Colorado Springs real estate broker supports small business

Colorado Springs Business Journal, Jul 22, 2005 by Becky Hurley

This is the second in a three-part series.

His world extends beyond the borders of El Paso or Teller counties-to places like Entebbe, Uganda, and communities in the Sudan or India, but his career focuses squarely on deal-making here at home.

So how does commercial real estate broker Leroy Landhuis tie together such diverse geographical and cultural worlds? And what motivates him to support the development of small business enterprises in distant lands?

The U.S. Air Force veteran and son of a tough-minded Minnesota farmer, Landhuis first entered the Colorado Springs real estate market with the purchase of a home in 1975. By the early 1980s, he expanded into commercial as well as residential projects.

Today his companies, The Landhuis Co. of Colorado and Paradigm Realty Advisors of Tulsa, Okla., manage and account for hundreds of thousands of square feet of office and commercial space as well as thousands of acres of developable land.

Landhuis declines to comment about his financial success but is quick to talk about how the money he makes is used to help impoverished families in need of the tools to make a better life.

Through a cousin's participation in a mission to the Sudan and later Uganda during Idi Amin's reign of terror in the early 1980s, Landhuis became aware of a much larger scope of need.

Today he serves as a board member of Enterprise Development International. Through the globally focused organization, Landhuis and other business executives support the organization's micro- enterprise loan fund.

In most third world countries, you're looking at 30 to 50 percent unemployment. There just are no jobs. Our goal is to introduce business tools to give those living in poverty a way out, Landhuis said.

He also works with a group of faith-based organizations to advance international missions.

Through small business grants of $300 to $1,000, the lives of families in Africa, Indo-China, Asia, Central America and South America have been changed.

A handful of us put up the money, Landhuis said. We saw an opportunity to introduce capitalism in Africa, and the result has been amazingly successful.

He cites as an example Moses, a youngster who grew up in an Antebbe orphanage and received an education. Twenty years later, Moses is the minister of engineering for his country.

His work on behalf of his country earned him a letter from the U.S. State Department, Landhuis said. They congratulated him on bringing in a project 'on time and on budget.' That's the real payoff.

Landhuis also has worked with organizations such as Focus on the Family to develop orphanage-school-clinic centers that have often evolved into spiritual meeting places.

In Africa, for example, 46 percent of the children are HIV- positive, he said. The challenge there is not only to feed and teach them to read and write, but to treat their illness. Then and only then can you start talking about spiritual values.

We each have a sphere of influence in the business community that can be used to help others. Bottom line, that's how I judge how successful I am.

Landhuis sees business success as a means to a higher calling.

Rather than preserve wealth for oneself, I see money as a gift best used to help others, he said.

But that philosophy is not restricted to advancing capitalism and development in third-world countries.

Closer to home, Landhuis' donation of 25 acres to St. Mary's High School for recreational fields made headlines in March.

The contribution, valued at $3.5 million, was only made public when the school's board of directors issued a news release to local media.

Leroy really shies away from publicity, said Greg Garcia, immediate past board chairman. All I can say is 'If people only knew-'

Not every charitable initiative has met with success.

Landhuis considered donating one of his listings at 3650 N. Nevada for use as a community outreach center. As negotiations progressed, the participating parties were not able to agree on terms and conditions. As a result, the building still sits vacant.

We'd love to see building used to benefit the city-and the faith community, Landhuis said, adding that he's willing to sell the 144,000-square-foot facility at a greatly reduced and attractively- financed rate, but the nonprofit has to bring a plan to the table.

If it serves a higher purpose, we could look at a number of options ranging from very low sales price to an interest-only loan for five years or even a possible donation.