2011′s biggest real estate deals

The state of the U.S. economy played a definitive role in the Colorado Springs region’s top real estate deals this year.

Investors swooped in to buy bank-owned properties at discount prices. Local and out-of-state apartment-management companies bought several complexes to capitalize on apartment demand, which is at a 10-year high. And large nonprofits with deep pockets took advantage of the shifting market to purchase buildings.

The $71 million purchase of the 178,000-square-foot Chapel Hills Mall ranks it as the year’s most expensive deal and the largest in terms of square footage. Texas-based Coyote Management and New York-based Garrison Investment Group partnered on the purchase.

Other big deals this year included other bank-owned or bankrupt properties, including the former Chase building at 6 N. Tejon Street, which totals more than 129,000 square feet, according to Sierra.

The assessor hasn’t received tax paperwork on that property yet though the sale was completed in the late summer.

That’s not the only major sale the assessor doesn’t have on record yet.

Philip Anschutz, the richest man in Colorado, bought the Oklahoma Publishing Company, which owned The Broadmoor, in September. While the exact sales price for the publishing company and its holdings was never made public, the assessor estimates the value of 1 Lake Avenue, the hotel’s primary address, at more than $51 million. That’s excluding the various other grounds and buildings.

Other major deals this year involved nonprofits such as the El Pomar Foundation, which bought the more than 109,000 square-foot industrial space at 1460 Garden of the Gods Road for Goodwill Industries International, Atlas Preparatory School bought its own building and an event center opened at the foreclosed Rustic Hills Shopping Center.

Wal-Mart bought up and leased a lot of property in Colorado Springs this year, according to Sierra data. It claimed three of the top 25 deals of the year, including one of three major land purchases.

The retail giant bought 24 acres for a planned datacenter in the Interquest area on the far north end of town. American Furniture Warehouse bought 33 acres off of Powers for a new retail location. And Bal Seal Engineering purchased 17 acres in the Interquest area for a new headquarters building.

Several of the biggest dollar sales this year included apartment complexes. Advenir, a Florida company, purchased two apartment properties this year and made an announcement that it planned to expand its presence in Colorado. Apartment real estate went quickly this year as vacancies fell to their lowest rate in more than a decade and rents soared.