The Albertsons at 1636 N. College Ave. closed in 2014. As of this fall, its parking lot is a public plaza with turf, picnic tables, umbrellas and power hookups for food trucks. The Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority built it to keep the site in use while the agency works on a much larger goal. It plans to keep ownership of the land and redevelop the block around it in phases.
The plaza is the part you can see from College Avenue. Most of the plan is still being written.
What a $282,443 budget built on a lot that sat empty for twelve years
The URA board approved a purchase agreement for the vacant Albertsons property in December 2024, as the Coloradoan reported at the time. A February 2026 URA board packet says the authority acquired the property in July 2025. It also says large-scale redevelopment was not likely to start for two to three years, and that staff recommended "tactical urbanism" in the meantime, with food trucks, farmers markets, cultural festivals and concerts listed as possible uses. In March 2026 the board set aside $282,443 for a temporary events space. By April the lot had been repaved.
Here is what's out there now: a border of colorful concrete barriers, a turf gathering area, planters, picnic tables and umbrellas. Josh Birks, who leads the URA, told the Coloradoan the final cost isn't settled yet. He said it came in over the estimate because security cameras and electricity for food trucks were added.
The name came from the community. According to the same Coloradoan report, "Plaza Unidas" is Spanish for "Plaza United." It grew out of input from Mi Voz, a leadership and community engagement program run by The Family Center/La Familia.
The URA set the grand opening for the evening of Monday, Oct. 5. The lineup included a ribbon cutting, food trucks, salsa dancing and lessons, and family activities. The plaza is meant to host community events for at least 18 months. Counting from that opening, that runs to roughly spring 2028 at the earliest.
When the Coloradoan wrote about the opening on Oct. 2, no other official events were on the calendar. Birks said the URA was talking with interested partners about future programming. So the space exists, but its schedule doesn't yet.
The URA chose to keep the land
In most redevelopment stories, a city agency buys a problem property, finds a developer and sells it. The URA went a different way in fall 2025.
A February 2026 URA board packet explains the change. In September 2025, staff told the board that potential partners had appeared and that a broader redevelopment of 1636 N. College and its neighboring properties was possible. Staff recommended three moves: select a "Neighborhood Revitalization Partner" to plan and develop on the authority's behalf, keep URA ownership of the property through a ground lease, and build in phases.
The board backed it. Staff put out a request for qualifications and received seven responses in late January 2026. After interviewing the top three, staff recommended the Urban Land Conservancy, a Denver-based nonprofit.
That choice explains why the plaza exists. Under a ground lease, the URA doesn't sell the site once and step away. It stays the landowner while others build, in phases. With the February packet estimating two to three years before large-scale redevelopment begins, an 18-month temporary venue lets the site get used during that wait instead of sitting fenced off.
On April 23, 2026, the board approved a professional services agreement with ULC. The full partner team is ULC, RVi Planning and Neenan Archistruction. The agreement makes ULC something like an extension of the URA. It covers work usually done by an owner's representative or community manager, building a governance framework, and leading a "community-driven master redevelopment plan."
The plan covers a block, not just one building
The Albertsons parcel is only the starting point. At a July 23, 2026 work session, the partner team brought the board a planning area it calls the North College Super Block. Its edges are College Avenue, Willox Lane, Blue Spruce Drive and Bristlecone Drive.
The July work session packet lists the questions staff asked the board, and they show where the plan is heading:
- Does the Board Support the vision: Protecting What's Unique; A Complete Community; and Reflecting Local Identity?
- Does the Board Support the use of the identified three scales (Public Space+Plaza; URA Property; and Activated District) approach...
- Does the Board Support the current master planning direction of high density and mixed-use development, where community serving facilities are integrated and distributed throughout the district?
The three scales show how the plaza fits. "Public Space+Plaza" is the smallest. Next comes the URA's own property, then an "Activated District" that would involve the owners of nearby parcels. The packet describes the Super Block's priorities in the URA's own words: "Latino and Hispanic cultural identity, a community-driven community center, mixed-use development, walkability, transit access, and displacement prevention." Other work underway includes property control, infrastructure needs, funding for transit-oriented communities, alignment with affordable housing efforts, and governance tools.
So the corner where people now take salsa lessons sits inside a planning area where staff have proposed high-density, mixed-use development. Whatever gets built on the lot will be the first piece of that district.
What's settled and what's still open, as of Oct. 12, 2026
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| URA ownership of 1636 N. College | Purchase agreement approved December 2024; acquired July 2025 |
| Temporary plaza | Built; grand opening was scheduled for Oct. 5, 2026; intended to run at least 18 months |
| Events after the opening | None officially scheduled as of the Oct. 2 report |
| Development partner | Urban Land Conservancy, with RVi Planning and Neenan; agreement approved April 23, 2026 |
| Ownership model | URA keeps the land through a ground lease; phased development |
| Planning area | North College Super Block: College, Willox, Blue Spruce, Bristlecone |
| Community engagement | Strategy to be finalized with Mi Voz; no public dates found |
| Draft or final master plan | No target date published |
The July packet's next steps were to finalize an engagement strategy with Mi Voz, then start engagement with partners, stakeholders and the wider community, and develop an initial draft governance model. The URA's Sept. 24 board agenda included items on Drake and College and on 1220 North College, but nothing on 1636 or the master plan. The public phase of this plan hasn't started, so anyone who wants a say still has time.
There's one more caution about dates. A 2021 North College Community Investment Plan laid out a community hub on a "2025 and beyond" timeline. That plan still guides URA investment in the corridor. Its schedule, though, came before the ULC partnership and the 2026 master planning, so it doesn't reflect the current timeline.
North College plans for the months ahead
The plaza's calendar is empty for now, but plenty nearby is running this fall.
The North Fort Collins Business Association has moved its Fort North Market to 2027. It says the fall 2026 season ran out of safe weather windows and that planning will pick back up in early 2027. The association also says the Oct. 5 plaza opening was a URA event, separate from the market.
Down College Avenue toward Old Town:
- The Lyric, 1209 N. College Ave. Visit Fort Collins lists events on Oct. 16 and recurring programming through Dec. 27, 2026.
- 830 North, 830 N. College Ave., has live music, bowling, an arcade, a restaurant and a bar. Its 3rd Sundays series runs through Dec. 20, 2026.
- Poudre River Whitewater Park, 201 E. Vine Dr. The City of Fort Collins lists park hours as 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
Together with the plaza, these make a short stretch of College Avenue where an evening out no longer means going south of the river.
Where the next decisions will show up
The URA posts its board packets at renewfortcollins.com, and every update so far has shown up there first. That includes the February resolution naming ULC and the July Super Block presentation. The next real step is the engagement strategy built with Mi Voz. When it's ready, it should come with the first public dates for weighing in on what replaces the parking lot. Until then, Plaza Unidas is the URA's placeholder, and the agency expects it to last at least 18 months.
If you own property near North College and want a straight read on what a ground-leased, phased district could mean next door, Michael Jensen has been tracking infill and redevelopment in Fort Collins since 1996. You can start with a free home valuation and a conversation about where the Super Block plan goes from here.
