A new Subaru car dealership is coming to Colorado Springs, but the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) says it's "not the normal location for car dealerships."

Drivers may have noticed the work taking place along North Gate Boulevard just east of I-25. The dealership is going up near Northgate and Struthers right next to the Starbucks north of the Western Museum of Mining and Industry. The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department is reporting it is a $28.8 million project.

According to planning documents, the Subaru dealership project was approved in late August.

The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department also shared news this week about a restaurant being built not far from the Subaru dealership.

"The Brinkerhoff is now under construction right outside Ford Amphitheater next to the Texas de Brazil," PPRBD posted to social media. "It's popular up in the Castle Rock area and the location will provide some pretty sweet views of Pikes Peak and the Front Range."

The Brinkerhoff is a $3.5 million project, according to PPRBD.

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Colorado is leading the nation when it comes to home price reductions, according to data compiled by Colorado REALTOR Cooper Thayer, but the local real estate expert says the trend does not necessarily mean the state has become a buyer's market.

About 32% of Colorado home listings had their prices reduced in August, compared with a national average of about 26%, according to an analysis by Thayer, a Realtor and spokesperson for the Colorado Association of REALTORS. Thayer said the numbers point to a widening gap between what sellers expect their homes to be worth and what buyers are willing or able to pay.

"\Wwe have the biggest discrepancy between seller and buyer expectations ever, Thayer said.

Thayer said sellers are still adjusting to a market that looks very different from the rapid price growth seen during the pandemic.

We've seen a cooldown in the market from 2021 through 2025, and a lot of sellers, especially those who purchased at the top of the market in 2021 or 2022, maybe struggling to realize that they're not going to sell their home for more than they purchased it for, he added.

At the same time, higher mortgage rates continue to limit what many buyers can afford. The average 30-year mortgage rate recently moved above 7%, adding to the monthly cost of buying a home. Thayer said buyers who can afford to enter the market are gaining negotiating power.

The typical home is closing for anywhere from 2 to 5% below the seller's original asking price, he stated.

Thayer also said seller concessions are becoming increasingly common, with buyers negotiating for help with closing costs and mortgage rates.

Many buyers are using their newfound negotiating leverage to ask for rate buydowns, ask for their closing costs to be covered, he said.

Those concessions can be significant, particularly as buyers face both high home prices and elevated borrowing costs. But Thayer said buyers should not interpret the increase in price cuts as proof that Colorado has suddenly become an affordable housing market. The changing market also creates risks for sellers who initially price their homes too high. Thayer calls the consequences the triple whammy.

1. Longer market times can then lead to additional expenses, including mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance and homeowners association fees.

2. Carrying costs.

3. Skewed perception when a home sits on the market for a long time.

Buyers after the first few weeks are going to start asking the question, why hasn't this home sold yet? Thayer said about reason number three. And even if there's nothing wrong with that house, buyers will ask, what is wrong with it?

Thayer's broader analysis of the Denver-area market found that homes that sell quickly tend to perform substantially better than properties that sit on the market and require price reductions. In the first half of 2026, homes selling within seven days received a median of 100% of their original list price, while properties that remained on the market 61 to 90 days received a median of 94.82%.

The analysis also found a significant difference among types of properties. Single-family homes in the Denver metro area sold faster and closer to their original asking prices than townhouses and condominiums during the first half of the year.

Thayer said that distinction is important when looking at Colorado's housing market as a whole.

We're still in the tale of two markets here, he said. The condo, townhouse market is completely different than the single-family market.

Ultimately, Thayer said the market may remain in this adjustment period for some time.

Nobody's expecting interest rates to shoot down anytime in the near future. Nobody's expecting a wave of new construction to be built in Colorado, he said.

The question, he said, is how long it takes sellers to adjust their expectations.

The real question is, how long is it gonna take a majority of sellers to understand and accept the fact that this is really our new baseline, at least for the next one, two, maybe three years, Thayer said.

For sellers, his advice is to price a home based on current market conditions rather than past expectations.

Price it to sell, not just price it to list, Thayer said.

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The Custer County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) has ended its contract with Flock Safety, removing the automated license plate reader cameras the agency says played a role in several serious investigations. The announcement Wednesday morning comes a week after the El Paso County Sheriff's Office made a similar announcement.

A Flock contractor removed the remaining cameras from the county this past weekend, according to the Custer County Sheriff's Office.

The agency said it decided to end the program after concerns about privacy and how license plate reader databases have been used by law enforcement agencies across the country.

