Whether the vision he shares with some developers fits with the plans of business owners in the area is another issue.

  By 2030, the wide, industrial, three-mile stretch of Mulberry Street west of Interstate 25 could develop into more of a quaint Denver Tech Center-style business gateway in north Fort Collins. It could be lined with trees, flowers, new business parks and possibly multifamily rental housing, if landowners and businesses desire, Goff said.

He and a dozen developers and other property owners belonging to the Mulberry Corridor Owner's Association have invited more than 400 locals to an after-hours meeting Aug. 16 to talk about the future the corridor.

The biggest challenge to jump-starting redevelopment - and the millions of dollars in potential tax revenues for the area that could result - is convincing existing businesses to support annexation of the corridor by the city of Fort Collins, Goff said.

He expects to spend the next couple years explaining to property owners and businesses the plan, in which he believes the long-term benefits outweigh the downsides.

While parts of the corridor are in the city, others are under the jurisdiction of Larimer County. Many like it that way.

But some developers - aligned with Goff and otherwise - report expensive difficulties trying to get projects approved under the joint city-county bureaucracy that governs planning and development in the area.

A first step in the redevelopment process would involve as many as 500 Mulberry landowners and businesses voting to form a metro district.

The district would add a mill or two onto property tax bills within the corridor. About $100,000 would finance the annual administrative costs to manage the second half of the plan - a tax increment financing agreement. Also known as TIF, the development financing tool could bring millions of dollars in incentive property tax revenues into the district for improvements.

Districtwide flood plain improvements, Mulberry Street widening and redevelopment of the I-25 interchange could be financed using TIF.

However, the first $3 million to $5 million funneled through TIF likely would be spent on landscaping along the corridor, Goff said. Many commercial property owners have been waiting years for the beautification of Fort Collins' original gateway into the city and Old Town.

Clarence Sitzman maintains his own landscaping outside his Front Range Veterinary Clinic, which he opened in 1976. He had not heard of specific proposals but said he doesn't want additional taxes and paperwork. He does, however, want the corridor to look better.

"I never got any government funding to mow the weeds along the frontage in front of my clinic. I just do it because it makes the area look better," Sitzman said. He wishes other property owners would do the same.

Neither the city nor the county has funds for the corridor beautification effort, though policies for such landscaping plans were approved several years ago.

"We could fund it ourselves without bothering with the county and city," said Jen Hays, director of the year-old Mulberry Corridor Owner's Association. Hays works for landowner Mike Donaldson.

Annexation into the city is key to the long-term development plan. Only as part of the city could the area use tax increment financing through an urban renewal district to accommodate growth along Mulberry.

Forming a metro district without annexation into the city would make property owners fully responsible for financing infrastructure. A metro district alone might only cover costs of public landscaping. Adding the TIF option could bring in more alternative financing opportunities.

"If we wind up arguing and there's opposition to growth, then you won't see much happen," Goff said. "This is a good time to talk about what we want to see here."

While additional development could bring up land values, existing businesses might not want the associated costs, such as higher lease rates. More than half a dozen landowners declined to be interviewed on the record about potential redevelopment efforts, for lack of knowledge or because they were against those efforts.

Goff said the campaign for annexation, TIF and a metro district is tied to long-term future gas price increases. Even without the effects of terrorism and natural disasters affecting supply and demand, continually rising gasoline prices will affect conventional development, commuting, neighborhoods, food supply and business.

The 63-year-old Goff's vision for his airpark development includes an alternative-energy research and development park, as well as rail transportation.

"The Mulberry district is a fertile field for irrigating and growing a new kind of development," Goff said. "If we can get consensus, we can tap everyone's knowledge with a collective approach."