cannot borrow $15 trillion (that’s a $15 with 12 zeros behind it) over the next 10 years without going broke. Long before that, the bond market will rebel causing interest rates to rise and “the financial aftermath will make the last crisis seem like a cakewalk.”
And here’s some financial news to think about from around the world:
Ireland is in a financial depression;
The Baltic States & Hungary are in financial depressions;
Greece is right behind them;
Japan has been in a terrible financial mess for over a decade;
The entire global financial situation is in a precarious condition.
About ½ the pundits say we’re in a recovery while the other ½ expect a double dip; therefore, people don’t know what to expect. Uncertainty breeds anxiety; anxiety spawns indecision and indecision births stagnation. Now there’s a formula! OK, but check time; how is your business doing? How are you feeling about the next 12 to 24 to 36 months? Everywhere I go, folks tell me they’re merely “holding their own”. Not exactly a sterling endorsement.
And more financial headlines to think about, from around the country, from the past 60 days:
King County, WA city council members propose raising sales tax;
Santa Barbara, CA Sheriff wants new sales tax;
Maywood, CA plans to lay-off almost all of its employees;
Wilkes County, NC approves budget with 8% property tax increase;
Chautauqua County, NY county executive discusses plan to fix shortfall;
Kern County, CA to cut programs to close deficit;
Fresno, CA proposes 225 lay-offs to reduce deficit;
Wayne County, MI lays-off 700 workers;
Gainesville, FL to lay-off 37 employees in order to close city’s budget gap;
Alameda County, CA budget will eliminate jobs and services;
Duluth, GA raises taxes to eliminate shortfall;
Haber Springs, MI anticipates future budget shortfall;
St Louis, MO adding furlough days;
Lake County, FL lays-off 27;
Laguna Woods, CA is raising trash fees;
Maywood, CA will outsource all city functions;
Milton, WA eliminates water coolers in city buildings;
Poughkeepsie, NY sells more excess property;
CA, FL, MI and NY teetering on the verge of bankruptcy;
Winston-Salem, NC is considering a 4 day work week;
Morris County, NJ taxable property values are down $1.3 Billion;
Chattanooga, TN approves a $37 cent property tax increase;
Miami, FL expects more job cuts;
Tulare County, CA working to fix deficit;
El Centro, CA raises trash collection fees;
Dallas, TX city manager says 500 lay-offs forthcoming;
Lorraine County, OH closing offices to save money;
Northport, AL to lay-off employees;
Clark County, OH expects deficit next year;
Lee County, FL cutting 50 transportation jobs;
Jacksonville, FL mayor proposing pay cuts and tax hike;
Riverside, CA may eliminate 500 more jobs;
Osceola County, FL institutes 2 weeks furlough for employees;
Maricopa County, AZ raising property tax;
Contra Costs County, CA property values continue to decline.
USA Today reports that many state & local governments are planning layoffs hoping to close budget gaps. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com said "up to 400,000 workers could lose jobs in 2010 as states, counties and cities grapple with lower revenue and less federal funding”. And, “it is likely to worsen as now, states face a cumulative $140 billion budget gap for fiscal 2011”.
All of this is to say, we need to be sharply mindful of our resources; we need to be creative “out of the box thinkers” and realize the roads are not paved with cheese and it’s likely that the rebound is not going to be robust, but more likely a long-term slog. The world we knew left the station; the world we’re left-with is what it is; it’s our market reality; and the world we create will be made by informed, (hopefully, forward looking) wise decision.
And to that point, the city council has to make or not make a recommendation to keep approximately $600,000 they expect from excess tax collection. That shouldn’t even be a question; adversus solem ne loquitor. Of course they should keep the revenue. The 2nd immediate question shouldn’t be, however, “what cool thing can we spend it on?” rather, it should be “how can we save these funds for future emergencies?”
If we don’t keep the money it’ll be distributed by way of a very nominal residential utility-bill-refund. And as you may imagine, the mechanism for the refund is flawed. It goes to residential consumers only, so commercial utility consumers get screwed in the process, and frankly, the individual refund would be so nominal that the average recipient wouldn’t even notice it.
Let’s keep the money. Let’s don’t look for a pet project; let’s don’t ask the staff for their highest and best use; let’s don’t expect to drive $900,000 of value from a $600,000 bus; let’s keep the money in the emergency reserve fund. There will be another rainy day, and as my mother used to say, she never met a family that had too much in savings!
Keep it real; and who knows –
Sincerely,
TJL
Tim Leigh
719-337-9551
Tim@HoffLeigh.com
July 7, 2010
July 5th, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
07.4.10
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 = $103.78 (NO CHANGE from last week)
We are currently tracking 88 office buildings for sale.
This is 797,093 square feet, which represents a total market value of $82,723,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $91.61 (DOWN $0.16 from last week)
We are currently tracking 75 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 937,422 square feet, which represents a total market value of $85,874,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/6.25.10%20Colorado%20Springs%20Business%20Journal%20Ad.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
The Declaration of Independence was approved July 4, 1776. John Hancock signed first, saying, “The price on my head just doubled.” Franklin said, “We must hang together or most assuredly, we shall hang separately.” And John Adams concluded, “I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration. . . Yet through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory.”
