By Theresa Woods
The areas adjacent to the heart of Downtown Colorado Springs are key to the revitalized downtown experience sought by city officials, local businesses and residents. The southern side of Downtown Colorado Springs, referred to as the New South End District, once was a quirky, eclectic and historical mix of residences, businesses and industrial buildings. Today, the New South End is known for its revitalization into a cultural and social hub. It is a growing and flourishing neighborhood designed and born out of the master plan for rejuvenating the area’s downtown. Just outside of the new apartment buildings are new restaurants, art spaces and vital businesses such as banks, hair salons and retail establishments.
A Catalyst of the Downtown Resurgence
Adding multi-unit housing, a priority throughout the city’s revitalized downtown, remade this area. The first new residential multi-unit built was Blue Dot Place at 412 S. Nevada Ave. in 2016. These 33 new residences were a catalyst, attracting new businesses and new development.
“We are proud to be a part of the story of the Downtown Colorado Springs revitalization and the New South End,” says developer Darsey Nicklasson in 2020 when she sold the property. “Blue Dot Place was the first apartment building to be built downtown in 60 years. It was the first to receive Tax Increment Financing assistance from the Downtown Development Authority. It was the first apartment building under the form-based code and the first of so many other things.” As additional apartment buildings opened, such as 333 ECO in 2017, the nearby Trolley Block was remade into a vibrant mixed-use area.
The Trolley Block represents the first major redevelopment of New South End, with $8 million in investment. The 500 block of South Tejon Street transformed from the original trolly repair shops and garage into a historic and artfully redesigned home for food and drink tenants, a virtual sports training facility, office suites and a brewery taproom and food hall.
“The master planning and architecture of the Trolley Block provides Colorado Springs with a heightened design experience that formerly did not exist in the city and is helping to raise the bar on future downtown development,” says Echo Architecture + Interiors, the designer.
Next door, an original 1890s building was renovated into a 30,000-square-foot multi-tenant office property, the Trolley Lofts at 517-523 S. Cascade Ave. A recent addition nearby, The Village at New South End, is a complex of 62 residences which opened in 2023.
“Many young professionals, in particular, are craving housing in denser communities where they can walk to their favorite restaurants and bars, bike to the office and shop within a 15-minute walking radius of their home,” says Austin Wilson-Bradley, director of economic development for Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs. Today, over 7,000 people live within one mile of the Trolley Block.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Revitalization calls for a shift in the ring of neighborhoods that cradle downtown, remaking them into higher density areas filled with residences, mixed-use buildings and attractive public spaces and parks.
The Village at New South End is located in the Lowell neighborhood, an area strategically important to revitalization. An Urban Renewal Area from 1988 to 2013, the updated Lowell Neighborhood provides an attractive entry, innovative mixed-income housing opportunities and neighborhood-oriented businesses. Preservation and adaptation of the Lowell Elementary School at 831 S. Nevada Ave., job creation in the area, enhanced safety and transportation, pedestrian friendly features and parking infrastructure were goals of this neighborhood’s completed redevelopment.
The Mill Street and Las Vegas neighborhoods occupy the area between Fountain Boulevard and I-25. Streets in this area, specifically Sahwatch Avenue, Rio Grande Street and Las Animas Street, will become garden streets. This addition of community garden areas, enhanced landscaping and small park spaces along wide, accessible sidewalks builds spaces for “living rather than just driving.” The newly attractive residential areas will bring new types of residents to these nearby neighborhoods.
Gateways to the New South End
Lowell, Mill Street and Las Vegas neighborhoods are immediately adjacent to the Southern Gateway to Downtown Colorado Springs, Tejon Street and Nevada Avenue, at their intersection with Fountain Boulevard. Part of the overall revitalized downtown experience, gateways are designated entry points that will have cosmetic and structural improvements to create welcoming and distinctive entrances into the various Downtown districts from the surrounding areas of the city. The Southern Gateways, the primary gateways from neighborhoods such as Ivywild and the Broadmoor, comprise two of the nine entrances identified for cosmetic and functional upgrades. Improvements to pedestrian and bicycle/scooter travel, traffic flow, streetscaping, signage and infrastructure will enhance the entire periphery of Downtown Colorado Springs.
The Necessities of Revitalization
A series of infrastructure improvements will dramatically shape the future of Mill Street/Las Vegas neighborhoods. The South Downtown Rail Underpass Reconstruction Project (SDRUR), currently in the preliminary planning stages, advances several aspects of the overall revitalization plan.
Replacement railroad bridges at Nevada Avenue, Tejon Street and Shooks Run will improve safety, transportation access and appearance. Construction along Tejon Street and Nevada Avenue from Fountain Boulevard to Mill Street will improve traffic flow and pedestrian access. Sierra Madre and Las Animas, and other streets in the area will undergo various functional and aesthetic improvements. Work surrounding the Shooks Run Bridge will lead to an eventual connection to the Greenway Trail and Legacy Loop. Various interim projects will also mitigate noise in the area, install train whistle quiet zones and improve connection and safety for multiple transportation modes: pedestrian, bicycle and automobile.
