'Tireless advocate' for downtown Colorado Springs marks 10 years in role

Mar. 5—From her seventh-floor office at Plaza of the Rockies, Susan Edmondson can see at least three construction cranes at work — a sign of the boom times for downtown Colorado Springs.

Edmondson celebrates her 10th anniversary as president and CEO of the Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs this month; previously, she was executive director of the arts-focused Bee Vradenburg Foundation.

It's been a fruitful 10 years, with City for Champions projects such as the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum and Weidner Field — designed to boost state and local tourism — coming to fruition downtown, along with new hotels and apartments.

Skate in the Park in Acacia Park, meanwhile, has become "a beloved tradition" for the holidays and another draw for downtown since launching a year before Edmondson's arrival at the Downtown Partnership, she said; additions such as the PikeRide bike share program and the new downtown shuttle are making transportation more convenient as the number of downtown residents climbs.

And downtown finally got a long-desired grocery story with the opening of Bread & Butter Neighborhood Market in 2020.

"I feel very fortunate to be a part of downtown at a time like this," Edmondson says. "I could see when I started this job that there were a lot of elements to build on, so I was feeling pretty good about things. And certainly market conditions have been supportive of a lot of good things happening in the past decade."

The mission of the Downtown Partnership: "to ensure that downtown serves as the economic, civic and cultural heart of Colorado Springs." The Downtown Partnership, as Edmondson explains, serves as the management entity for the Greater Downtown Colorado Springs Business Improvement District and the Downtown Development Authority, and for Downtown Ventures, the Downtown Partnership's nonprofit arm.

"Really all those entities are essentially tools in the tool kit to make a great downtown," Edmondson said. "So they allow us to access different types of resources, but then they also come with very specific obligations. ... All I really want is folks to come downtown and have a great experience. They might not know who put that piece of art there, or who helped that small business open their doors, or who helped that apartment complex come into being, or who advocated for that bike lane, but collectively it's creating a great experience."

The work downtown, though, goes beyond those entities, Edmondson stressed.

"One of the things I love about my job is everything is collaborative. We work closely with city government and nonprofits and businesses; it takes all three of those for things to happen."

Ingrid Richter, who is in her eighth year on the Downtown Development Authority board and her third year as board chair, hails Edmondson as "a tireless advocate" for all of downtown and praises her ability to work with those various partners.

"The work Susan oversees spans the spectrum — from annual events like Art on the Streets, to economic development initiatives, to mobility, to marketing downtown's small businesses, to policy advocacy and outreach," Richter said via email. "Her unique ability to manage a complex and multi-faceted organizational structure with a heavy workload is truly extraordinary. Susan knows how to build consensus, negotiate compromise and drive results."

Despite the boom times, Richter and Edmondson both recognize that challenges are ahead.

National economic trends show a slowing economy, Richter said, and that is being reflected in the local and downtown economy. "Inflation and rising interest rates," she said, "are threatening new investment in downtown."

Some small businesses that survived the pandemic and now could face a recession might be ready to throw in the towel at some point, Edmondson said.

"We know there are still some hard times ahead. As leases come up, people might say, 'that just wore me out, I'm done.' And I get that. Running a small business is super hard."

Edmondson sat down for an interview to discuss the progress downtown has made in the past 10 years and what still lies ahead. Questions and answers were edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: Speaking of 10 years, that was how long you were at the Bee Vradenburg Foundation. What made you jump to the Downtown Partnership?

A: I loved my work with the foundation, but I just felt I had a little more to give to and do in our community. It just felt like the right step; things I had done before kind of led up to this.

Q: Having coming from the foundation, the arts scene is a natural for you. (Before her time with the foundation, Edmondson was arts and entertainment editor at The Gazette.) What is the importance of a thriving arts community for downtown?

A: Downtown is certified by the state of Colorado as a Creative District, which is something we're very proud of. What I love about it is it means that almost everything we do, we're always thinking about what is the role of art and artists in that. Whether it's like someone building an apartment and maybe a mural is going in, we've been able to assist a lot of non-art entities or projects that see the importance of public art and help them navigate what that looks like. I'm especially excited by our work, alongside many other great community folks, to bring affordable housing for artists, which will break ground this spring. (The Artspace project is planned for 315 E. Costilla St.)

Q: When Blue Dot Place opened in early 2016, it was the first new apartment complex downtown in decades. Since then, we have had a wave of apartment projects from local and national developers. What changed?

A: I think there are a couple of factors. One is how we use the tools in our toolkit, and through the Downtown Development Authority our ability to use tax increment financing to help close the gap on the higher costs of constructing and developing downtown certainly was a key factor in getting those apartments going. I think the fact that there was a clearer vision for downtown, which certainly City for Champions contributed to. Those who are looking to invest in our city center need to know that it's headed somewhere, that their investment is going to be good. And then it was thanks to those folks who did take the risk. Darsey Nicklasson took the risk with Blue Dot Place, Norwood took a risk with 333 Eco Apartments. Being the first does mean there is some risk before the market is proven. Since Blue Dot, we have opened a little over 600 units, and that includes a few renovations. In the next two years, we will be opening about 2,000 units. So it's a totally different world.

Q: I remember your predecessor talking about the need for rooftops downtown.

A: Having more residents has for decades been our highest priority. It's not just a matter of being a big city; there are a lot of midsize cities and cities smaller than us that have people living in their city center. We've had some, but not a lot. And that is so essential, particularly in helping our small businesses survive. Soon we will have a couple of thousand more loyal coffee patrons, beer patrons, bookshop lovers, all of those things.

Q: In the early days of the pandemic, at the height of COVID-related restrictions, downtown seemed like a ghost town; the streets and sidewalks were empty. Has downtown largely or fully recovered from that?

A: That was probably the hardest thing I have been through professionally. I think it was incredible how our community stepped up and found whatever way to keep our small businesses going. I am proud that while downtowns suffered all across the country, we bounced back a lot better than many in terms of that vibrancy getting back in place, of businesses being open again. The grants that we offered as well as wonderful other community grant opportunities were really important. I am very pleased and proud of all the ways we helped our businesses.

I would still say some struggle; we're not able to see the debt that maybe they took on during the pandemic and are still trying to pay back, and they still face the challenges they faced pre-pandemic — competition with the internet and other things. But over all, unlike some downtowns, we're not boarded up, people are out and about. (As of January, downtown had about a 90% return-to-work presence from pre-COVID times, according to figures provided after this interview; downtown retail vacancy rates of 3.1% in 2022 were virtually unchanged from 3.1% in 2021.)

Q: What does downtown still lack?

A: I think it's always evolving. One of things we did last year is through our Downtown Development Authority, we created a retail incentive grant, designed to support storefronts that we need downtown that we don't have to offer more robust offerings for folks. It could be anything from a type of cuisine we don't have to resident-serving amenities we don't have. I'm constantly advocating for improvements to our sidewalks, lighting, all the things that are going to connect us. I think supporting a downtown and growing a downtown is never ending. I don't mean more, more, more. But the quality of what we do, the variety of what we do.