The Pulse of Boulder Colorado Real Estate and Economy.

Well for my second blog I thought I would let you all know about the pulse of real estate and our economy in Boulder, Colorado.

Too much is happening, if that is possible. Recently an unknown buyer was rumored to pick up a chunk of real estate in Boulder County, the old site of Storage Technology.... a disc storage company. Tons of speculation about the buyer from Google to IBM. It turned out to be Conoco Phillips. It will be the global headquarters for their educational facility for alternative energy. Expected to be on line in 2010, it will bring/harbor up to 7000 folks from all over their gobally situated satellite offices.... Norway, England, China and so on. EXCITING for Boulder county and exciting for the whole of Colorado. I attended a meeting of the mayors of Louisville, Boulder, Lafayette, Erie and Denver. They were glowing with enthusiasm.

The spin off from all of this is that we have had 5 satellite companies (wind energy, data tech etc. ) who have moved here for the crumbs off the table that they can get.

The University of Colorado was given a token $5 mill to liaise with Conoco Phillips when it gets here.

CU.... the University of Colorado at Boulder has landed a plum contract from NASA. $485 million to study the atmospheric composition of Mars. CU receives more research dollars from NASA than any other university nationally, and is the only school IN THE WORLD to have designed, built and launched instruments to every planet in the solar system.

As an aside, how about them Buffaloes.........that's the CU football team. We'll see their greatest test this coming Thursday on National TV. I tremble.... more with fear than excitement. :-)

All this economic upswing has been great for our real estate. You have to realize that we are the jewel of the Front Range (that's from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins). Why? Some 25 years ago, a hippie on the Boulder City Council promoted the idea of zero growth. To affect such a phenomenon, he lobbied for the department of Parks and Open Space to acquire just that..... open space so that it would not be built upon. In so doing, we now have an amazing asset. Tons of acreage under the department of Parks and Open Space. They have done a tremendous job of acquisition.... as well as linking many of the parcels to provide outrageous bike paths, hiking trails and scenic areas.

The national news throws the blanket of doom and gloom upon all real estate markets. I see it even in our Boulder newspapers....... and it''s seen as local news by many readers who are not able to separate news that comes out of Florida, Vegas, Washington etc. from our local realities. I suppose we realtors should be more active in getting real local articles into our newspapers.... when we see the need. As a result, even tho' our market is strong and prices are appreciating 3 - 7 percent (depending on location), most of the general Boulder County public sees it as being a 'doom and gloom' market. Quelle domage!

Baron de Rothchild said, "Buy when there is blood running in the streets."

In Boulder and surrounding towns of Boulder County, the time is now. If you are an investor.... buy ranch homes in Louisville hand over fist. That's where Conoco Phillips has committed to create it's World Show Case for renewable energy. Don't miss that boat.

If you know of anyone who needs a super real estate consultant with 21 years of local experience and knowledge...... have them call me.

If you plan a visit to Boulder... call me 303-447-8533 or email me Matt@MattMakowski.com.