New Project: Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative

On Wednesday ground was officially broke for the home of the Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative, also known as RMI2. Formerly the Fort Collins Technology Incubator, RMI2 helps new clean energy, technology and scientific startup companies turn their great ideas into great businesses. These businesses, in turn, create high wage job opportunities for the community and fuel the growth of the industries of the future.

The LEED gold certified building will contain over 32,000-square-feet of office and wet lab space on three floors. The site is on East Vine Drive directly south of the Old Town North new urbanist community. Wednesday’s groundbreaking also brought some surprise good news. Wirsol Solar announced it will expand its American operations by building its own headquarters in Fort Collins. The company plans a 22,000 square foot office building to be located right next door the future RMI2 building that will eventually house up to 100 employees. Construction on Wirsol’s new HQ is planned for early next year.

The construction site:


And a rendering of the new RMI2 building:

Construction Update: The Flats at the Oval

The Flats at the Oval is a four-story mixed-use student housing project that will include ground-floor retail and 40 residential units with 108 beds. Since my last post about the project much has changed. Framing for the new structure was finished in about December and the exterior finishes are going up fast. The project anticipates a summer/fall completion date. Just in time for the new school year.

A photo from late December:


A photo from this past week showing the beautiful brick work and detailing:

Welcome to Grow Fort Collins... Again

After a very long and busy winter break, Grow Fort Collins is back. Lots of good happened while I was Away. Downtown Fort Collins is lucky to have maintained a steady amount of development in an economic climate like this one when many cities have laid dormant. Over the next few days I will be updating you on all that has happened during my leave of absence. You can look forward to plenty of news and event info, construction updates, new project announcements, and pretty pretty pictures. 2010 promises to be an exciting year for downtown Fort Collins. So check back often and spread the word about Grow Fort Collins.