The entire Las Vegas Street corridor is also identified for safety, multi-modal transportation and aesthetic improvements. The planning process for this area has not begun.
BNSF Railroad is replacing the South Tejon Railroad bridge in a separate project. Originally planned for 2024, construction has not yet begun. A new road and at-grade rail crossing will be constructed to replace the Royer Street railroad crossing, an important safety improvement to the area. The project was expected to be awarded in February 2025.
Currently, the Interstate 25 ramps at South Nevada and South Tejon Street are being updated. This $9.1 million project will improve the flow of traffic on and off the interstate. Along with construction of a center median on Nevada and a pedestrian bridge over Cheyenne Creek, the project will improve pedestrian access throughout the area and widen sidewalks to better accommodate bicycles and scooters. There will also be traffic signal upgrades and improved signage and wayfinding.
An Important Class of Residents
Unhoused residents are a long-standing element of the downtown experience. Ensuring unsheltered populations have safer sleeping alternatives to alleyways, business doorways, creeks, trails, etc., is part of revitalizing Downtown Colorado Springs. These efforts are ongoing, as demonstrated by the city’s 2025 Homelessness Response Action Plan, but received a significant upgrade with the Springs Rescue Mission’s (SRM) campus expansion.
The four-story building that is now the SRM Welcome Center at 5 W. Las Vegas St. was purchased in 1998. Since then, it has grown to become a 13-acre homeless resource campus in southern Downtown Colorado Springs. The $18 million campus expansion includes additional shelter space; a dining hall; residential addiction recovery programs; a special shelter for pets; a resource and day center with showers, laundry machines, computers for job searches and other tasks, mail receiving and partner offices for local agencies to streamline services available; and a variety of transitional housing options for men and women graduating and moving into stable housing. With a holistic, person-first approach, SRM focuses programs on three pillars of life: housing, health and work.
“The Mission offers neighbors in need pathways out of homelessness, poverty and addiction,” says Travis Williams, president & CEO of SRM. “Our hope is that guests, who once felt forgotten, now feel seen, loved and supported as we help them overcome challenges and re-integrate back into the community.”
In 2024, homelessness in Colorado Springs was the lowest in nine years. The January Point-in-Time survey found that 1,146 individuals were homeless in Colorado Springs, which is 12% lower than the 2023 count. Even then, SRM provided overnight shelter to 3,177 guests in 2024.
In September, SRM added the 4U Motel at 1102 S. Nevada Ave. to its transitional housing program. This re-imagined, remodeled property — The Studios by Springs Rescue Mission — offers tenants 18-month leases designed to gradually acclimate them to paying rent and other responsibilities as they work to secure permanent housing. Norwood Development Group purchased the property in 2022, helped fund renovations and leased it to Springs Rescue Mission for $1 per year, indefinitely. Norwood has a long-standing partnership with SRM, including previous work on the 65-unit Greenway Flats in 2019.
The Future Meets the Past Downtown
The last Colorado Springs street trolley ran through the Trolley Block in April of 1932. Now, the only trolleys are at the Pikes Peak Trolley Museum in the historic 1888 Rock Island Railroad Roundhouse at 2333 Steel Drive. Their legacy, and the legacies of the past found throughout Downtown Colorado Springs, remain. Embedded in the architecture and the names of new developments, the long-established neighborhoods, community fixtures like the Colorado Springs Day Nursery and SRM, Downtown’s past mixes with the new, redeveloped, revitalized Downtown of the future.
New South End Residential Projects
- Blue Dot Place (33 units, 2016) 412 N. Nevada Ave., at Nevada Ave./Costillo St.
- 333 Eco (172 units, 2017) 333 E. Colorado Ave., at Wahsatch St./Colorado Ave.
- The Mae on Cascade (178 units, 2020) 609 S. Cascade Ave., at Cascade Ave./Rio Grande St.
- Casa Mundi (27 units, 2020) 418 S. Tejon, at Tejon St./Cimarron
- The VIM (154 units, 2023) 322 E. Vermijo, at Wahsatch St./Vermijo Ave.
- The Village at New South End (62 units, 2023) 343 E. Rio Grande St., at Weber St./Rio Grande St.
Trolley Block Businesses
- Printsmart Commercial Printer
- Atomic Cowboy
- Denver Biscuit Company
- Fat Sully’s Pizza
- Frozen Gold
- The Exchange on Tejon
- Streetcar 520
- Dos Santos Taqueria de Mexico
- COATI Food Hall
- Louie Louie’s Piano Bar
- AXC
- Cork & Cask
- Honey Salon and Spa
- Cycle Gear
- Sunday Barber Co.
- Tattoo Demon
- Urban Animal Brewery
- Uprise Taphouse
- McDivitt Law Firm
