News & Insights

NoCo Newsletter | December 4, 2025

Photo: NAI Affinity is pleased to offer 345 E Mountain Avenue.

Season’s Greetings from NAI Affinity

We are incredibly grateful for the relationships we have built with our clients, partners, and community. Your continued confidence and collaboration inspire our team each day, and we are honored to be part of your journey.

In lieu of corporate gifts this year, NAI Affinity has made contributions to local non-profits that are doing meaningful work across Northern Colorado. Supporting the organizations that uplift our region is one way we strive to give back to the place that has given so much to us.

May your holiday season be filled with gratitude, good company, and memorable moments. From all of us at NAI Affinity, thank you for your partnership and trust.

Warm wishes for a joyful holiday season and a successful year ahead.

— The NAI Affinity Team

NoCo Newsletter | Keeping You Informed on Northern Colorado’s Commercial Real Estate Market | December 4, 2025

Discover our newest listings, recent happenings in the NoCo CRE community & other industry news. This edition brings news of council decisions, vacant box fates, housing regulation, and more.

REAL ESTATE & BUSINESS NEWS

  • From Joann Fabrics to Macy’s, What We Know About Fates of Vacant Fort Collins Properties
    • Coloradoan |
      • 2701 S. College Ave. (former Joann Fabrics): “…it is in negotiations with a tenant, listing agent Cole VanMeveren of Cushman & Wakefield confirmed to the Coloradoan on Nov. 12. VanMeveren declined to name the potential tenant. Cushman & Wakefield has been marketing the 22,500-square-foot space since July, VanMeveren said.”
      • 2839 S. College Ave. (former car dealership): “Early this year, a conceptual review application was filed with the city, posing the demolition of the building and the construction of a new, one-story, 18,000-square-foot grocery store in its place. In May, Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Market Inc. purchased the building for nearly $3.5 million.”
      • 947 E. Prospect Rd. (vacant land): “After getting conditional approval for a new Kum & Go at the busy Fort Collins corner, the convenience store chain purchased the site for $2.1 million in April 2023. Two homes on the site — as well as Hospital Automotive, Fort Collins’ last full-service gas station — were demolished to make way for a proposed 4,000-square-foot, four-pump Kum & Go. But those plans came and went when Maverik acquired Kum & Go in 2023 and decided to put the land on the market.”
      • 237-241 Linden St. (vacant retail): “The storefronts at 237, 239 and 241 Linden St. — formerly home to a photography studio, the Art Lab creative hub and Cozzola’s Pizza — will be getting new facades and general upgrades, according to Melissa Pienkowski, who said she purchased the buildings alongside other investors in July.”
      • 2716 E. Mulberry St. (former Sundance): “It’s been over a year since Fort Collins’ Sundance Steakhouse & Saloon shut its doors on the east side of town, and its recognizable building has remained quiet since.”
      • 195 E. Foothills Pkwy. (former C.B. & Potts): “Potts’ old mall location has sat empty since its 2020 closure. Is there hope of a new restaurant taking over? Not yet, according to a statement from the Midtown mall.”
      • 215 E. Foothills Pkwy. (former Macy’s): “Once the mall’s largest anchor store, Macy’s closed in early 2023. With the exception of hosting temporary popup sales and serving as the seasonal home for a Spirit Halloween store in 2024, its space has remained empty. Also like the mall’s former C.B. & Potts, the former department store space will be affected by the shopping center’s planned redevelopment.”
  • Fort Collins Council Fails to Pass Climate-Driven Commercial Building Standards
    • BizWest | Council, “failed to pass a motion to approve building performance standards…Opponents, including the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, questioned why the city would embark on a program that is being litigated in the Denver area and that doesn’t have a firm cost. Opponents also questioned whether city buildings will be included and what that cost will be. They said that efforts to seek multiple bids to gauge costs secured only one sample bid, and if multiple property owners are simultaneously seeking to comply, whether the workforce and resources exist to do the work without driving up costs. Opponents also warned that triple net leases would result in tenants paying the costs in order for building owners to avoid penalties….The 3-3 tie vote means the measure will go back to the staff for revisions; a timetable was not clear Tuesday night.”
  • Greeley Council Sends Cascadia PUD Repeal to Ballot
    • BizWest | “Voters in Greeley will get to decide Feb. 24 whether to repeal city-approved zoning for the Cascadia and Catalyst developments, but one member of the City Council hinted that the fate of the project itself might make it onto that ballot as well. The council voted 7-0 Tuesday night to place the repeal issue on the municipal ballot in a special municipal election that the city has estimated will cost Greeley taxpayers $350,000. The decision came after citizens group Greeley Demands Better collected enough certified petition signatures to compel the council to either repeal its Sept. 16 approval of a planned-unit development encompassing the Cascadia project and city-owned Catalyst entertainment districts on the city’s western edge or send the question to a special election within 90 days.”
  • Here’s What the Remediation for Environmental Issues May Look Like at Burnham Yard
    • 9News | “The timeline for testing and remediation should not significantly delay the project, he thinks. He estimated a year of testing, a year of analyzing and a year of starting fixes, with much of the remediation work potentially happening simultaneously with construction. Historic railyard sites remain attractive for stadium development because they offer open land with existing infrastructure at lower costs than areas that have not been developed….The team is targeting completion for the 2031 NFL season.”
  • The Top 3 Reasons Housing Has Become so Unaffordable in the U.S. Market – And It’s Not What You Think
    • Fox Business | “Brick by brick, regulation by regulation, America built its own housing crisis….They point to three major forces doing the most damage: restrictive zoning, land-use barriers, and financial policies that have choked supply and pushed prices out of reach.”
  • Inside Marriott’s Disastrous Bet on Short-Term Rental Company Sonder
    • WSJ | Sonder, “planned to liquidate the company after more than a decade in business… (after) an attempt to sell itself fell through, Marriott decided it had had enough. Marriott said it pulled the plug on the partnership because Sonder defaulted on the terms…The risk inherent in that business model was the same as the one that sank co-working company WeWork. Sonder was on the hook for long-term liabilities while relying on short-term revenue streams.”
  • Wendy’s May Close Hundreds of Locations Across U.S. Here’s What We Know
    • 9News | “Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s said the process is underway and ongoing and couldn’t provide specific numbers or locations which may close. Cook said a “mid-single-digit percentage of U.S. restaurants” could close for optimization…This could amount to hundreds of locations across the country. The potential closures could start at the end of this year and dip into 2026…They are part of the company’s recent “Project Fresh” announcement made in October. It’s a plan to drive growth and “long-term value” across their U.S. locations, according to a press release.”

