Loveland council advances major Centerra South addition

LOVELAND — After six hours of presentations and debate, the Loveland City Council at 2 a.m. Wednesday gave first-reading approval to a developer’s plan to add up to 2,277 housing units in the 150-acre Centerra South development in east Loveland.

On a 6-2 vote with Mayor Jacki Marsh and council member Erin Black dissenting, the council approved McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc.’s proposed annexation agreement and amendment to the Millennium General Development Plan, the guiding document for development of approximately 3,000 acres on both sides of U.S. Highway 34 that include a mix of land uses including residential, commercial, civic and industrial.

The amendments concern zoning standards to allow the addition of proposed residential units allocated to “Parcel B,” which is one of four large areas governed by the Millennium GDP. The 2,277 units, in addition to five already approved, would be placed in “Parcel B-13,” the Centerra South development bordered on the north by U.S. 34 {known as Eisenhower Boulevard), on the west by Hahn’s Peak Boulevard, on the east by Rocky Mountain Boulevard and on the south by the Great Western Railroad. A subdivision built by Greeley-based Journey Homes is to the west, the proposed Schmer Farm development is to the east.

The agreement also includes 25 years of vested property rights, which give developers and other property owners the legal right to rely on approved development plans for the specified vesting period even if zoning regulations change during the intervening time period. According to a city staff report, “extended vested-rights requests are typically made for large-scale multi-phased projects.”

The Loveland Planning Commission voted 6-1 on Jan. 22 to recommend approval of the annexation agreement but has no authority on vested rights.

Before its vote on the final agreement, the council unanimously approved a condition proposed by council member Andrea Samson that, before second and final reading of the pact, city planning staff would talk with McWhinney representatives about a more comprehensive traffic study, more emphasis on “affordable” housing, and especially creating more opportunities for home purchases in the parcel instead of just rental units.

Of the emphasis on for-rent properties, Samson said “I don’t see that benefitting my generation. The most successful way for people to build net worth is through buying real estate.” If the developer could provide “increasing opportunities for purchase,” she said, “that’s the only way I can move forward on this.”

After conferring with his McWhinney colleagues, Kyle Harris, the developer’s senior vice president for master-planned communities, told Samson that “it’s very difficult to negotiate things at 1:35 in the morning” but added that “we can commit to having discussions about lowering the amount of apartments.”

Although eventually voting to support Samson’s motion, council member Dana Foley said such a condition could actually raise prices. 

“We’ve got to let the market do what the market does,” he said. Addressing the fear that some for-purchase units could simply be bought up by property managers who then offer them for rent, Foley added, “Once they buy it, it’s called property rights, and they get to do with it what they want.”

During the public comment period, residents Darin Barrett and Cindy Van Slambrouck contended that such a council action approving McWhinney’s plan would need to be submitted to Loveland voters under the terms of citizen-initiated Ballot Issue 301. Winning 70% approval in November 2023, that charter amendment gives voters the final say on urban-renewal plans.

However, City Attorney Vince Junglas pointed out that the council action would not amend the urban-renewal agreement for Centerra South that a previous council approved in spring 2023.

“This does not trigger the charter,” Junglas said, and council member Steve Olson added that “it’s a zoning issue. That’s entirely different. We’re not changing any of the financing or changing the URA.”

In addition to housing, the Centerra South development is projected to include a Whole Foods or similar specialty organic grocer, a large office center for Hensel Phelps Construction Co., several restaurants, various retail uses, a hotel and one or more parking structures as well as a plaza and diagonally oriented open space that provides pedestrian and bicycle connections to the city’s adjacent Sports Park to the southwest.

Because only a certain number of residential units have been allocated to the overall Parcel B, all the new units had to be assigned to Centerra South, leaving 500 residential units available for the remaining portion of Parcel B that the applicant is reserving for a parcel east of Houts Reservoir.

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