FROM THE CAMPAIGN
In 1863 the Central Pacific Rail Road of California took-out toward the east and the Union Pacific Rail Road took-out toward the west. They met six years later on the high plains of Utah, in a desolate location known as at Promontory Summit where Leland Stanford drove a golden spike into the last rail to commemorate the event. Their accomplishment was widely acclaimed as the greatest American technological feat of the 19th century eclipsing the construction of the Erie Canal in the 1820’s and the crossing of the Panamanian Isthmus by rail in 1855. The miracle was not one of technology however, it was one of communication. They started; one from the left and one from the right; communicated, collaborated, resolved conflict, worked for the greater good, and together they achieved immortality.
Six months ago (February 2010), “The Tim Leigh Train” officially left the station with the crazy idea of linking disparate trains so the high plains at Colorado Springs would be a better place. At the time, Lon Matejczyk said “Leigh is a progressive and creative thinker . . . I appreciate Leigh’s candor and his straightforward approach” but, “I worry . . . that Leigh will become afraid of speaking his mind.” The train carried a couple of simple ideas; 1) that bridging insular bodies & building a sense of community was good and 2) if everyone with polarized world views would leave their prejudices & predilections at the door, they could work together for the common good.
And after six months, I’m convinced the ideas are foundational, albeit somewhat naïve and I’ve since learned how the game & business of politics is played, and I’ve felt the pull from that seductive mistress.
And she is a seductive mistress because, (if I had to boil it down into a few words), politics is a larger way of participating in life. And, at the end of the day, that’s what most thinking people want – to participate fully in this grand adventure. Politics is about leadership; it’s about harnessing the power of ideas & words and effecting your change. It’s about drawing from the past, working in the present and impacting the future. And being part of that creation is seductive.
When my train was first boarding I commented to a local wonk that politics in Colorado Springs seemed like Mayberry, RFD. (That’s where Barney Fife carried his unloaded 32 with 1 bullet in the queue, “just in case”). Politics in Colorado Springs seemed pretty benign. Chuckling, she suggested I may want to consider the South Side of Chicago as the better model.
And as the train began to pull-away from the station, I was quickly appointed to the Memorial Commission; and just as quickly asked to resign because of potential conflicts of interest. Politics was already at work; seemed like a couple of folks didn’t want me on the commission after all. The story was that I could have a conflict of interest because of my wife’s part-time nursing job at Memorial. It was presumed that I couldn’t make a decision on a $600,000,000 enterprise with integrity. Of course, it was an insult then, and still is.
Undaunted, I decided that if my candidacy was to be credible, I’d do something that I later learned, had never been previously attempted by anyone seeking a high elective position in Colorado Springs. I’d actually visit all the city enterprises and departments and learn how they work. (There’s a concept - become an engineer before you’re asked to be the conductor.)
One organization who embraced me early-on was CSU. They created a full curriculum which was to be a college equivalent course on how to run a public utility company “for dummies”. I set-out to meet them on a regular basis and was in pretty good shape until another of our “short sighted” elected officials decided that I was getting too much attention and told them to quit. “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown; baddest man in the whole damn town;”
And because of my willingness to learn, I received some nice accolades. One of our former city leaders told me that I could be the “1st best hope she’d seen in the city since she came”. Then she left. . . So much for that endorsement! Another said “Your energy, intelligence, quick-wit & demeanor really do have a lot of appeal . . . (and) for what it’s worth, I would love to see you leading our community.” And the mayor of another well-run competitor-city said “You’d be a great mayor!” Problem was, nobody wanted to go on record. And along the way, I had several people attempt to talk me down. “Are you crazy?” has been asked more than once.
*Along the way, I learned about the strong mayor form of government. And to answer everyone’s question – Yes, we need a full-time mayor! And we need a mayor with enough power to get things done. (If I was the strong mayor, the 1st thing I’d get done is that I’d fix my parking tickets; I get one almost every time I go downtown.) And, of course he needs to be paid – at least to the same level of the city manager. Consider that our city budget is around $2 Billion (rough numbers, all-in); and we want a part-time guy earning $500 bucks a month running that? Are we nuts?
*Along the way, I learned about Budgeting for Outcomes - a budgeting process that focuses on priorities, not costs. It puts the citizens and their priorities, (not the status quo), first. It emphasizes accountability, innovation and partnerships. Colorado Springs will have to embrace this budgeting style eventually and frankly, the sooner the better.
*Along the way, I met with the “interim” city manager (whose title should be changed to “city manager”) and who may be one of the brightest stars in Colorado Springs’ universe. Steve Cox just “flat-out” gets it. He’s in tune with the administration and how it works; he is in tune with the citizenry and while I don’t know how he does it, he always seems to “have time”. He’s the best candidate for strong mayor I’ve met. Only problem is, if he took the job, he’d have to take a 50% cut in pay.
*Along the way, I met with Police Chief Myers & Fire Chief Raider. Both guys are caring, thoughtful and mindful of their duties. They’re very able to run their organizations (if only we’d let them). What struck me is that we try to micro-manage their operations. My theory is, we interviewed & hired them and obviously like them. Now we need to get out of their way and let them do what they do. At the end of the day, we’ll be better served. If Chief Raider thinks 4 guys to a truck is the way to go, it likely is. If Chief Myers says he needs more cops on the street, then we need to figure-out how to fund that.
*Along the way, I met Nick Kittle whose salary increase (because of combining jobs & increasing responsibilities) caused an overall decrease in the city budget, and who was unfairly criticized in the press (essentially) for being a good employee. I met Curlie Matthews, who runs our IT department and who is open to explain (to any interested party) just how complex our IT system is and who says it can’t be run similarly with 11 employees who normally book reservations & schedule T-times.
