Loft-less downtown project proposed at Walnut, Linden

FORT COLLINS – Bucking the loft-style living trend in Old Town Fort Collins, a prominent downtown retailer is considering a remake of his one-story store that would add 18,000 square feet of commercial space in four stories.

And if built, the 200 Linden Building at the northeast corner of Linden and Walnut street in Old Town would put a 19th-century architectural signature on the intersection. Plans call for a near twin of the historic Linden Hotel, which sits across the street at the northwest corner of the intersection.

Rather than following the retail-office-loft apartment template that so many other developers have overlaid on their projects, Bill Wright, owner of the “alternative” sporting goods store Wright Life, is thinking only of retail and office space.

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But Wright is also counting on the success of downtown Fort Colllins residential projects – the newly completed Cortina and the soon-to-be-built Belle Claire are examples – to shape the market for three floors of upper-end office space.

Wright and family partners in Denver were scheduled to meet Nov. 4, as the Business Report was headed to press, to talk about the financial footing for the project. If the group can secure commitments from other users – especially a major retailer or restaurant for the ground floor – they will proceed with plans.

“We want to be here, to stay here, but we need to have someone with us, too,” Wright said. “We need a really good restaurant tenant, I think. Something like The Market in Denver,” he said, referring to the European-style café and deli in the heart of Larimer Square.

As with every other project in or near downtown Fort Collins, the market for leases will guide the decision-making. Lee’s Cyclery owner Archie Solsky, who lifted the veil two weeks ago on his plans for the French Country-inspired, six-story Belle Claire at South College Avenue and Olive Street, will await presales before breaking ground.

Likewise, Wright said he won’t move on the project until he’s sure its financially sound.

“This building is the rest of my life,” he said. “It’s my retirement, my security. The key, as my advisors tell me, is that I don’t have to do it right now.”

But if the time is right and a key tenant is at hand, expect the 200 Linden Building to begin construction sometime next year.

Downtown blessing

The project has the blessing of the Downtown Development Authority, with a $240,000 commitment in the form of tax increment financing – a financial tool that allows new project owners to keep a portion of property taxes generated by a new development that would otherwise go to local government.

“It’s just a great project,´ said DDA Executive Director Chip Steiner. “It would frame that intersection, along with the Linden Hotel. It would do so much for downtown.”

But the “ifs” associated with the proposal are substantial.

First, the new building, as designed by Denver design-build firm CyberCon Corp., does not include underground or any other onsite parking, and parking is the linchpin of successful downtown projects.

With about 13,000 square feet of office space projected for the top three floors of the building, office lease holders and their employees would fend for themselves in the tightening market for parking space.

“I think it’s a great location and a great idea,´ said Patty Spencer, the Old Town specialist in brokering for Realtec Commercial Real Estate Services of Fort Collins. “It takes those visionary, big projects to expand the horizon. But the thing we need to make sure of is that there’s some component of parking.”

Will they come?

Even if there were some magic solution for parking office workers’ cars in the congested neighborhood, the next question is whether their employers would be attracted to a downtown location in the first place.

Wright said that if he builds the project it would command higher rents than would be found in most other downtown locations.

“The price that we’re going to have to get will be higher than what people are paying in Old Town,” he said. “It’s approaching Harmony Road prices. But I know there are a lot of people out there who would rather be downtown than out on Harmony Road.”

The Fort Collins office vacancy rate – the keenest measure of demand – is about 12.5 percent. Spencer said she could not estimate the rate in the city’s core, where several large employers including Front Range Internet Inc. and Retec Group Inc., have vacated sizable chunks of upper-story Old Town office space.

“If I made a guess, maybe 18 percent,” she said. “But don’t hold me to that.”

Wright has one built-in user for the building. His own business focuses on a niche sports market and is a rave favorite among snow riders, disc golf players, skateboarders and inline skaters.

“We’re the sore thumb on the block right now,” Wright said. “I think it would be great to do something like this, something that moves Old Town further forward.”