Colorado Springs sells excess land at discount to developer for new hotels at airport

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Real estate can be expensive in Colorado Springs given the city's hot housing market, but the City Council is selling some excess land at below appraised value so that a developer can build two hotels at the airport.

On Tuesday, the council voted unanimously to sell six acres of surplus city-owned land in the Peak Innovation Park, east of the intersection of Milton E. Proby Parkway and Powers Boulevard.

The developer -- pending a second council vote in two weeks -- will purchase the land for $1.7 million, after negotiating with the city to pay less than the parcel's market value of around $2 million.

"We're OK with doing it because we're getting a lot out of it," said City Council President Richard Skorman. "We're getting two Marriott hotels and that will help stimulate economic development in that area."

"It'll be the first two hotels actually built at the airport," said Greg Phillips, the airport's aviation director. "That will be a big convenience for people who have early flights to catch. The project will include conference room space and a restaurant."

Phillips said the deal should be finalized in March and construction on the 12- to 18-month project could start as early as this summer.

It's unclear whether the hotels will be built one at a time or simultaneously.

City officials said the project will create hundreds of jobs and produce an annual economic benefit of $11 million.