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Program 03
Ground-Up Construction in Colorado Springs
Ground up construction loans for new builds in Colorado Springs.
Built for spec builders and developers taking a lot from dirt to finished home. We fund the land and the vertical build up to 70% LTV and 85% of cost, with draws that keep pace with your schedule. In Colorado Springs, permitting has cooled from its 2021 peak while rents keep climbing, the structural case for building new. Business-purpose only, and every draw schedule is set in underwriting.
70%
max LTV
85%
of cost
Most states
funding
$5M
max loan
Typical figures, subject to underwriting and market conditions. Not a commitment to lend.
How it works
We finance both the land and the vertical construction, with a draw schedule built around your timeline. Experienced builders can access higher leverage on cost.
Who it's for
Spec home builders
Developers and operators
Lot purchase or teardown
Build-to-rent strategies
Typical terms
Loan amountUp to $5M
LeverageUp to 70% LTV / 85% LTC
Term12 to 24 months
DrawsPer build schedule
RateFrom 10.00%*
UseSpec or build-to-rent
*Typical terms, subject to underwriting and market conditions.
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Local FAQ
Ground-Up Construction in Colorado Springs, answered.
What does a new-build permit cost in Colorado Springs, and are there separate water tap fees to plan for?
Neither figure is published in a form we can quote here, so budget with a placeholder and confirm before you close on a lot. The City of Colorado Springs' fee-schedule index exists, but the specific building-permit fee figures were not retrievable, and Colorado Springs Utilities' water and wastewater tap fees for new single-family construction, a real carry item on any ground-up deal, were not found either. Get both directly from the City and from Colorado Springs Utilities before you set a construction budget line.
I'm underwriting a lot east of Powers Boulevard. Why does the mill levy on the term sheet look so much higher than the county average?
Because the parcel almost certainly sits inside a metro district, and that levy stacks on top of everything else. Colorado's Title 32 metropolitan districts finance a new subdivision's streets, water and sewer lines, and parks with bonds repaid through an extra mill levy on the homes inside the district, and on newer El Paso County, Colorado subdivisions they are the norm rather than the exception. The City of Colorado Springs caps a residential district's debt-service levy at 30 mills plus an operating levy of not more than 10 mills, a policy the City adopted in August 2022, though City Council has approved exceeding those caps in a few cases. On a base stack where the county and city together run under 10 mills, a metro district at the cap can roughly double what a builder underwrote. Pull the actual mill levy for the parcel from the El Paso County, Colorado Treasurer before you price the carry, not a metro or county average.
Is Colorado Springs actually short on new housing, or is that a builder's pitch?
It's sourced, not a pitch: single-family permitting has fallen by nearly half from its 2021 peak and has not recovered. New privately-owned single-family units authorized in the Colorado Springs MSA peaked in 2021 and have run well below that pace every year since, through partial-year 2026 data, while rents keep grinding higher over the same stretch. That gap between falling new supply and rising rent is the structural case for a ground-up build here, not an appreciation story.
Where is the entitled land for a new build in this metro?
The eastern growth corridor, and Banning Lewis Ranch specifically, is where the buildable land sits. Banning Lewis Ranch is the City of Colorado Springs' largest undeveloped tract, and a 2026 land-plan amendment working through the Planning Commission contemplates roughly 5,000 additional homes on about 1,100 acres there. Every one of those lots carries a metro district levy on top of the base tax stack, so the carry math, not the entitlement, is the thing to underwrite carefully before you commit to a build in that corridor.
Does a metro district's mill-levy cap apply if my lot is outside the Colorado Springs city limits?
No. The City's 30-plus-10 mill caps only bind districts the City itself approves. A metro district chartered for a subdivision in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado is approved by the county's Board of County Commissioners instead of Colorado Springs City Council, and the county's own service-plan mill-levy policy for those districts was not published anywhere we could verify. Do not assume the city's cap follows the district; if your lot sits outside city limits, ask the district's own service plan what its ceiling actually is.
If I build to rent instead of building to sell, does the exit make sense here?
The rent trend supports a hold better than a sale right now. Rents across the Colorado Springs metro have been rising even as home values drift down, a combination that improves debt service coverage on a completed build held as a rental rather than sold at completion. A spec builder finishing a new home here can size the hold against a DSCR rental loan instead of assuming a sale into a market where more than half of active listings have already taken a price cut.
How much of a Colorado Springs build do I have to fund myself?
Roughly 15% of cost, and the value cap can push it higher. We fund up to 85% of cost and up to 70% LTV on the finished value, whichever binds first. On a $1,000,000 all-in Colorado Springs build that is up to $850,000 from us and $150,000 from you (1,000,000 x 85% = 850,000), drawn against your build schedule rather than funded up front. Price the parcel's metro district mill levy into your carry before you set that number. Subject to underwriting.
I'm a builder with thin personal credit. Can I still get a Colorado Springs construction loan?
Probably. We run credit, but construction is an asset-based loan and there is no minimum score on this program. A weaker file usually comes back at lower leverage, not as a decline. We are underwriting the lot, the budget and the draw schedule, and there are no W-2s or tax returns in it. No hard credit pull to start. Subject to underwriting.
Can I get a Colorado Springs construction loan on my first spec build?
Yes, and experience changes the leverage rather than the answer. Experienced builders can access higher leverage against the 70% LTV and 85% of cost ceilings, so a first build is typically structured with more of your own money in it. Terms run 12 to 24 months with draws per build schedule. Bring a real budget and a real schedule. Single-family permitting here has fallen by nearly half from its 2021 peak, so the supply case is there if your numbers are. Subject to underwriting.
How large a Colorado Springs ground-up loan can you write?
Up to $5M. That covers a single spec house and most small projects in the eastern growth corridor, including the Banning Lewis Ranch area, which is where the buildable land in this metro sits. Spec or build-to-rent both work, on 12 to 24 month terms. Above that size the structure changes and we would want to talk it through. Subject to underwriting.
More Ground-Up Construction questions, answered on the program page
Resources
Guides for Ground-Up Construction
Fix and Flip · 6 min read
Fix and Flip Loan Requirements: What You Need to Get Funded
Read the guide Fix and Flip · 5 min read
What Is ARV (After-Repair Value) and How Do You Calculate It?
Read the guide Construction · 5 min read
How Ground-Up Construction Loans Work
Read the guide Getting Funded · 4 min read
LTV vs LTC: What's the Difference?
Read the guide More in Colorado Springs
Other programs in Colorado Springs
Fix and FlipUp to 90% / 100% rehabRental / DSCR30-yr fixed, DSCR from 0.75CRE BridgeUp to $10M, 24-36 moTransactional FundingSame-day double-close capitalBank Statement / No-DocNo tax returns requiredConventional InvestmentNon-owner-occupied investmentPortfolio LoansMultiple properties, one loanCRE PermanentLong-term agency & permSBA Financing7(a) & 504 placement
About the local figures on this page
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-15.
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