Work may begin by no later than early next year on a long-planned and much-discussed apartment complex in downtown Colorado Springs that will top out at 27 stories.
The OneVela, which is being developed by The O’Neill Group, a Colorado Springs-based development group, will be built on a site directly across the street from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum.
More specifically, that site is located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Sahwatch and West Costilla streets.
To be done in conjunction with Vela Development Partners, which has offices in Kansas City, Missouri, the project was proposed well over two years ago and was originally envisioned to have 36 floors.
But opposition to the project proved energetic, with petitions trying to either stop it or greatly reduce its size, largely based on the argument that any tall skyscraper in Colorado Springs would have the potential of blocking views of the Pikes Peak Mountain.
Supporters of the project, however, contended that it was needed for the simple reason that more residential space in the city was and is needed.
In April of last year, members of the Colorado Springs City Council approved the $225 million project on a 6 to 3 vote.
As envisioned, One Vela will include some 400 studio and one- to three-bedroom units, as well as just over 8,300 square feet of retail space and around 30,000 square feet of amenity space.
A delay in launching the project, reports the Colorado Springs Gazette in an interview with the developers, has been due to “volatile capital markets and a local real estate market that area experts have said is now beginning to stabilize following a period of hyperactive building during the Covid 19 pandemic.”
Upon completion, One Vela will be the tallest structure in Colorado Springs, surpassing the 16-floor Wells Fargo Tower at 90 S. Cascade Avenue, which was built in 1990.
July 7, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Rendering courtesy of City of Colorado Springs
