Colorado Springs shopping center might be transformed into industrial uses | Business

Rustic Hills North, a 1970s-era shopping center whose mostly empty storefronts underscore Colorado Springs’ shifting demographics and changing retail patterns, would be redeveloped into industrial uses by a suburban Chicago company under plans submitted to the city. 

Brennan Investment Group, a privately owned firm that acquires, develops and operates industrial facilities nationwide, has contracted to purchase Rustic Hills North, northeast of Academy and Palmer Park boulevards in central Colorado Springs, according to a proposal it’s submitted to city government planners.

Brennan plans to demolish one building on the 22-acre shopping center’s north end, while converting three buildings totaling nearly 207,000 square feet into industrial uses, the proposal shows. A fifth, 9,742-square-foot building on the shopping center’s south end would continue to…