Retrofit Atlas

Malls · Colorado

Former Sears building and parking lots at Chapel Hills Mall

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedRetrofit builtColorado Springs, CO

Sears site redeveloped to housing (300 units) by 2023; validated by local rent growth and county population trends. · summary, model-written

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Site profile4 elements · what this site is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors
SearsThis site: Sears wikipedia · all sites with this
Place
30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent roadThis site: 44,000 on ACADEMY BD fhwa-hpms · all sites with this
Strategy
RedevelopedThis site: …a 300-unit “suburban-style” apartment complex record · all sites with this
New use
HousingThis site: …a 300-unit “suburban-style” apartment complex newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

StatusRetrofit builtnewtypes-extraction reported
StrategyRedevelopedWikipedia no source
New useshousingWikipedia no source
What is there nowa 300-unit “suburban-style” apartment complexnewtypes-extraction reported
Retrofit year2021newtypes-extraction reported

History and original facts

Closed2019newtypes-extraction reported
AnchorsSears
CountyEl Paso County
Census division8 · Mountain
NotesDraft from Wikipedia, model-extracted, unreviewed: The former Sears building and parking lots at Chapel Hills Mall were razed in 2021 and redeveloped into a 300-unit apartment complex, completed in 2023.

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, year opened, original developer. Know it? Tell us.

Planning

No zoning change, subsidy or policy tool recorded for this site.

Before and after

Before: the mall

GLA1,103,227 sq ftquote
Enclosedyesquote

After: the retrofit

Demolished2,021quote

Hover "quote" to see the sentence each value came from. Planned figures are labelled planned. Method.

Site context

Housing permits, El Paso County (CO), 2024872 units in 5+ unit buildings, 244 in 2–4, 2,733 single-family; 2023: 2,293 in 5+Census BPS
Other atlas sites nearby1 within 10 km, 3 within 25 km: Anchor space (formerly Burlington) at Chapel Hills Mall (0.0 km)computed
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)31,758 jobs in 1,856 establishments; average annual pay $42,848; employment location quotient 1.04; employment -1.5% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 20227,955 jobs; 1,854 in retail trade, 1,748 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 08041003905)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 44th income percentile as adults; -0.3% incarcerated at the 2010 count (208 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)not a low-access tract at 1 mile; poverty rate 15.7%; median family income $72,470; 115 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
SchoolsAcademy School District 20 (PK-12); 4 public schools within 1 mile: Aspen Valley Campus; High Plains Elementary School; Village High School; Briargate PreschoolNCES EDGE
Elevation6,477 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-20251,155 county-logged events: 756 hail, 250 heavy rain, 71 flash flood, 57 thunderstorm wind; $342,004,000 property damage reported; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 80920, 2026-09median list price $526,250 (-2.5% on the year); 150 active listings; median 57 days on market; 37% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 20231,993 establishments (+2%); 33,999 jobs (+19%)Census CBP
Housing market in the countytypical home value $445,559 (-1% 1 yr, +4% 5 yr); typical rent $1,761/mo (+3% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)44,000 vehicles a day on ACADEMY BD (principal arterial, 6 lanes); 1,590 trucks; 15 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Former Sears building and parking lots at Chapel Hills Mall closed in 2019. The site was redeveloped into a 300-unit apartment complex, completed in 2023. Retrofit work began in 2021.

Why. County population grew 7.0% (2018-2023), median rent is $1,609, and housing demand is validated by local market data (ZORI $1,761).

Where it stands. The retrofit is built and operational. The site is part of a cluster of similar redevelopments in Colorado Springs (e.g., Anchor space at same mall, 13km away).

For a planner

  • No current occupancy data
  • No construction cost details
  • Verified status is 'draft'

For a developer

  • Market validation: housing demand strong
  • Peer projects in same city (Chapel Hills Mall, Outlook Briargate) show similar strategy success
  • No new retrofit opportunities here (already built)

What we do not know yet

  • No details on apartment occupancy rates
  • No cost or ROI data
  • County growth rate source not specified

Generated by qwen3-30b-a3b-64k:latest on Dell 5820 RTX 3090 (Ollama, qwen3-30b-a3b) from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

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Multifamily screen

  • retrofit already built
  • county grew 7.0% 2018–23
  • median rent $1,609
  • housing in the record

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

Background

Chapel Hills Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, with 1,103,227 square feet (102,493 m2) of gross leasable area. The anchor stores are AMC Theatres, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's, H&M, American Freight, and Macy's. There is one anchor space that was redeveloped into housing where the store Burlington was located. It is currently made up of several apartment complexes. == History == === 1980s === Initial development of the Chapel Hills Mall began in the mid-1970s, with the mall project receiving approval from the board of county commissioners in August 1974. General Growth Properties (GGP) spearheaded development.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

  1. 2018 Sears announced closure
  2. 2019 Sears closed
  3. 2019 Closed
  4. 2021 Building and parking lots razed
  5. 2021 Retrofit: redevelop
  6. 2023 Apartment complex completed

Sources

  • Chapel Hills Mall · CC BY-SA 4.0
    5 quoted sentences
    The former Sears building and parking lots
    Sears announced in 2018 that it would close its Chapel Hills Mall location in 2019
    Sears announced in 2018 that it would close its Chapel Hills Mall location in 2019
    The former Sears building and parking lots were razed in 2021

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