ECONOMIC & EMPLOYMENT NEWS

  • McBroom Named Acting Greeley City Manager
    • BizWest | “Brian McBroom, who has been director of community development for the City of Greeley since June 2023, will serve as acting city manager beginning Dec. 3, replacing the departing Raymond Lee. During a seven-minute special City Council meeting Monday night, members voted unanimously to approve a separation agreement with Lee and to appoint McBroom to take the job until a new city manager is appointed….McBroom noted that city councils are under a lot of pressure because while they recognize the problem of high housing costs, they also struggle to balance increasing expenses with a slower growth of revenue. He said impact fees and administrative fees help to make up what property taxes and sales taxes fail to bring in.”
  • Consumer Confidence Fades and Retail Sales Growth Cools
    • WSJ | “Shutdown-delayed data showed American consumers closed out the third quarter on a cautious footing, while a measure of consumer confidence tumbled in November. Taken together, the new and older data suggest the U.S. economy is heading into the all-important holiday season buffeted by a cooling labor market, continued inflationary pressures and signs consumers were easing their pace of spending and searching for bargains.”
  • Fed’s Daly Backs December Rate Cut, Citing Vulnerable Labor Market
    • WSJ | “San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said she supports lowering interest rates at the central bank’s meeting next month because she sees a sudden deterioration in the job market as both more likely and harder to manage than an inflation flare-up. “On the labor market, I don’t feel as confident we can get ahead of it,” she said in an interview Monday. “It’s vulnerable enough now that the risk is it’ll have a nonlinear change.” An inflation breakout, by contrast, is a lower risk given how tariff-driven cost increases have been more muted than anticipated earlier this year, she said. Daly’s views are notable because, while she doesn’t have a vote on monetary policy this year, she has rarely taken a public position at odds with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.”

COMMUNITY & OTHER INDUSTRY NEWS

FEATURED LISTING

NAI Affinity is pleased to present this unique opportunity to acquire a standalone building in downtown Fort Collins on highly sought-after Mountain Avenue with significant on site and exclusive parking on a very large lot. Downtown Fort Collins (or “Old Town” as it is affectionately known) is a vibrant commercial district and the City’s art, cultural and entertainment center. The building also includes an overhead door in rear leading to the exclusive parking area and alley access.

Click here to learn more about this investment opportunity!

See previous newsletters here.

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