Ent Credit Union buys land, to build Westside 'hub' on Colorado Avenue at 30th
Ominous portents?
 A southwesterly view across Colorado Avenue at 30th Street shows the taped-off car wash at left and the neighboring office building, mostly obscured in the trees to the right. Ent Credit Union has purchased both properties, totalling 54,000 square feet. Westside Pioneer photo
|
Quite the opposite, based on an interview with Victoria Selfridge of Ent Credit Union. The vice president of corporate communications explained that Ent recently purchased those side-by-side properties, with plans to demolish what's there and develop a 5,000-square-foot “full service location.”
The parcels at 3005 and 3009 W. Colorado together comprise 54,000 square feet, located between the avenue and Fountain Creek. The office building (3009) was built in the late 1980s, based on County Assessor's Office data.
The car wash at 3005 dates back at least to the 1960s, according to various reports. One recollection was provided to the Westside Pioneer by Teresa Metts, who recalled going there as a young girl with her father and then-owner, James Gardner, “to help pick up trash and pull weeds while he cleaned the stalls and maintained the change machine.”
Ent purchased the properties following a lengthy search for a place to build a free-standing Westside location. Space is “at a premium” on the Westside, Selfridge noted, so when both properties went on the market, “it was a great find.”
According to local Realtor Jerry Trent, who was involved in the transaction, the six tenants in the office building were given notice and scheduled to leave by the end of August.
Founded in 1957 to serve Ent Air Force Base, the not-for-profit financial cooperative has expanded its availability over the years to the entire community and now has 300,000 members in eight Colorado counties, including 20 service centers in the Springs, company information states.
Of those centers, Ent describes the seven largest as “hubs” and the smaller ones as “spokes.” One spoke is in the strip mall at the Red Rock Canyon shopping center off Colorado Avenue west of 31st Street. Situated there since 2000, the office consists of 1,700 square feet and is called Ent's “Westside Service Center.”
It will be replaced by the much larger new facility, which will be defined as a hub, Selfridge said.
She does not yet have a construction schedule, although it's expected that the car wash will be torn down in September. A design with detailed plans still needs to be drawn up and submitted to the city, from which formal approvals will be necessary for the demolitions, a replatting (to define the two properties as one), a rezoning (to allow banking there as a commercial use) and a development plan, she summarized.
In addition, Ent needs to hire building contractors. If all goes well, “we would probably be able to start construction early in 2019,” she estimated.
As part of the planning process, Selfridge expressed a willingness to reach out to nearby residential and business groups. “We want to be good partners in the community,” she said.
In addition to in-lobby lending specialists and service representatives (which the Westside Service Center offers now), the new facility will provide a drive-up window and a new online feature: two “interactive teller machines” with touch screens that will let members have live video chats with Ent representatives during prescribed times when the credit union lobby is not open.
“If for some reason people have missed normal banking hours, no worries, they can use this convenience to get all their odds and ends worked out,” Selfridge outlined.
As for parking, 40 spaces will be provided at the location, which Ent has gauged will be more than enough for the number of employees and visitors.
Westside Pioneer article