Trinidad boom or bust? Businesses for sale

**Landstander** · 10-19-2006, 11:58 AM

As a local resident, I like to follow the real estate market here in Trinidad. I especially like to watch the commercial building listings as I may be looking to invest in a downtown office space. Normally there are a lot of warehouses and such available - but I've recently noticed quite a few more than usual real estate listings for active businesses. For instance - the following active or recently closed businesses are currently for sale:
Kit Carson Liquor store (active)
El Paso restaurant and motel (active)
The Santa Fe bar (inactive)
Smokehouse BBQ (active)
5 area churches
Leaping Lizard gallery (inactive)
the old Marty Feeds building
the old Wagon Wheel Saloon (inactive)
Gino's Bar (active)
Little Depot (inactive)
The Waterhole (inactive)
The shortly-lived Russian Restaurant and Wine bar behind SoCo Motorworks on 1st (inactive)

Many of the listings trumpet the rapidly growing area - but we all know you can tell a salesman is lying when his mouth (or keyboard?) is moving. Does anyone have any thoughts? Is this just normal turnover? Seems like a lot more businesses for sale than I've ever seen here before. Besides the Cougar Canyon development and some new houses east of the San Isabel office I haven't seen much new development.

Are these boom times for Trinidad?

**valfonso** · 10-19-2006, 12:43 PM

That is indeed quite a bit of real estate listed. I notice in Tucson that some businesses move to new buildings leaving a lot of vacant real estate. However, it is difficult to say if that is the case in TDad.

**Afrush** · 10-19-2006, 12:57 PM

I wonder what residential Real Estate is doing are there a lot of available houses on the market compared to say a year ago? I know the housing market here in Tucson is really suffering we have a 3 fold surplus of Residential Real Estate versus a year ago.

Marty's Feeds is no longer in business?

K · 10-20-2006, 03:27 AM

My parent's home is near the Waterhole and it is still for sale. . . we have bantered around buying it. . . the last buyer backed out. It was an old school . . . kind of unique.

I noticed a lot houses for sale when I was home. I think people are selling out and moving up or out because most of the homes are older that are for sale.

**threelazyl** · 10-20-2006, 03:41 AM

Trinidad has always had trouble with business and homes up for sale. The economy in Trinidad is not always the best and so businesses that come in, make it for the first year because they are new and then you hear that they are closing because rent is so high and then people stop going in. It is a funny situation but as far back as I can remember, that is the way it was. Take Kit Carson Liquour, I can remember back to the 80's and it has always been up for sale. Sometimes the owners are older, then others buy, get the business up and going and then want out. Homes are pretty much the same way, with the work economy so bad in Trinidad, with the mines, the railroads and then the pipeline, people come and go. Threelazyl

**Usmorlans.com** · 10-20-2006, 05:14 AM

There are currently that I see just driving around town...4 new ones opening or being built. In addition 2 new storefronts have opened. Marty Feed is open still just up for sale. They have competition from the Big R Store. DB loved that store. Kit Carson liquor has had 3 owners in the 4 years I have been home...ElPaso, Chris and Joan are having health issues forceing them to sell...Never heard of the Santa Fe Bar...Smokehouse BBQ, Rusty had trouble with the County and has to sell his home because of it. Stop in there if you want more of the story. There have been lots of letters in the papers on this one...The Churches, 2 of the buildings were not safe and the Catholic Church decided to sell the others is what I was told. Might be wrong here...Leaping Lizard, I know the current owner and have emailed for whats up...Old MF building...they don't use it and don't want the building to rot away as it is historical...WWheel has been for sail since it opened...Gino's does very well, have some email out on this too, Little Depot? don't know where it is, The Waterhole is out in Jansen next to Kim's folks and is at the very edge of town and it is a neat building but been for sale for years...
The Boom alway brings a lot of movement in business. Always does. People get scared or decide to make some money while they can. There are as you can see from above a LOT of reasons businesses move. Trinidad is fine and growing so far slow but sure...don't forget we have a hwy project coming too.

**Landstander** · 10-20-2006, 05:30 AM

I need to talk to a realtor in town to find out the number of closings per month this year relative to last year. Closings are usually a better barometer of health in an area than listings. I'm not personally seeing a bust in Trinidad as there have been plenty of new business openings recently. With the perennial surplus of business properties downtown, it's hard to gauge what's going on in Trinidad economically.

Usmorlans - the Santa Fe is located next to a couple other establishments on North Linden between the Fairgrounds and Goddard. The Little Depot is on Pine Street near TSJC just west of the overpass - years ago it was a pool hall (and the owner couldn't get a liquor license and declared war on the city council and tried to make it a strip club).

**Usmorlans.com** · 10-20-2006, 05:38 AM

Thanks! I didn't know of the Santa Fe but the Depot I do know...I remember that story...he wanted to open a strip joint. Big fight..he lost.

**Afrush** · 10-20-2006, 08:17 AM

When I was last in Trinidad I picked up a paper and looked in the Real Estate section just to see what residential housing was going for. I could not believe the prices on some of those old houses and for that matter the newer ones either. I couldn't help but wonder how the local economy supported it.

K · 10-21-2006, 04:02 AM

Al . . .. how do you say California. . . those people are moving to Colorado in droves. . . they take all that big money they get for their houses and they have driven up the prices in the whole state. On my last trip home I was sitting with a man who was liscensed in several states. . . he agreed with me that the Californians have changed the market dramatically.
It is difficult to find a house in my price range. . . and then to have a job to go with it is nearly impossible.
A house would have to be a family deal for sure.