*Along the way, I met citizen groups who would like to go back to their private enterprise jobs if they could only trust that the city is doing the best they can with what we’ve got. . . Hey fella’s! Here’s a news flash - they are, so you can. Do we need a watchdog group to oversee the overseer’s who are overseeing the overseer’s? Where does this lunacy end?
*Along the way, I met Cam McNair and Saleem Khattak who told me about capital improvements backlogs. In tight-budget-times, their story goes, capital improvements are postponed. But, they say, we’re at a tipping point. I saw their map depicting pot-holes (it looked like x-rays of my teeth when, as kids, we had the charge account at the Gullickson’s candy store); they explained the cost/benefit analysis of repairing streets vis-à-vis replacing them. I saw their diminishing budget and decreasing staff & revenue. I came-away impressed at how much they do with so little. (And, I was told how seldom folks at their end of the food chain see folks from the other end of the food chain and therefore, how little major decision makers understand the “on the ground” facts necessary for informed decisions.
*Along the way, I cleared my deck so I could reasonably date the mistress. I’ve quit boards and become a wolf-pack of one and when I complained to one of my early advocates, he told me, “Get used to being alone; people will feign friendship if they want something; and if they don’t get what they want from you, they’ll toss you aside like yesterdays’ Gazette”. And did I mention that several people asked, “Are you crazy?”
*Along the way, I’ve said that this next municipal election is extremely important; that it’ll change our governance for generations. I’ve warned that there are folks from other parts of the state who’d like to take control of our local government by salting their slate and taking majority control of the 7 newly elected council seats. And, I’ve been told that my writing in this regard was inspirational and I’ve been told that my writing in this regard was “the most cynical, sarcastic . . . piece of political crap that has been written in a long-time.” I have been discussed as a unifier and dismissed as a polarizer.
*Along the way, I’ve discussed Tim Leigh’s 2 truisms; 1) The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step; and 2) Reasonably bright people given the same facts will reach similar conclusions, eventually.
1) We’ve been a city of commissions & studies; now we must become a city of doers. We’ve had a Charter Review Commission. We’ve had a Sustainable Funding Commission and now we have the Memorial Commission. Enough with the studies already! Smart people have provided guidance. The answers are the same every time. Let’s get the utilities guys their own governance; let’s get the hospital their own governance; let’s get the parks & arts their own governance – and let’s call for appropriate ROI from each. At some point, a journey must begin. Let’s take that single step.
2) Let’s widely and transparently disseminate the city’s budget information in an understandable yet detailed form so citizens can make educated decisions. (By the way, Al Gore invented a process that makes this possible.) When proposition 2 was floated, it was promoted as a way to fund a short-term budget crisis but, along the way, it morphed into a long-term budgeting solution. Did we have a crisis or a chronic, systemic problem? Reasonably bright people (us) can be counted-on to make good decisions when presented with facts. As Joe Friday said, “Just the facts, maam.”
Along the way, my personal vision of Colorado Springs moved from simple unification to a larger view; to a view that encompasses our becoming a “World Class Destination”. I’ve said that if we look to our past we’ll find our future. I’ve said that my vision is merely a restatement of what our founders intended. They settled Colorado Springs as a world class destination and it became one.
Along the way, I’ve learned that being a successful politician is a full-time job. (I already knew that being a successful Realtor is a full-time job). And when I launched the Tim Leigh train I had the misguided notion that I could do both (well) on a part-time basis. I’ve since learned that that is not possible. I’ve been told that I’m a very good Realtor/businessman and I think I’d be a very good mayor. The problem is, unless I want to lower my standard and become mediocre at both, I have to pick one. And at this juncture, I’m choosing to stick with what I know.
So, acknowledging passages that say something like “there’s a time & season for everything” and something about “serving 2 masters”, I’ve concluded that this is not the time for Tim. Truthfully, I’m not sure I know the person who can be exceptional at running a business and coincidentally running the 47th largest city in the United States. But, at this present moment, our exceptional city desperately needs that 1 exceptional person who can make a singular, full-time commitment.
When I announced my candidacy, I made 3 promises; 1) I’d conduct the symphony; 2) I’d be the Grand Marshall in a parade and 3) I’d learn to line-dance. Like most folks who make campaign promises, I’ve done none of them. I have been lucky enough to throw the 1st pitch for the Sky-Sox; slide down a fire pole and get a private ride-through the Homestake Pipeline. It’s been an incredibly entertaining six month journey of personal discovery.
Along the way, I’ve discovered that it’s likely I’ll make my best contribution to our community in some capacity other than as mayor. And who knows what that means? Maybe an at-large city council seat or a membership on another community service board - we’ll have to see. Until then, it is with a great deal of humility and respect that I formally announce my withdrawal as a candidate for mayor.
And with that same humility I’d like to thank everyone who supported my ideas and vision. Keep it real.
IT’S not TIME.
Sincerely, TJL Tim Leigh 719-337-9551 Tim@HoffLeigh.com
June 30, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
06.25.10
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 = $103.78 (UP $1.27 from last week)
We are currently tracking 88 office buildings for sale.
