Built Environment
The built environment of a community is just one of the many ways to evaluate the needs and opportunities in a community. Things like infrastructure, open spaces and property taxes are all unique to each community and helps us understand what is needed to ensure a fulfilled community.
Report summary:
Built Environment
The Colorado Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes the city of Colorado Springs, El Paso County, and Teller County, lending itself to a great variety in the structures, features, and facilities that the community members live and work in.
Key Indicators
The “built environment” of a community consists of human-made structures, including buildings, homes, and stores, as well as streets, open spaces, and other types of infrastructure. The built environment impacts how and where people work, shop, study, gather, and access services. It enables job creation and provides the basis for property taxes, which provides a large portion of local government funding.1 The built environment changes in response to needs and opportunities. Therefore, communities plan and monitor the built environment to ensure that it fulfills its purposes.
This report provides measurements related to status and changes in planning, land use, commercial and residential real estate, and historical sites in the Colorado Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
Click on an indicator to learn more about it! Be sure to use the infographics and additional resources for the full experience.
Comprehensive Planning
The Colorado General Assembly requires that all municipalities in certain categories adopt a master plan to achieve “coordinated, adjusted, and harmonious development of the municipality and its environs which will, in accordance with present and future needs, best promote the health, safety, order, convenience, prosperity, and general welfare” of citizens.2
Comprehensive plans address the built environment and related issues, including:3
- land use
- water supply and conservation
- energy
- urban design
- capital improvements
- affordable housing
- economic development
- efficiency in government
- transportation
- hazards
- environment
- parks and open space
- natural and cultural resources
- sustainability
- recreation and tourism
Historic Sites
Recognizing historic sites reflects a concentrated effort to remember and share the legacy of those who founded and developed our community. Preserving historic buildings on the National Register of Historic Places protects the identity of the community, fosters learning, and fosters a vision to create new places of significance. Listing properties on the registry also opens opportunities for tax credits and grant funding to preserve or restore properties.
Nearly 100,000 properties nationwide have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since its authorization in 1966. The Colorado Springs MSA has 106 listed historic properties, or 13.8 per 100,000 residents. That rate ranks 6th of 6 peer communities, four of which have at least 25 listings per 100,000 people.6
Of Colorado Springs’ historic properties, 9.4% have been listed since 2010, which ranks 5th of 6 peer communities for rate of recent additions.7
8 National Park Service, U.S. Census Bureau
Below are photos of a few of the area’s historic sites. A full listing is available in the Supplement on Historic Sites.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cutler_Hall,_Colorado_College,_about_1901.jpg, public domain; uploaded by user Carole Henson. See also image on CC’s website: https://photos.coloradocollege.edu/Campus/Historic-Buildings/Cutler-Hall/n-C5pR2/i-2ppJB2R/A
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hornbek_House_NPS.jpg image credit: National Park Service
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Goldfield_City_Hall_and_Fire_Station_02.JPG “Creative Commons credit: Eric Ross (ERoss99).
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IndependenceMine_Stone347.jpg Public domain image from the George H. Stone Collection of Colorado geological features and views, Special Collections, Tutt Library, Colorado College.
Land Use
Land in El Paso and Teller counties is categorized based on how it is used. This differs from zoning, which establishes permitted uses and dimensional requirements, such as setbacks, lot coverage, and building height. Effective community planning can manage and control development, which can be measured by noting how parcels are reclassified over time.
Since 2022, El Paso County reclassified more than 170,000 acres of land from agricultural to residential, reducing the share of agricultural land from 43% to 28% and increasing residential land from 18% to 33%. Of the remaining agricultural land, more than half (16% of all county land) is held by the State Land Board.9 Proportions as of July 30, 2024, are noted in the following chart.10
11 El Paso County Assessor.
As land is developed, it is typically reclassified from Agricultural to Vacant in anticipation of a certain kind of development. It is again reclassified into one of the developed categories when construction takes place. “Exempt” land includes military installations, religious institutions, state parks, and other tax-exempt institutions.
Commercial Real Estate
Commercial real estate is sub-categorized as office, industrial, or retail space. At the end of the first quarter of 2024, Colorado Springs had:
- 30.7 million sq. ft. of office space12 (including 7.8 million of Class A/B13)
- 42.4 million sq. ft. of industrial space14
- 44.9 million sq. ft. of retail space15
The market for office space experienced upheaval during the pandemic, as many office workers transitioned to working from home. The market recovered quickly and Colorado Springs fared well compared to other regions.
The industrial market saw a huge boost in the summer of 2021 with the opening of the Amazon distribution center adjacent to the airport. The 3.7 million square feet of new space represents more than a tenth of the community’s industrial inventory, and it helped create upward of 4,000 jobs.16
For the 12 months ending in the first quarter of 2024, commercial real estate growth in Colorado Springs was quiet. Industrial inventory was unchanged (lowest growth among 5 peer communities for which data was available). Office space shrank by 0.2% (5th of 5) and retail space grew by 0.5% (2nd of 5).