Here are some of the ways the Sheriff's Office said Flock was used in Custer County:

Triple homicide investigation: In November 2023, deputies issued a nationwide Be On the Lookout alert for a suspect in a Custer County triple homicide. A deputy in a neighboring county used Flock to locate the suspect's vehicle at a Walmart in Salida. The suspect had already left by the time law enforcement arrived. Suspect tracked into New Mexico: The following morning, a Flock camera in Santa Fe, New Mexico, captured the suspect's vehicle. Investigators used that information to estimate when the vehicle would reach Albuquerque. Officers intercepted the vehicle and made a high-risk traffic stop, arresting the suspect without anyone being injured. Armed juvenile carjacking: More recently, CCSO used Flock to locate a vehicle stolen during an armed carjacking in Silver Cliff. The vehicle was found in Caon City, where other agencies began and later ended a pursuit. The suspect later fired at officers and civilians while driving north on Highway 115 and carjacked two additional vehicles before being arrested by Colorado Springs police. Local warrants: The Sheriff's Office also said Flock alerts were used to notify deputies when vehicles connected to local warrants entered Custer County.Why the sheriff ended the program

CCSO said it initially had three Flock cameras. The system originally allowed license plate data to be shared with law enforcement agencies nationwide, with data automatically deleted after 30 days. The Sheriff's Office later restricted access to its data to Colorado law enforcement agencies. Colorado law prohibits law enforcement agencies in the state from sharing license plate reader data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The law also prohibits sharing data related to reproductive health care services. The Sheriff's Office said reports of law enforcement officers misusing license plate reader databases for searches unrelated to criminal investigations raised concerns for Sheriff Smith.

The agency also said an increasing number of Custer County residents contacted the sheriff with privacy concerns and asked that the cameras be removed.

CCSO notified Flock on March 24 that it wanted to cancel the contract, according to a post on Facebook.

In early August, a vandal used a reciprocating saw to cut down two Flock camera poles on Highway 69 north of Reed Road. The remaining equipment was removed this past weekend.

The Sheriff's Office said it does not currently plan to install license plate reader cameras from another company. It also does not plan to install photo radar cameras that had previously been discussed.

The agency acknowledged that other companies offer similar technology and said those systems could present similar privacy concerns.

The full post from CCSO can be read below:

The Custer County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) has ended its contract with Flock Safety, the company that provides automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras. A Flock contractor removed the last cameras this past weekend.A Proven Investigative ToolThe Flock system was important in several serious cases in Custer County.In November 2023, a triple homicide happened in Custer County. While deputies were still working the crime scene, CCSO sent a nationwide Be On the Lookout (BOLO) alert for the suspect. A deputy in a neighboring county used Flock to find the suspect's vehicle at the Walmart in Salida. The Salida Police Department and Chaffee County Sheriff's Office responded and searched the area, but the suspect had already left.The next morning, a Flock camera in Santa Fe, New Mexico, recorded the suspect's vehicle. The U.S. Marshals Task Force, along with state, county, and local officers, used that information to estimate when the suspect would reach Albuquerque. Officers got there in time to spot the vehicle and make a high-risk traffic stop. The suspect was arrested and no one was hurt.More recently, an armed juvenile carjacked a vehicle in Silver Cliff Colorado. CCSO used Flock to find the stolen vehicle in Caon City. Other agencies began and later terminated a pursuit. Later the suspect fired at officers and citizens while driving north on Highway 115. He carjacked two more vehicles before the Colorado Springs Police Department caught him.CCSO also used Flock alerts to learn when vehicles linked to local warrants entered the county.Data Retention and Sharing SafeguardsCCSO started with three Flock cameras. At first, the cameras shared license plate data with any law enforcement agency in the country. The data was deleted automatically after 30 days, which is well under Colorado's one-year storage limit. Later, CCSO allowed only Colorado law enforcement agencies to access its data.Colorado law now bars all Colorado agencies from sharing this data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It also bars sharing data related to reproductive health care services.Public Concerns and Contract CancellationAcross the country, news reports accused some officers of misusing license plate reader databases for searches that had nothing to do with criminal investigations. Sheriff Smith was troubled that a valuable investigative tool had been misused. A growing number Custer County residents also told the Sheriff they were concerned and asked that the cameras be taken down.On March 24, 2026, CCSO told Flock it wanted to cancel the contract. In early August, a vandal used a reciprocating saw to cut down two Flock camera poles on Highway 69 north of Reed Road. This past weekend, a Flock contractor removed the rest of their equipment from our county and the contract is now over.Looking AheadThe Sheriff's Office knows other companies sell similar license plate reader systems. The other vendors could still pose some privacy issues. At this time, CCSO does not plan to install license plate reader cameras or the photo radar cameras that had been discussed in the past.

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A popular Halloween event at Royal Gorge Bridge & Park will not return this year.

Boo at the Bridge, an annual Halloween celebration at the Royal Gorge, has been canceled for 2026, according to the parks Facebook page. The post was shared on Tuesday. The event has featured Halloween-themed activities for families, including trick-or-treating, games and entertainment at the Royal Gorge Bridge. The cancellation comes as Halloween approaches, but the park has not publicly provided a reason why this years event was canceled.

News5 is reaching out to Royal Gorge Bridge & Park for more information and is working to find out what led to the decision.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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