This is 797,093 square feet, which represents a total market value of $82,723,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $91.77 (DOWN $1.00 from last week)
We are currently tracking 76 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 939,582 square feet, which represents a total market value of $86,223,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/6.25.10%20Colorado%20Springs%20Business%20Journal%20Ad.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
Here are a couple of articles on the Medical Marijuana issue. I hope they provide some light in a murky tunnel.
FROM BOULDER – “Anyone who thinks it would be easy to get rich selling marijuana in a state where it’s legal should spend an hour with Ravi Respeto, manager of The Farmacy, an upscale dispensary here that offers Strawberry Haze, Hawaiian Skunk and other strains of Cannabis sativa at up to $16 a gram. She will “harsh-your-mellow.”
“No M.B.A. program could have prepared me for this experience,” she says, wearing a cream-colored smock made of hemp. “People have this misconception that you just jump in and start making money hand over fist, and that’s not the case.”
Since this place opened in January, it’s been one nerve-fraying problem after another. Pot growers, used to cash-only transactions, are shocked to be paid with checks and asked for receipts. And there are a lot of unhappy surprises, like one not long ago when The Farmacy learned that its line of pot-infused beverages could not be sold in Denver. Officials there decided that any marijuana-tinged consumables had to be produced in a kitchen in the city. “You’d never see a law that says, ‘If you want to sell Nike shoes in San Francisco, the shoes have to be made in San Francisco,’ ” says Ms. Respeto, sitting in her tiny office on the 2nd floor of The Farmacy. “But in this industry you get stuff like that all the time.”
One of the odder experiments in the recent history of American capitalism is unfolding here in the Rockies; the country’s first attempt at fully regulating, licensing & taxing a for-profit marijuana trade. In California, medical marijuana dispensary owners work in nonprofit collectives, but the cannabis pioneers of Colorado are free to pocket as much as they can — as long as they stay within the rules. The catch is that there are a ton of rules and more are coming in the next few months.
The authorities here were initially caught off guard when dispensary mania began last year after President Obama announced that federal law enforcement officials wouldn’t trouble users and suppliers as long as they complied with state law (as long as they grow less than 99 plants). In Colorado, where a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana was passed in 2000, hundreds of dispensaries popped up and a startling number of residents turned out to be in “severe pain,” (the most popular of 8 conditions that can be treated legally with the once-demonized weed).
Over 100,000 Coloradans now have medical marijuana certificates, which are essentially prescriptions and for months new enrollees have signed up at a rate of roughly 1,000 a day. As supply met demand, politicians decided that a body of regulations was overdue. The state’s Department of Revenue has spent months conceiving rules for this new industry, ending the reefer-madness phase here in favor of buzz-killing specifics about cultivation, distribution, storage and every other part of the business.
Whether and how this works will be carefully watched far beyond Colorado. The rules here could be a blueprint for the 13 states, as well as the District of Columbia, that have medical marijuana laws. That is particularly the case in Rhode Island, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and Maine, which are poised to roll out programs of their own.
Americans spend nearly $25 billion a year on marijuana which gives some idea of the popularity of this drug. Eventually, we will be talking about a sizable sum of tax revenue from its sales as medicine, not to mention private investment and employment. A spokesman for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws says hedge fund investors and an assortment of financial service firms are starting to call around to sniff out opportunities.
“We’re past the days when people call here to ask if marijuana will give men breasts,” says Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML. “Now, the calls are from angel investors, or REITs — people who are looking for ways to invest or offer their services.”
What happens when pot goes legit? How does the government establish rules that allow the industry to flourish, but not run rampant? And given that this is all about medicine, what about doctors, some of whom have turned medical marijuana consultations into a highly lucrative specialty? These and dozens of other questions are being answered in cities like Boulder, where the number of dispensaries is larger than the number of Starbuck’s & liquor stores combined.”
FROM SAN FRANCISCO – “These are heady times for advocates of legalized marijuana in California — and only in small part because of the newly relaxed approach of the federal government toward medical marijuana.Skip to next paragraph
State lawmakers are holding (held) a hearing on Wednesday on the effects of a bill that would legalize, tax and regulate the drug — in what would be the first such law in the United States. Tax officials estimate the legislation could bring the struggling state about $1.4 billion a year, and though the bill’s fate in the Legislature is uncertain, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has indicated he would be open to a “robust debate” on the issue.
California voters are also taking up legalization. Three separate initiatives are being circulated for signatures to appear on the ballot next year (2011), all of which would permit adults to possess marijuana for personal use and allow local governments to tax it. Even opponents of legalization suggest that an initiative is likely to qualify for a statewide vote. “All of us in the movement have had the feeling that we’ve been running into the wind for years,” said James Gray, a retired judge in Orange County who has been outspoken in support of legalization. “Now we sense we are running with the wind.”
Proponents of the leading ballot initiative have collected nearly 300,000 signatures since late September, easily on pace to qualify for the November 2010 general election. Richard Lee, a longtime marijuana activist who is behind the measure, says he has raised nearly $1 million to hire professionals to assist volunteers in gathering the signatures. “Voters are ripping the petitions out of our hands,” Mr. Lee said.
That said, the bids to legalize marijuana are opposed by law enforcement groups across the state and, if successful, would undoubtedly set up a legal showdown with the federal government, which classifies marijuana as an illegal drug.
California was the first state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, in 1996, but court after court - including the United States Supreme Court - has ruled that the federal government can continue to enforce its ban. Only this month, with the Department of Justice announcement that it would not prosecute users and providers of medical marijuana who obey state law, has that threat subsided.
