March 1, 2010

Hoff & Leigh’s Weekend Market Report
Hoff & Leigh, Inc.
Leasing, Sales, Management, Buyer or Tenant Representation
4445 Northpark Drive, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO USA 80907
March 1, 2010

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Tim’s Market Report
I’ve been gazing through the window at the world outside, wondering if we will survive.
After all there’s only just the two of us, and here we are, still fighting for our lives.
We’re watching all of history repeat itself, time after time after time.
Adopted from “Dreamer”
Ozzy Osbourne

Is it OK for 2 old men to hug? I ran into one of those awkward moments last week. I went to 2500 North Circle Drive, the former “Global Headquarters” Building that we’re remodeling-on-spec to sell and Richard wasn’t there. Richard is one of my long-haired, hippy-type guys who paint for me. He’s normally, on time working hard and normally toked with the medicinal marijuana he uses to defeat the pain from his stage-4 cancers. He wasn’t there last Tuesday, but his brother Sonny was. (Sonny’s the one that drives the truck and rides a Harley). Sonny said Richard won’t be back. Sonny’s eyes welled and I felt an intense wave of dark sadness wash over me. We hugged. Damn, I’m going to miss him.

After all, there’s only just the two of us, and here we are still fighting for our lives . . .

And I ran into one of my banker friends last night at the CC hockey game. He bragged that he’s one of the most successful bankers “still playing” in Colorado Springs; said he’s “makin-loans!” (And, yes, that’s an anomaly!) He said every time the music stops, he’s been able to grab-a-chair. The word is that a lot of his brothers will be looking for new places to sit as winter warms to spring and spring heats to summer. Ah, the games we play. . . Hey, who stopped the music?

I’ve been gazing through the window at the world outside, wondering if we will survive . . .

And he says the other shoe is about to drop. His story is, “Those darn commercial real estate agents sold Mr. Small Business down the river” when, as they puffed their big cigar and slapped him on the back, they advised “Well, well, well . . . . . buy the bigger building; you can rent-out the extra space and make a ton-of-money! Heck, at the very least, Mr. Somebody Else will pay for your building! . . . It’s the closest thing to “free” that you can find! Don’t miss this chance; it may not come-round this way again!” The only trouble is; Mr. Somebody Else went broke. Now Mr. Small Business, without Mr. Somebody Else’s rent can’t afford his building.

And now, because there’s no harmony in the marketplace we’re on the verge of a new Cachephonus foreclosure tsunami. Mr. Small Business drank the Coolaide; he listened to the music; dreamed-the-dream; played 1st Fiddle in the band and bought the building. Now he’s being hit with a hard dose of the reality that comes slowly & insidiously wave after wave, one after monotonous other, after another. It’s a slow moving train and that light you see is not at the end of the tunnel. No, “There are no fish under the ice.” There’s no Mr. Somebody Else; there’s no extra rent. And while my banker friend blamed fast talking, quick drawing commercial real estate gunslingers, I blamed the banks and their lending policies. We had a 12 year run before the conductor left the stage with tired arms. I guess we’ve all learned that nobody can wave a conductor’s baton forever.

We’re watching all of history repeat itself time after time after time . . .

And speaking of gunslingers, I managed to score 2 points on Seth Kelsey and 3 points of Jimmy Moody. Seth and Jimmy are our Olympic hopefuls for Fencing. They invited me to visit them for some one-on-one training at the OTC. Let’s see, hmm . . . I spent 30 minutes on the Stairmaster in the morning; 45 minutes at the SoCo Cross Fit gym with Kevin in the afternoon and an hour with the National Fencing Team. Hmmm . . . Don’t tell the fetching Mrs. Leigh; she’ll think I don’t work! (And you know better, so don’t even think of saying it!) Seth is a 6-time National Champion who graduated from the Air Force Academy and Jimmy was the captain of Penn State’s 2009 NCAA Championship team. Scoring points, I immediately asked if they felt I could make the team. They said no. But, I think they said no, not because I couldn’t, but because they only take 2 fencers and, well, you can draw your own conclusion. . . Thanks guys! I’m waiting for the call for the rematch!

