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



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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