FoCo in 15 Minutes | Romance Bookstore, Old Town Skyline Changes, Data Center Pause & Costco Expansion

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Well, I don't know if I'm going to see my wife anymore when we go downtown Fort Collins. Just last week, there was a new bookstore to open an old-down Fort Collins cherry on top bookshop in Fort Collins that is a romance bookshop. I mean, talk about trying to hit the iron when it's hot, the lightning in a bottle type of deal because her and her book club went, you know, met down there and she said she loved it. She's like, I'm going to be going down there every single time when I'm downtown Fort Collins looking for a book but I just kind of love these small, you know, these are lifestyle businesses for these individuals. Side note, now granted, I've managed commercial real estate. I own commercial real estate and tenants are extremely important and buying real estate is extremely expensive but I will say one time I looked at my wife and said, you know, the two things you do do whatever you want in your life but don't open up a restaurant and it's funny because I'm going to talk about restaurants in here, retail in here and don't open up a retail. Now if you are a restaurateur or if you are like a, you know, there is a systematized business you are starting and it just happens to have a storefront, I think that's amazing but I managed Old Town Square for, you know, over five years, six years I think and was in downtown Fort Collins for over a decade and I saw the business owners who are running these stores and I mean it is extremely difficult. So when I see these, especially local, it's like let's support this as much as we possibly can. Support local, buy local because these people are pouring their souls into this. You know, I know right now there's a lot going on and actually in the newsletter, which if you're not a part of the newsletter, we're at 1,500 subscribers which is awesome. If you're not on that list, you know, get on that list. We send it out every Tuesday. I might miss every now and again but overall every Tuesday and this week's question was what do you think about downtown parking or the idea of downtown parking? Love it, hate it, don't care but there's a lot of people, restaurant owners, business owners that are concerned about it and are, you know, starting a petition to stop the paid parking in downtown Fort Collins. So it's not nothing, that's for sure but I will say if you have the opportunity to shop local, be local, these business owners, restaurant owners absolutely spend and take tons of time, energy and of their lives into these stores. So go support Cherry on Top Bookshop in Fort Collins Romance Novels open day hours 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Man, again I wanted to just highlight the four projects that are happening in downtown Fort Collins, super exciting. We've got the old Lyric that is going to be an armory, there's going to be a two-story office building and green room type of deal, 160 unit apartment complex over across Ginger and Baker and the Cache. There is going to be the revitalization of some over on, gosh what is the street name, Linden Street. There's gonna be three storefronts and then finally the missing tooth off of Mountain and Mulberry. There's gonna be a great restaurant there, some other retail, I believe office in the above that. All of them except for the 160 apartments I believe are set to be done and rocking and rolling in 2026. The apartment complex I'm thinking is gonna be much longer out because they just secured the land for I think seven million dollars, so crazy amount of dollars spent on that. Super excited about this because actually I'm not gonna say it because I don't want to jinx anything but we have some relationship with this now and it is the Fort Collins Detroit style pizza, postcard pizza which I had never heard of before about two months ago when a buddy of ours were in a group that we meet Wednesdays and they said you know where's the best place pizza place in Fort Collins. If you have an opinion feel free to comment if whether you're watching this live or on rerun. What is the best pizza place in Fort Collins?

My suggestion was JJ's Pizza over there on Harmony and Taft which I love those. Those are like your it's a gas station convenience store type of operation kind of like Sally's Kitchen for Chinese food also one of the best but I suggested JJ's and I somebody else mentioned postcard pizza and I hadn't heard of it at that time and then it was just listed as one of the top 39 restaurant lists in US Today's 2026 top 39 restaurant list which is awesome. A Detroit style pizza open Thursday through Sunday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. within Equinox Brewing so go support postcard pizza and give the owner some love. That's super exciting and that's another little hole in the wall that you wouldn't necessarily see. Hog Wild BBQ another one of those that is opening up in the Yeti that is I used to drive by I mean that place was open forever when I was growing up going to my dad's warehouse building off of North Link Lane. Hog Wild BBQ was there shut down I think last year but they are back open and running at the Yeti. Last week we had a conversation about the data center that's going on in kind of the Eastman Kodak place I think it's like a couple hundred acres like 400 acres that they've bought and are gonna be building a data center there it seems like everything is going to be moving forward. A big concern on that is water energy amongst other things and you know as far as a city goes it's not it doesn't bring a ton of jobs some temporary jobs but it does bring an increase on the property tax value and property taxes that are collected from the county and Larimer County on the flip side just extended their 30-day moratorium to a six-month moratorium until they can really figure out what these data centers are going to do. Pros, cons, does the community want them? That will be all things that we will have to see you know moving forward but Weld County they are pro-growth they like these there's no stopping it at this point is what it seems like it's an AI group out of New York for the data center is what I read up on that's going in on the south east corner of Windsor where Eastman Kodak is a lot of industrial they're kind of a budding I wish Clayton was watching because I I didn't do I don't I don't have as much information still as far as whether that's gonna be good bad but it seems like it's going forward initial permits have been approved and you know we'll just have to see what happens there. Fort Collins food co-op is opening up I believe it's this week there was some info some ideas that it was opening up February 14th but actually yesterday I spoke to somebody very in the know and they thought that it was opening up today but regardless I believe Fort Collins food co-op is opening up this week in old beavers market so super exciting for those individuals down and around old town again shopping local super important you because you could become a member