Grow Fort Collins

New Project: Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative

2010-04-09T02:40:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Poudre Valley Bank facade Revealed

2009-10-31T18:40:00.000-07:00

Earlier this fall the facade of the historic Poudre Valley National Bank building at the south west corner of College and Mountain Avenues was revealed when the sign of the former tenant City Drug was removed. City Drug the city's oldest business still in operation moved to the 200 block of north College after several decades in business at this location. City Drug can trace there origins all the way back to 1873. The departure of City Drug and the Bohemian Foundation from this buildings paves the way for a much need historical restoration. Restoration work will commence when a new tenant is found. As usual a restaurant will most likely occupy this historic art deco styled landmark.

The former City Drug sign:

The newly revealed historic facade:

The buildings interior:

A rendering showing what the renovated building will look like:

Fall Construction Update

2009-10-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I made my monthly trip to Poudre Pet & Feed Supply and decided to update you guys on some construction and remodel projects going on downtown. Here’s are some photos of the progress:

Odell Brewing Company’s expansion is in full swing and moving at a very fast pace:

The Bohemian Foundation’s new HQ looks great from the street:

The detail is great and the new plaza at the building’s base is shaping up nicely:

Work on the rear side of the former First Community Bank’s exterior is wrapping up. The buildings owner plans a similar remodel to the Drunken Monkey’s ugly and date exterior.

And finally The Cupboard is going threw a great remodel that will update its dated College Avenue facing façade. The new façade will blend much better with the historic nature of downtown and the updated buildings surrounding it.

Colorado State Parking Garage

2009-10-02T04:07:00.000-07:00

If you have driven down west Prospect Road lately than I’m sure you have seen the construction of Colorado State University’s New Parking Garage. The garage is located at the corner of Prospect and Center Avenue, directly across from the Fort Collins Hilton. The project features 900 parking stalls on four levels with 25,000 sq ft of ground floor retail space. The project helps meet several of the university’s goals by increasing parking on campus, building over a former surface parking lot, preserving valuable green space and increasing the amount of retail space on campus. A 9,000 square foot solar panel array will also be incorporated on the roof of the garage. The budget for the new ramp is over $21 million and completion is expected in the Fall of 2010.

The Renderings:

The Construction:

New Project: The Flats at the Oval

2009-09-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

The Flats at the Oval is a higher end student housing project located directly across from Colorado State University at the south east corner of Howes and Laurel Streets. The project consist of a four story building with 4,600 sq ft of retail space and 108 beds in 48 residential units. The modern student housing project takes the place an infamous frat house that lost its charter after numerous underage drinking violations. The cost of the project is $7 million and is expected to open in time for the 2010 school year.

The Former Frat House:

The Renderings:

The Construction:

Flashback - Park Lane Towers

2009-09-15T23:13:00.000-07:00

Urban living is nothing new to Fort Collins and The Park Lane Towers are proof of that. Way before the Penny Flats, decades before the Urban Living Lofts, and long before the Cortina was conceived the Park Lane Towers pierced our skyline with all the glitz and the style of the 70’s. The two tower complex taking up the majority of the block bound by Mulberry, Howes, Magnolia, and Meldrum streets began construction in the spring of 1965. The 11 story south tower came first and was followed by the 12 story north tower in 1970. While not the most architecturally interesting or pleasing structures in the city, the southern Park Lane Tower holds a special place in our city’s history. When completed the southern tower was Fort Collins first highrise building. So you might be asking yourself why am I making a post about these ugly behemoths. Well I’m making this post simply because I came across this sexed up original rendering of the project. Enjoy.

The Rendering:

The Building Today:

The Building on Fort Collins Skyline:

Odell Brewing Company Construction & The Beer Triangle

2009-08-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, Odell Brewing Company is in the midst of a very ambitious expansion. Earlier this summer they began construction on a project that will double their physical size, add much needed office space, expand visitor parking, and move the guest entrance from the east side of the building to the west side. I recently ran across some new renderings of the project so on Tuesday, August 25th I took some construction photos while driving by.

The Renderings:

The Construction:

This is a very exciting project for downtown Fort Collins. The potential for the beer triangle to develop into a unique tourist destination is there. Over 100,000 people visit New Belgium every year, alone. Roughly the same amount visit the AB Brewery on the north side of town.

Fort Collins Brewery is set to break ground this fall on their new brewery and restaurant just down the road from Odell, at the corner of Lincoln & Lemay Avenue. They were supposed to break ground earlier this summer but the tough economic climate has delayed their project a bit. On September 1st the Fort Collins city council will consider a proposal to delay the collection of approximately $85,000 in street oversizing capital expansion fees for one year. This small amount of relief will make it possible for FCB to break ground on their new location sooner rather than latter. I applaud the city council for taking this proactive approach that will help reinforce our brewing industry.

