Land Use

LAND USES (November Newsletter) The November topic for the 254 surrounding business owners to consider, is land uses. We  have a market study by THK that says the housing market is the strongest market, office market is weak, industrial is weaker. We are positioning for 50% residential and 50% mixed-use commercial, retail and industrial. The study says this site could particularly appeal to retirement market and could absorb 100 units per year from the local market alone in the $175, 000 to $250,000 price range. And there is very little retirement competition in this trade area. A retirement community would also support 125,000 sf of retail and 100,000 sf of medical space.  The office space market is the wild card. Ft Collins has a demand for only 1.8 million sf over the next 10 years. But a corporate campus of 500,000 sf could be marketed nationally for company relocation or a branch like the Hewlett Packard site nearby that has 9,000 employees. Another idea we are studying is growing a R&D, entrepreneurial community. Illustrations of Land Use Types are shown here. The preferences for Land Uses shown in the November Newsletter are 10 voted for the Main Street, 4.6 voted for the Campus, 3.6 for the Village and 4 voted for no residential. The fractions are caused by people voting for more than one choice.

Land Use

Land Use Presentaion

Market study by THK

In 2002, the City & County jointly adopted the East Mulberry Corridor Plan (EMCP).  Some initial analysis was done as part of the EMCP to anticipate what appropriate land use designations would be for the airport, in the event it were to be redeveloped.  The plan designated the southeast 1/3 of the airport as employment uses, and the northwest 2/3 of the airport as industrial uses.  The airport was just a small part of the overall area covered in the Plan, so the analysis of land uses throughout the East Mulberry corridor was rather general in nature.  At the time, there was only speculation as to whether or not the airport would redevelop, and if so, there was no way to know what the developer, the market, and the affected business owners would specifically determine to be the most appropriate mix of uses that would also enhance the existing neighborhood’s vitality.  Now that our development team is proposing to redevelop the airport, the opportunity arises to look much closer at the land uses than the EMCP did.  To determine the appropriate land uses of Airpark Village we feel that the adopted EMCP needs to be viewed as living document that can adapt and evolve based on the specific input of the neighboring business owners and property owners.  To accomplish this, it will require amendments of the EMCP by both the City and the County.

Balancing Growth
Airpark Village comes along at a time when the city is trying to determine a formula for balancing growth with jobs and residential development. Airpark Village is an infill project that fits within the boundaries of the Urban Growth Area.
Most cities grow in spots and over time these spots get larger and more urban. Airpark Village offers an opportunity
for a linear growth along a new parkway that is different than just developing in spots. The appropriate land uses that
grow up along this new parkway are what we want to determine next.

Should We Include Residential and Reduce The Amount of Industrial?
Providing housing in close proximity to employment and commercial uses, reduces the number of vehicle trips that must
be traveled as a result of the development, because people live close to where they work and shop. There are already four residential neighborhoods nearby on the north side of the runway, so it is already a precedent. Residential use is also the most active market in Colorado. There has not been enough demand to in-fill the existing designated industrial areas in the neighborhood over the past twenty years. More industrial in this redevelopment will keep the values for industrial uses low and will cause much of this redevelopment to remain vacant for some time. The development of Airpark Village should increase the demand for industrial just enough to fill up the vacant parcels and drive up values for existing buildings. Residential is a key component to balanced growth. By adding residential to the mix, Airpark Village can attract three possible types of growth as shown below:

Here are examples of proposed land uses within three categories below:
(See http://www.airparkvillage.com/Neighborhood/LandUses/Land-Use-Presentation.html  for illustrations of uses)
Residential- apartments, condos, townhomes, lodging and nursing homes
Employment/Commercial- office, retail, medical, restaurant, classrooms, entertainment
Industrial -shops, storage, arts, construction yards, assembly, autos repair & shipping

Location | Site | Neighborhood | City | R&D Center | Planning | News | Oil