Fort Collins may see an increase in housing options in the form of 300 high-end apartments.
Watermark Residential, a multi-family development and residential management company, met Wednesday with Fort Collins’ city planners to discuss the company’s proposal to construct approximately 300 new apartments at 501 Spaulding Lane.
With our individual apartment homes and amenity packages, Watermark plans to provide a high-end apartment community for the citizens of Fort Collins with convenient access to employment and retail.”
Watermark Residential preliminary design packet
The full request by Watermark is to build a multi-family development consisting of two- and three-story buildings for an approximate total of 300 units, according to the preliminary design packet provided by the company.
The design packet stated plans for a clubhouse, a two-story attached garage and multiple three-story apartment buildings. The proposed plan also includes the extension of Redwood Street from the south and a total of 505 parking spaces with 50 of these being in the attached garages.
“The vision of this development is to connect the north side of the canal with the downtown area by providing an innovative and aesthetically pleasing design that will complement the community’s surroundings,” the Watermark proposal stated.
The company plans to provide a high-end apartment community for the residents of Fort Collins located near shopping and potential employment, according to the proposal.
The site Watermark is looking at is currently being used for one single-family home and multiple small supporting farm buildings, accoridng to the proposal. The proposal states that the land appears to be used for agricultural purposes.
Fort Collins City Planner Clark Mapes said that the company has yet to confirm whether or not they want to proceed with the development and that Watermark is currently exploring the idea of developing this land.
“This is a large out-of-town developer and they’re just gonna come and get the initial idea,” Mapes said. “What they showed us here is a density study. It’s not even much of a plan but it’s a really gallant attempt to show a concept that would give them an idea of how many units they can have.”
Mapes said that the current density study they have would not comply with the City’s standards or regulations for neighborhoods.
“I can’t tell yet how serious they are. They’re not super familiar with the property,” Mapes said. “It looks like they probably looked at maps. I don’t think this is really tuned to our local community or to the particular piece of land.”
If Watermark decides to follow through on their plan, members of the community can expect an extension of the city’s infrastructure and a little bit more housing in the city’s housing stock, Mapes said. There would be more development in streets, utilities, buildings, parking and landscaping around the area.
Mapes said that it wouldn’t be unexpected to see opposition from community members should development on this project begin.
“Every time a development is proposed anywhere in the city, there is typically opposition voiced from existing residents who not only see no benefit, but they see further reduction of the character and quality of life in the city,” Mapes said. “And that’s especially true for apartment complex development. That’s pretty common.”
It is currently unknown whether or not Watermark will go through with this plan as they are still exploring possibilities and issues, Mapes said.
Jason Holland, another city planner, said the preliminary design review staff comment letter will be available Friday.
Charlotte Lang can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @chartrickwrites.