Very soon a new local brewery will be joining the scene. Horsetooth Brewing Company was recently highlighted in a Coloradoan article. The new brewery is on the hunt for site in the downtown area to call home. I can’t wait to try their line of beers that will include three flagship brews: Old Town Kolsch Style Ale, a lightly hopped Kolsch style ale; Cache la Porter, an English porter with some chocolate character; and Stimulator Pale Ale, a rye pale ale. You can find more information on the Horsetooth Brewing Company at horsetoothbrewing.com.

Construction Update

2009-08-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer I posted about the Bohemian Companies new HQ. The building known as the Mitchell Block is under construction at the corner of Mountain Avenue & Walnut Street and is expected to be finished sometime in October. I’m very pleased with the progress so far and I am very excited to see what will occupy the bottom floor of the building. In all likelihood it will be another restaurant. Here are some updated construction photos from this past Tuesday:

From Mountain Avenue:

The "flatiron" corner at Mountain Avenue & Walnut Street intersection:

And from Walnut Street:

New West Fest 2009

2009-08-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

The 21st annual Fort Collins New West Fest will be held August 15 & 16, 2009 in Historic Old Town Fort Collins. This FREE weekend showcases over 300 arts, crafts and food booths, Kids' World, a carnival for those young at heart, two beer gardens, and seven stages of continuous entertainment highlighting Northern Colorado's wonderfully talented artists. The festival is host to Bohemian Nights, an impressive musical lineup throughout the weekend with over 50 performers including Grammy award winning artist MELISSA ETHERIDGE & Latin Grammy award winning artist OZOMATLI. As usual local favorites, TICKLE ME PINK will also be there LIVE. So go enjoy the music, have a beer, and support your local companies. More information can be found at the festivals website BohemianNights.org or at DowntownFortCollins.com

A Map of the festival's location:

Downtown & Hotels

2009-06-02T04:59:00.000-07:00

If you read the Coloradoan or frequent downtown Fort Collins then surely you know of the mad rush we have been feeling to get a full service hotel in the Downtown area. Currently the only hotel servicing the heart of our city is the three story, 41 room Armstrong Hotel built in 1923:

Grow Fort Collins should also note the many bed & breakfasts that are scattered threw out downtown and well they are a great asset to our community we are in desperate need for more rooms. Sadly this winter we saw the demise of the extremely ambitious hotel proposal by the Downtown Development Authority & Corporex:
This gorgeous proposal would have been located on the Remington street parking lot and included a nine story hotel with 150 rooms and 15,000 square feet of residential space as well as an 80,000 square foot office building, retail space, a restaurant and bar, two levels of underground parking, and the now defunct conference center that Corporex put the kibosh on early in the planning stages. Personally I was very saddened by the demise of the project but I am extremely happy to report that the DDA is now in negotiations with at least eight different hotel developers. Hopefully we will hear some concrete plans soon. In other news, local developer Mike Jensen is actively courting hoteliers in hopes of developing his property at the northern edge of downtown. This past week Grow Fort Collins even spotted a rendering of what the project could look like:
Grow Fort Collins wouldn't be the least bit surprised if more than one hotel is developed downtown in the next couple years. Let the race begin!

Mitchell Block Update

2009-05-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

The Mitchell Block is a 40,000 square foot, four story office building being constructed by the Bohemian Companies on the corner of Mountain Avenue & Walnut Street. The architecture of the building is reflective of the historic buildings in and around old town with a modern edge. The building also incorporates many green practices into the design and will feature electric car charging stations at curb side. Other unique features include a musically themed alley way between the building and the food co-op and a public plaza at the corner of the building. This building is a vast improvement over the former buildings and parking lot that used to sit on this prominent corner. I personally am hopeful this will trigger a resurgence of the east end of downtown. Coupled with future redevelopment plans across Walnut Street, the Southern entrance to old town square will become very impressive and lively in coming years.

A before shot of the site from google street view:

The building under construction in February:

Construction in March:

Construction in May:

And a rendering of the completed building from the Fort Collins Now:

Welcome to Grow Fort Collins

2009-05-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Grow Fort Collins Blog. I am starting this blog to track all matters of development in downtown Fort Collins. Growing up downtown I have personally witnessed the transformation that has taken place over the past two decades. I remember walking downtown as a child and seeing all the dilapidated, rundown buildings and the crime ridden streets. Now the heart of our city is a bustling urban center and a source of pride for the entire community.

The past decade in particular has seen a major influx of development. Starting in the early 2000’s with the creation of the civic center and continuing today with the boom in residential/mixed-use development. Over the next few weeks I will be chronicling some of the projects we have seen come to fruition as well as regular pictures, news articles, construction updates, new projects, new ideas, event info, and personal stories and memories about downtown. I encourage all of you to comment and leave feedback for me. You can also email me at GrowFortCollins@gmail.com with any suggestions or contributions. Thanks for reading and please spread the word about Grow Fort Collins.