But federal authorities have also made it clear that their tolerance stops at recreational use. In a memorandum on October 19, 2009 outlining the medical marijuana guidelines, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden said marijuana was “a dangerous drug, and the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime,” adding that “no state can authorize violations of federal law.”
Still, Mr. Lee anticipates spending up to $20 million on a campaign to win passage of his ballot measure in California, raising some of it from the hundreds of already legal medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, which have been recently fighting efforts by Los Angeles city officials to tighten restrictions on their operations. “It’s a $2 billion industry,” Mr. Lee said of the medical marijuana sales.
Opponents said they are also preparing for a battle next year. “I fully expect they will qualify,” said John Lovell, a Sacramento lobbyist for several groups of California law enforcement officials that oppose legalization. Any vote would take place in a state where attitudes toward marijuana border on the schizophrenic. Last year, the state made some 78,500 arrests on felony and misdemeanors related to the drug, up from about 74,000 in 2007, according to the California attorney general. Seizures of illegal marijuana plants, often grown by Mexican gangs on public lands in forests and parks, hit an all-time high in 2009, and last week, federal authorities announced a series of arrests in the state’s Central Valley, where homes have been converted into “indoor grows.”
At the same time, however, there are also pockets of California where marijuana can seem practically legal already. At least seven California cities have formally declared marijuana a low priority for law enforcement, with ballot measures or legislative actions. In Los Angeles, some 800 to 1,000 dispensaries of medical marijuana are in business, officials say, complete with consultants offering public relations services and “canna-business management.”
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat and author of the legalization bill, said momentum for legalization has built in recent years, especially as the state’s finances have remained sour. “A lot of people that were initially resistant or even ridiculed it have come aboard,” Mr. Ammiano said. In Oakland, which passed a tax on medical cannabis sales in July, several people who signed a petition backing Mr. Lee’s initiative said they were motivated in part by the cost of imprisoning drug offenders and the toll of drug-related violence in Mexico. “Personally I don’t see a way of getting it under control other than legalizing it and taxing it,” said Jim Quinn, 60, a production manager. “We’ve got to get it out of the hands of criminals both domestic and international.”
Mr. Lovell, the law enforcement lobbyist, however, said those arguments paled in comparison to the potential pitfalls of legalization, including people driving under the influence. He also questioned how much net revenue a tax like Mr. Ammiano is proposing would actually raise. “We get revenue from alcohol,” he said. “But there’s way more in social costs than we retain in revenues.”
The recent history of voter-approved drug reform law in California is not encouraging for supporters of legalization. Last November, voters rejected a proposition that would have increased spending for drug treatment programs and loosened parole and prison requirements for drug offenders. None of which seems to faze Mr. Lee, 47, a former roadie who founded Oaksterdam University, a medical marijuana trade school in Oakland, in 2007. Mr. Lee says he plans to use the Internet to raise money, as well as tapping out-of state sources for campaign money.
More than anything, however, Mr. Lee said he was banking on a basic shift in people’s attitudes toward the drug.
“For a lot of people,” he said, “it’s just another brand of beer.”
FROM THE CAMPAIGN
Q: What?
A: When I started my run for mayor many, many months ago, I was told that I’d have to become a new person in the marketplace; that I’d have to change my perception of myself, and I’d have to change other people’s perception of me. And I can report, that whether I’m elected or not, that change is occurring.
Q: Can you expand?
A: Sure, let me expand with a story.
Just before Christmas last year, while attending my wife’s staff Christmas party, I was approached by one of her co-workers. She asked if she could talk to me for a minute. She quietly confessed that she was terribly afraid for the future; the uncertainty about her retirement, the state of the general economy, the state of the world. It had gotten to the point that she was losing sleep. Was there anything I could say that could comfort her?
I put my arm around her, and looking into her eyes, I told her, “You know, I don’t have any great answer right now, but I can tell you that there are a lot of really smart people working on solutions.” Then I told her, “At the end of the day, it’s going to be OK.” (And it is!)
Then, she looked up at me and said, “Thank you. Coming from someone like you, that makes me feel a lot better.”
Now, I don’t tell this story to set myself on a pedestal, but to relate a change. I’ve grown from flamboyant Realtor to someone who truly cares about city issues; who is willing to study them and make “right” decisions. The additional point is that I’ve learned that there are something like 400,000 folks scattered across the city who rely us (all community leaders) to make that right decision; an informed decision; a wise decision. Not a decision based on media hype and hyperbole.
Q: What have you been doing on the campaign trail?
A: On Saturday, I went to the Team Party. I took my daughter Shannon, and in addition to meeting a lot of new friends who are very passionate about our country, we got one of the best hot dogs we’ve had I a long time. The only problem was, it was not totally filling, so we had to run to The Home Depot for another – and then to Walgreens for some antacid!
Q: Any final thoughts?
A: Yes; I’ve been thinking about Allen Greenberg’s CSBJ column from Friday. He says “we need a strong voice, a reassuring presence, a commanding “parent” if you will, someone who can take the reins and set things right.” He says it couldn’t hurt to “have a charismatic leader who can promote all that’s right about this town.” And he finished with, “We need to find the courage to change the city’s charter and then find a mayor who’ll help us out of this funk.”
I’m not sure Allen’s candidate is hanging out waiting to be picked; I think he’s growing on a vine and with the right encouragement and nurturing he’ll grow into the job.
