What you didn't know about the Fort Collins Foothills Mall remodel

The discussion of the Foothills Mall remodel has been long and confusing. For years now citizens in Fort Collins, Colo. have been confused what the renovation means, or even when it will start.

Here are a few updates on the project.

For one, the actual renovation has started. Construction equipment has broken through the walls and demolition is beginning. According to the video and city press release, they plan to have the mall completed by the holidays in 2015.

So what took so long?

Mainly, all of the plans for the new mall had to get approved by the city. The new mall is expected to bring in a community investment of $313 million. Alberta Development Partners is going to spend about $100 million developing the mall. Because of such a big outcome, every little change has to be discussed and approved.

For example, in a Zoning and Planning board meeting about a month ago, the public and board were trying to come to agreement on the type of LED signs that will be put up along College Avenue.

At this same meeting the city was able to get full support from the Zoning and Planning board. With that approval final, they could start the actual work.

What will it look like?

In terms of construction, the city has a three-phase plan that explains what will happen when. In phase one, a new 10,500-square-foot retail building will be built where Tres Margaritas used to reside. Phase two is where the existing mall gets remodeled and added to.

Phase three is somewhat unexpected: housing units are going to be built near the mall. This brings us to the last detail. The renovation is not just to the building our mall is currently in. Large portions of the area around it are going to be utilized.

Since the end of 2013, Alberta Development Partners has been telling stores around the area that they must vacate. Arc is currently in discussion with the company about this very detail. Many of the stores leaving will not be returning once the mall is finished.

However, this is not true of all stores. Sears and Alberta Development Partners are negotiating how Sears can stay open while moving to a different location that will be within the new mall. 

The End Result

The finished Foothills Mall will have:

-a movie theater
-activity center
-800 new housing units
-a pedestrian/bicyclist underpass under College
-2,822 new parking spaces
-a parking garage
-669,631 square feet of retail space.