of the Fort Collins food co-op make donations get a little bit of a discount when you shop there but that is like talk about a community center 15-minute community walking there you got the little across the street but getting all their groceries if you live like within a half block to a mile radius of Mountain Avenue and shields you are shopping at Fort Collins food co-op which used to be beavers market but that's opening up this week in addition to the poolside space that it was that was Cooper Smith's and there is the visit for Collins Welcome Center in the same building but now the Cooper Smith's is reopening the poolside and they're gonna have quite a bit they're gonna have a see here where it is where to go seven tournament pool tables darts shuffleboard board games 11 TVs and 20 beers on tap plus pizza and wings that was an absolute hangout for decades for people in and around Fort Collins go play pool hang out it shut down five years ago maybe I mean five six years ago and has been vacant but they are reopening the new owners of Cooper Smith's and oh they closed in 2022 so four years ago but the new owners Brandon Shaw and Willie Hammond are going to be reopening up that space that's 5,600 square foot space to go play pool darts enjoy yourself shuffleboard should be a lot of fun but you know the four column we talked with somebody who's relocating here from the Atlanta area and they were talking about like hey we're concerned about schools you know because of the consolidation student enrollment decreasing and you know budgetary issues things that nature and that's that's that's across Colorado and puter school district it seems like they are taking it head-on and one of the things that they will consider is teacher layoffs even those that have essentially ten year more than three years because 85% of the four hundred and thirty eight million dollar budget for the pooter school district is based on salary with over 2,000 employees nearly two thousand one right around two thousand one hundred thirty employees not to say that's going to happen but when your budget is getting cut by about seventeen million dollars is what the estimate is between the loss of per pupil funding and then state funding decreases on an education base that's kind of what pooter school district is estimating what their budget cut will be and if you're 85% of your budget is personnel there's got to probably be some serious considerations there but you know wish all your teachers well there's gonna have to be other things that are considered as well you know school consolidations what schools are going to be consolidated all that so on the positive note but on a positive note Larimer County is pouring in a hundred and ten million and their phase two construction of the ranch specifically speaking I do want to show you this let me see if I can get this up on the screen because it is if you go to the Larimer County fair which actually I just went to for like one of the first times last year with my boys let me see here share screen just so you guys can see it because it used to be kind of a muddy mess is what they would say and it really was just that these were this was all mud but they're looking at building shaded areas also because there was very limited shade at the ranch complex but they will be turfed areas as well as a I think it's like 4,000 to 6,000 person outside amphitheater that's being built there which is super exciting but these are gonna be turf areas shaded areas it could be a parking areas as well just a much better operation for the Larimer County fair at the ranch and 110 million dollars I was talking about we had a phenomenal it'll come out here soon but we had a phenomenal podcast yesterday with Kurt Baer of the loco experience podcast Greg Rader of selling for Collins the podcast and former mayor Jenny aren't and myself to kind of do a roundtable discussion about Fort Collins CSU what makes things excited what projects are what things are you excited about for Fort Collins next three to five years well that's one of them 110 million dollars at the ranch that's no small amount Cascadia a billion dollars Sentara South more tens of millions of dollars being invested there I think I don't know the exact amount there's just Ladera there is just so much being invested in northern Colorado I just really am excited about that additionally a 230 million dollar facility from at CSU for a vet complex 213,000 square foot facility is opening up this year and it will produce a whole lot more vet techs vet doctors and that is because there's a shortage of those and that is opening up this year and it's a it looks I'm like a beautiful beautiful facility additionally and I don't know about this one this one might be a little bit too close is is my gut instinct but I there is a potential new Costco Loveland voted on to approve its incentive package and if I'm if I'm Timnith I'm not super excited because I think people drive to Costco from Greeley from you know all the way south to probably Firestone maybe Firestone could be going to Longmont yeah there's because the closest one to Timnith on i-25 and you on Harmony Road is the one in Longmont that is six miles west of i-25 but this is on i-25 and u.s. 34 just to the east of the promenade shops at Sentara and I mean that's pretty darn close to the current let me I just actually I will stop my share I'll show a map real fast because I think get that going I will bring this up and I just want to show you where in relation this is so you know Timnith Costco is right here you can you can see at Costco wholesale and then this is just literally you know a few miles down the road on u.s. 34 I would have to say less than 10 miles which just doesn't seem like enough from my perspective to have two Costco's there but time will tell I do want to be respectful of everybody's 15 minutes in Fort Collins we're already at 15 minutes so quickly City Council had their work session they're looking at five priorities financial stability stronger communication and transparency making it easier to build economic vitality and vision zero we can look I actually just went deep on that on a blog post of mine so if that is of interest to you go read that blog post very digestible easy to read things to do this weekend fiesta familiar day let's her lotteria it's kind of like a bingo February 21st 2 to 3 p.m. at Old Town Library farmed a fork for fundraiser for their pooter school district February 20th 5 to 7 p.m. at the pooter school district 201 South Impala Drive fat Friday at the Lyric February 20th at 8 p.m. there is a brass band and brass band there and then pandemonium 20 26 February 21st and 22nd kind of a beer festival of sorts craft beer really trying to honor sad panda at horse and dragon brewing and then there's the Fort Collins foodie walk this Friday 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. appreciate you guys watching this is live in Fort Collins no cook for Collins and 15 living for Collins podcast whatever it might be named I appreciate you guys listening and until next time have a great day take care