IT’S TIME.
Sincerely, TJL Tim Leigh 719-337-9551 Tim@HoffLeigh.com
June 22, 2010
June 18, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
June 18, 2010
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 = $102.51 (DOWN $0.52 from last week)
We are currently tracking 87 office buildings for sale.
This is 789,356 square feet, which represents a total market value of $80,914,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $92.77 (DOWN $0.43 from last week)
We are currently tracking 74 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 903,582 square feet, which represents a total market value of $83,828,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/6.18.10.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
FROM THE CAMPAIGN:
Q: Any news from the campaign?
A: Yes, – a 2nd North Dakotan threw his hat into the fray last week, which I guess proves that folks from North Dakota must either be gluttons for punishment or not that bright. Dave Munger announced his candidacy and with an eye for irony, it should be noted that Dave graduated from my high school (Grand Forks Central) 10 years ahead of me. So, apparently, the daisy walk’s over; the challenging volley has been fired, and unlike the 1st real-shot of the Revolutionary war which was a misfire by an outraged civilian colonist, (when his musket misfired - it was called a flash-in-the-pan), Mr. Munger will be formidable challenger.
Q: Could you expand?
A: Yes. I’m a conservative republican. Mr. Munger’s (who is a good guy) is a self admitted “left leaning” democrat. I saw him at an EDC function last week, and after we congratulated and patted each other on the back, we agreed that he “leans left” and I “lean right” and we therefore established the basic differences in our candidacies and philosophy to government. I follow the grand Regan tradition that believes less government is more; folks who lean left generally believe more government is less. People who govern from the left generally believe folks need a big brother and frankly, I believe that left to their own devices, most folks can take care of themselves. And while we are called by charter to run a non-partisan election, this is shaping up to be anything but.
Q: From what I read in the Gazette, Mr. Munger has a lot of support for his candidacy; care to comment?
A: Yes, Jan Martin told me, that while she thinks I have a lot of enthusiasm, she’ll support the Munger candidacy because of his proven track record of “being on a lot of committees”. I’ve also been told that Mary Lou Makepeace supports him; she’s the Executive Director of the GIL Foundation and I understand the CONO organizations support him; and, I would guess that he’ll get the support of the democrat machine.
Q: Come-on, aren’t you being a little bit cynical when you use words like “machine” in Colorado?
A: Whose being naïve. Look, we will turn over 7 council seats in the next election. In fact, I could argue that the next election may be one of the most important municipal elections we’ll have in the next 50 years. Don’t delude yourself by thinking that the state level democrat machine is not drooling at the possibility of coming into our city and taking control. And if you want to see what that looks like, call some of your friends who own real estate or run a business in Boulder and ask about intrusive municipal regulation that drive-up the cost of ownership and kill free market incentives.
Q: You’re all fired up today. What’s up?
A: Look, we’ve been engaged in a battle for the very soul of our nation; we spend more than we earn; we’ve become so politically correct that we’ve lost our common sense; we’ve become a band of moral relativists and I’m afraid that that national disease is beginning to infect us.
Here’s a couple of anecdotes that could help you get your arms around what I’m talking about; last month, there were 450,000 new jobs created in the national economy. It takes 150,000 new jobs each month just to keep up with demand. Unfortunately, of those 450,000 new jobs, 400,000 were new government jobs and many think that is OK. You see, there are 2 philosophies - one says that it’s OK for the government to be the employer of last resort; the other says jobs must be created by the private sector. I ascribe to the 2nd philosophy.
And, if diminishing Medicare reimbursements for docs wasn’t discouraging enough (for the uninitiated, that’s a pay-cut), here’s a little more fuel for the fire; Karen Harbert (US Chamber of Commerce director for 21st Century Energy Policy) said, starting January 1, 2011, each business entity will have to provide a carbon footprint report; and I’ve been told that if you want to sell your house you’ll have to provide proof that it meets certain energy efficiency standards.
Q: Wow!
A: I know. It takes your breath away if you think about the implications.
Q: I’ll bet you had some interesting meetings last week. Care to tell me about them?
A: Sure. Actually, I’ve been meeting with civic leaders for many months as part of my mission to discover how we’re connected and how we can parlay that connectivity to promoting the region.
I met with Eric Phillips. Eric is working on a program to take-over the community centers that were to be shut-down because of budget limitations. He has a program in discussion where impacted neighborhoods are working together as “newly inspired communities” to keep their respective community centers open. And I think that’s terrific.
Look, budgets have moral implications. In fat-budget situations, where we spend & subsidize, folks lose their incentive to care for themselves or their neighbors. And so you don’t brand me as hard-hearted, I realize we need to take care of those who truly can’t care for themselves. But, I guarantee that those folks working with Eric will have more pride in their centers because “they are theirs” and not something provided by government. And, by the way, that is one of the ways we can start re-building a sense of community - by involving folks at the grassroots level in solving their problems and getting rid of their reliance on government.
I also met with Brady Boyd, the Senior Pastor at New Life Church. Brady is very interested in helping create community wherever he can. In fact, he told me a story that is somewhat upsetting; said he tried to connect his parishioners with the parks department. He said his volunteers could take over maintaining several area parks “for free” and they would be dependable and show up every Saturday. That sounds like a great idea to me, but apparently the parks folks couldn’t get their arms around that scale of volunteerism and the idea died on the vine.