Now, “Consider if you will”; If you’re reading this, (aside from looking for prescient information about Colorado Springs commercial real estate), you’re looking for information about my announced-candidacy for Mayor. As I’ve previously reported, I’ve been meeting with department heads, enterprise managers and city leaders to find out (not to steal a line) “how we’re all connected.” I’ve been learning how we drive-the-bus. It’s been like driving the skid-pad at Master Drive. I’ve been trying to learn how to keep us out of the ditch and moving-on down the highway!

And yes; yes; yes, I finally attended my 1st City Council meeting. And as I sat in the front row, a soft whisper kept ringing in my ears, “You’re traveling through another dimension; a dimension of, not only sight and sound, but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land where boundaries are that of imagination; your next stop – The Twilight Zone!”

There were 3 major issues discussed; the enactment of proposition 300; the homeless and medical marijuana. While I won’t comment on the outcome of the various discussions, I will say, with deference to slight understatement, “Everybody was thoroughly engaged”.

There were a couple of folks who must have been hoping that the cable feed was being sent to Fox; to the “No Spin Zone” where they could be noticed as “Bloviator of the Day.” If I were king of the world, I would refer back to the Rules of Procedures, Part 2, paragraph 1.(4)(e.) and limit individual speaker input to 3 minutes. At council, while you need to hear the electorate, there’s no need to be subjected to bloviation. (Dang, that’s a great word!)

And here’s a small secret (just between us); I used to “run” a crew of construction workers who I hired from the homeless shelter. Back in the day, we actually worked hard and made money. I always got a kick out of “the guys” because they always bragged that “I went to college” (and secretly, I liked how they addressed me as “Mr. Tim”. From that, “Mr. Tim” is what my kids are threatening to teach my grandbaby to call me and hey, I’m just saying, that sounds a little weird!) I guess saying “I went to college” was their statement, hoping for some kind of redemption. So, I was not surprised when one of the homeless guys stepped to the podium and, after apologizing for not being professional, made some quiet reference to his college experience and then went-on to read a statement akin to Hamlet.

And the pot-guys? Too funny; let’s see. Hmm . . . I have personal experience with this issue. See paragraph 1, above. I was also around pot as a youngster (just as a spectator, mind you). [Now, in case you haven’t noticed (and follow me here)], I have started branding our city as “The Sports & Wellness Capital of America.” But, now with the revelation of how sick we are (and we must be as evidenced by the fact that we require medicinal-marijuana-dispensaries on every corner), I’m afraid we’re going to have to rebrand ourselves. Now, I’m a private property rights kind of guy and I wish them well, but let’s not delude ourselves.

Last week, I wrote that there is so much vacant space in our market that it would take 25,000 new jobs to fill that space. The good news is that in spite of the insanity, there is good news. The EDC held a press conference to introduce Prevailing Power’s move to Colorado Springs. Prevailing Power’s currently headquartered in Shenandoah, Iowa, in a 92,000 square foot plant. They’re moving to Colorado Springs, not because of financial inducement, but because we held-open our arms and welcomed them to our family; they recognize our quality-of-life, our high-quality work-force and that we’re a land of low taxes and great opportunity. Steve & Pam Stultz (the principals) and I met privately and discussed their strategy. It’s impressive. They told me they had to get another phone number because orders for their wind turbines have been so robust that they can’t field the calls. According to the reports, this could be a business with national implications whose employee base could exceed thousand(s).

Dare I dream big dreams? Dare I think big thoughts? Prevailing Power’s announcement is a great start; but it’s only a start; it’s a 1st step in a journey of a thousand miles.
And congratulations to all for making that 1st step happen and to Steve & Pam - welcome to our Casa. Now, next . . .

We’ve been through, and will continue to suffer through some dark days; what I call a collective, deep blue funk; the slough-of-despond. But, we’ll get through this; we have smart folks working to solution our city’s problems and much like childbirth the result will be worth the pain.

Sincerely,

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