Industrial vacancy in Colorado Springs is 4.2% as of Q1 2024 (2nd of 6 peer cities). Vacancy rates for retail (4.4%) and office space (11.5%) both rank 4th among 6 peers.
Among five peer communities, Colorado Springs’ growth in commercial rent rates ranked 2nd for office space (2.1%) and 3rd for industrial (2.7%) and retail (4.5%) for the 12 months ended in Q1 of 2024.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
Residential Real Estate
Inventory
As of 2023, Colorado Springs had 317,797 housing units.20 Ideally, housing supply should increase in proportion to household growth. New housing construction, however, tends to vary with the economy. Following the 2008 recession, home construction in Colorado Springs lagged behind population growth in almost every year from 2010 to 2018. In 2019, the balance shifted due to increased construction and slowing population growth. Aside from COVID-affected 2021, construction growth has continued to outpace population growth, which has continued to slow, in part due to increased mortgage rates.21
22 U.S. Census Bureau
Peer communities experienced a similar pattern. In 2016, housing growth lagged behind population growth in all cities but Albuquerque. By 2019, however, all peer communities saw a net gain in housing growth relative to population growth. Since then, Colorado Springs has seen further gains in housing availability, as have the three out-of-state peer communities.
24 U.S. Census Bureau
Recent gains have helped regain the ground lost over several prior years, made worse due to investment buying, 24 an increase in the institutional buyer market share,25 vacation properties, and marijuana businesses, which use real estate as a functional bank for profits that cannot be deposited in traditional banks.
Housing Variety
In 2022, single-family housing comprised 75% of all dwellings in the Pikes Peak region, which represents a slight decrease, as several new apartment complexes opened.26 That proportion is still greater than the national average and is 5th lowest of 6 peer communities.
27 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey
Construction
More housing is on the way in the Pikes Peak region—the number of new housing units authorized in 2023 was 1.7% of 2022 inventory. However, that is the lowest growth rate since 2016. It ranks 3rd among 6 peer communities.28
Additionally, nearly 30% of the value of those permits were for multiple-unit housing—continuing a surge that began in 2021.29
30 U.S. Census Bureau
Supply & Demand—Multi-family
In the first quarter of 2024, 11.8% of multi-family units in Colorado Springs MSA were vacant, almost double the rate in 2022 and well above the U.S. average of 7.8%, which itself is a 10-year high. While absorption rates are high due to the challenges of home-buying, new construction has still left a supply surplus.
31 National Association of Realtors, citing CoStar®, US Census Bureau, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and US Bureau of Economic Analysis
Effective rent per unit at the end of Q1 2024 was $1,449. That amount reflected an a 1.6% decrease over the previous 12 months, again due to new construction. Colorado Springs ranked as the most affordable of 5 peer communities, with rent reflecting 14.8% of the annual wages of two adults.32
33 National Association of Realtors
Supply & Demand— Single-family
The same dynamics were true for single-family dwellings. Home values rose 38% from mid-2020 to mid-2022, then have been mostly flat since. As of June 2024, the typical home in Colorado Springs was on the market for 30 days, the 2nd-shortest time of 6 peer communities,34 and sold for $499,000.35 Home values in Colorado Springs were nearly identical to those in Austin, 3% lower than those in Boise, and 17% lower than those in Fort Collins.36
37 Zillow
Affordability
As of Q1 2024, a Colorado Springs family making the median household income would spend 37% of that income on a mortgage for a median-priced home. However, housing in Colorado Springs is still comparatively affordable. The Pikes Peak region ranked 3rd of 6 peer communities for housing affordability.40
41 National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing Index
Next Steps
- Strategy VN-1.B-1: Create and implement state-of-the-art, transparent, clear and cost-effective methods to inform and involve neighborhoods and affected property owners in development applications and planning initiatives.
- Strategy VN-2.A-3: Support land use decisions and projects that provide a variety of housing types and sizes, serving a range of demographic sectors, and meeting the needs of residents and families through various life stages and income levels.
- Strategy VN-2.A-4: Allow for zoning residential bonuses that result in the provision of additional attainable housing, such as increased heights or densities.
- Strategy VN-2.A-5: Amend the City’s zoning code to allow attainable housing in multi-family and commercial zoning districts in order to maximize the availability and distribution of this housing option in the city.
- Strategy VN-3.A-4: Modify City Code and create incentives to encourage redevelopment of underperforming buildings to include higher-density housing, mixed-use, civic services, gathering areas, and additional employment opportunities.
- Strategy VN-3.E-1: Focus incentives for mixed-use development within parts of the city that have been identified as priority redevelopment areas or corridors that have the potential for enhanced multimodal access and walkability.
- Strategy VN-3.E-2: Encourage vertical mixed-use design in neighborhood focal points along with neighborhood design meant to encourage a sense of community and provide a walkable environment. Vertical developments, where the various uses are “stacked” on top of each other, are typically used in areas with limited space, while larger sites allow those different components to be built next to each other—such as an apartment building adjacent to a grocery store.42
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