And I met with the folks at the Henderson and Climax mines. The Henderson & Climax mining operations are subsidiary operations of McMoRan Company, (the world’s largest publicly traded copper company) and are located near the top of the continental divide; Henderson near Empire and Climax near Leadville.
McMoRan mines geographically diverse, long-lived reserves of copper, gold and molybdenum. Their stock symbol is FCX and in case you’re curious, it could be a good play at $65 per share with its $.60 dividend. The story is that we’re about to see another bull-run in commodities and this would be an easy way to play that game.
I toured the mines and processing plants to learn about their financial impact on the state and potentially, our city. I learned about their very significant power consumption. (The Henderson is the 2nd largest consumer of power behind the Pueblo Iron Mill); and that they are preparing for the future with expansion at the Climax mine. (And for trivia buffs – the site of the 1st ski lift in Colorado was at the Climax Mine Ski Area!)
As a claustrophobic, the tour caused tremendous personal anxiety. Our tour took us down Shaft number 2 for about 7 minutes – that would be straight down into a dark hole, in a metal cage about the size of an average executive office, to about 5,000 feet below the mountaintop, into the mine where it felt like the main source of light was our hard-hat-lamp. For the non-initiated, it was pretty dang scary.
My purpose was fact finding, meeting & greeting, building relationships and investigating opportunities where we could possibly ride their international business coat-tails, searching for opportunities. My biggest take-away was that their team operated like a “TEAM”. They have a real passion for what they do; they understand their role in the global marketplace, they have fun, are committed to the environment and safety, and are very conscious of their bottom line. Wow, I thought; if we could recharge our city’s bureaucratic attitude to be like that, we’d be in great shape! Hmm . . . There’s that leadership thing, again.
Q: Do you have any parting comments?
A: Yes. These would be the same comments I made last week, which I’m reiterating because they’re so important. I’ve concluded that our community’s conversation has been miscast. Beating the embedded bureaucracy is beating a dead horse and it’s beating ourselves - “we are them”. We need to recapture our can-do inner-arrogance; that we can accomplish great things; we need to recognize our community assets & promote them; we need to realize that it’s “us vs. them” and the “us” is the entire city, (constituents & bureaucracy, working as partners), and the “them” is the global marketplace. We have to make this a city worthy of consideration; a World Class Destination.
When we get the conversation right, we’ll realize that we have no limiting factors; there’ll be no mountain we can’t climb; no river we can’t cross; no gap we can’t bridge . . .
IT’S TIME.
Sincerely,
TJL
Tim Leigh
719-337-9551
Tim@HoffLeigh.com
June 14, 2010
June 11, 2010
Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
June 11, 2010
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 = $103.03 (UP $1.46 from last week)
We are currently tracking 86 office buildings for sale.
This is 779,756 square feet, which represents a total market value of $80,339,436.
All Market Average Industrial Building Sale Price PSF = $93.20 (UP $0.38 from last week)
We are currently tracking 71 industrial buildings for sale.
This is 880,258 square feet, which represents a total market value of $82,044,406.
To view our most recent Colorado Springs Business Journal Ad please click below
http://hoffleigh.com/Doc/5.28.10.pdf
Tim’s Market Report
“My best guess is that we’ll have a continued recovery, but it won’t feel terrific. Even though technically we’ll be in recovery and the economy will be growing, unemployment will still be high for a while and that means that a lot of people will be under financial stress.”
Ben Bernanke
Last week
Everything I’m reading these days says that we should expect very low GDP growth at least until 2014. I don’t know how the smart guys can dial into a specific date like that, but many writers are saying the same thing. So I’ll chime-in, not because I have a crystal ball, but because that seems like the smart-money bet. Personally, I’m planning on a slowly growing economy with a possible serious disruption to that growth if Mayan predictions come true and the world ends in October, 2012. Otherwise, from what I’m reading you can plan on GDP growth in a range of 1.25% to 1.95%. (That’s as opposed to a historical norm (past 68 years) of around 3.82%, and by the way, an average annual US GDP growth rate during the Great Depression (1930 – 1939) of 1.32% per year.
Then, when you add increased volatility in the markets, (see for example, a few weeks ago when the DOW dumped nearly 1,000 points “but rebounded” so the total daily loss was “only” around 400 points), we have a greater chance of multiple V-shaped recessions. Multiple recessions will cause business to periodically pull-in their oars, which will create systemic, higher rates of joblessness, which will chronically drag the economy. The borrow, borrow, borrow, spend, spend, spend party is over. For the foreseeable future, we’ll spend less, pay-off debt and save more. And while that sounds good in theory, it’s not the correct formula for rebuilding a consumer oriented economy, which by definition means you have to consume. So, as George Bush reportedly said, “Do your patriotic duty – go shopping!”
And, as you know, I’ve been preaching that much of our commercial real estate inventory is overvalued and until prices come into alignment with the market, we’ll continue to experience sluggish commercial real estate sales. (The average listing price for a commercial office building today is $103.03 psf. Our price-line has been trending downwardly over the past 24 months from a high of $111.00.) I expect to see continued downward pressure because of “lack of demand”.
Lack of demand is caused by general market conditions, but as an added insult in our market, our office building inventory is outdated; much of it is functionally obsolete and in need of significant repair. The assessor says the average office building’s worth $70.14 “as is”. If you subtract the cost of renovation, say, $25 psf, the average is more likely around $45 - $50 psf. Don’t believe me? Ask any old-timer if he remembers the 1980’s recession when we were buying office buildings for $10 psf. I guarantee if the market was priced at $50 psf we’d see an immediate uptick in sales, followed by a robust remodel business and an increase in overall activity, which is all good; but that darn demand; until we get more jobs. . .
Anecdotally, last week I met a guy who wants to sell his 5,000 sf warehouse. He bought the building in 1986 which was when Colorado Springs was the foreclosure capitol of America. He paid $150,000 and his payment was $1,500 per month. Without the benefit of this prior knowledge, he asked me to value his building. I blindly told him as an investment; $150,000 ($30 psf) if he’d finance it with no money down and carry the note at $1,000 per month. I calculated, based on the building’s expected rental income and operating costs, accounting for a very narrow profit, that’s all the property could support. Of course I hurt his feelings. So, let’s see; he bought in ‘86. It’s now 2010. That’s 24 years of ownership with no increase in value and a loss in expected monthly rental income. Hmm . . . How’s this supposed to work again?
So here’s the short course; when the economy’s flat, there’s less demand for commercial buildings. If there’s less demand, building owners have to move aggressively to capture tenants (usually cannibalizing from their neighbor’s building) so they drop their lease rates. When lease rates drop, building’s income declines and corresponding values decline. When the value of one building decreases, it negatively impacts similar buildings in the neighborhood which (then) also experience decreasing values. It’s like a campy horror movie where some guy named Freddy jumps out of a sock of hay with a dull chain saw and starts to cut-away at your limbs ever so slowly until you finally bleed to death. And until we can increase demand we’ll continue to be mired in the slog.
FROM THE CAMPAIGN
Q: Are you still running for Mayor
A: Yes.
Q: Why are you running for mayor?
A: Because I’m about to become a grandfather and I care about the environment that my kids & grandkids will inherit and I believe Churchill, who said, “you make a life by what you give.”
Q: Could you expand?
A: Sure; Colorado Springs is at a tipping point. And depending on the next election, and depending on the leadership skills of our next crop of leaders, we could become a lonely single-wide mobile home sitting on the eastern edge of El Paso County, with 3-foot tall prairie grass blowing in the hot, dry, dusty wind, where the only sound you hear is the sound of an aluminum door with a broken window, trying to clap shut, wham, wham, wham, – or we could become that cherished World Class Destination that I’ve been preaching about which, by the way, was what our founders envisioned.
Q: What is the biggest issue facing the city right now?
A: We have a crisis of confidence in our elected officials and the embedded bureaucracy. That’s evidenced by the fact that there are very well intended (multiple) groups who fashion themselves as “private oversight commissions” who are trying to watchdog local government and make sure it’s not wasting our resources. And, I’ll bet that every ad hoc overseer wishes he had enough confidence in our local government to know, that left to its own devices, it would run efficiently. Look, people are frustrated because our parks aren’t getting water or trash cans; our streets have ever-increasing pot holes and we’ve turned-out the lights.
Q: You continue to predict slow growth in the economy. What impact do you think that will have on the city budget?
A: First the good news; I heard the budget gap for this next budget cycle has been (mostly) filled and that we should have enough revenue to cover (most) of our called-for costs. That’s huge for Colorado Springs, because just a few months ago, the forecast was for a $29,000,000 million shortfall. And I think a pat on the back should be extended to the city’s financial managers who creatively discovered ways to cut & balance our budget. We have beaten these folks so badly over the past few years that it now seems incumbent on us to congratulate them when they get it right.
All governmental bodies will experience unprecedented financial stress for the foreseeable future. This means we have to be significantly more judicious with our resources. I’ll bet I meet at least 1 person every week who demands that all city employees take an “across the board” pay-cut. And while we need to be judicial, that’s not likely to happen, and while “it’s good conversation to stir the pot”, that’s about all it does. The reality is, most city departments have cut staff and budgets significantly and are doing the best they can to deliver the services we’ve demanded in the past; with operative words being “we’ve demanded” and “in the past”.
Now, “today”, we’re at a point where we have to engage in a higher conversation about expectations. What services do we expect from local government in a diminishing revenue environment? We can’t expect a full-smorgasbord. We can’t naturally fund the green-beans and spinach and the chocolate pudding without being more business-like and very entrepreneurial. (And by the way, it’s not the role of government to provide chocolate pudding.) The way we used to govern has changed; the way we used to collect revenue and spend is a bus that left the station. Now we need to look forward, creating new models; everything from public/private partnerships to budgeting for outcomes. Everything has to be on-the-table and up-for-grabs. Kennedy said “change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” We need to put our eyes squarely on the future.
Q: Do you have any parting comments?
A: Yes; I’ve concluded that the community conversation has been miscast. Beating the embedded bureaucracy is beating a dead horse and it’s beating ourselves - “we are them”. We need to recapture our can-do inner-arrogance; that we can accomplish great things; we need to recognize our community assets and promote them; we need to realize that it’s “us vs. them” and the “us” is the entire city, (constituents and bureaucracy, (the aggregate), working as partners, and the “them” is the global economy. We have to make this a city worthy of consideration; a World Class Destination.
When we get the conversation right, we’ll realize that we have no limiting factors; there’ll be no mountain we can’t climb; no river we can’t cross; no gap we can’t bridge. . . I’m just saying. IT’S TIME.
Sincerely,
TJL
Tim Leigh
719-337-9551
Tim@HoffLeigh.com
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