NoCo Newsletter | June 5, 2025

Photo: NAI Affinity featured listing – Timnath | Prime Restaurant / Retail Development Opportunity | Conceptual Plan

NoCo Newsletter | Keeping You Informed on Northern Colorado’s Commercial Real Estate Market | June 5, 2025

Please join us in thanking Nick Thrun for his contributions to the NAI Affinity team! Over the past year, Nick has played a key role in supporting our clients and team with integrity, professionalism, and an unwavering attitude. His dedication has left a lasting mark on our company culture and client relationships.

While we are sad to see him go, we are excited to cheer him on as he begins a new chapter as a Buyer’s Representative with the Kittle Real Estate team. We know he will continue to thrive and bring exceptional service to every client he works with. Wishing you all the best, Nick!

Now, back to discovering our newest listings, recent happenings in the NoCo CRE community & other industry news. This edition brings news of grocer investments, URA targets, improved consumer outlook, and more.

REAL ESTATE & BUSINESS NEWS

• Natural Grocers Purchases Vacant Midtown Fort Collins Building
  • Coloradoan | “Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Market Inc. purchased 2839 S. College Ave. for nearly $3.5 million on May 16, according to Larimer County property records. The property was previously home to a Joann fabric and craft store until 2011 and was most recently used by a Mitsubishi car dealership before its 2019 closure, according to past Coloradoan reporting. A conceptual review application filed with the city of Fort Collins in early 2025 posed demolition of the property’s existing 55-year-old building and construction of a new, one-story 18,000-square-foot grocery store in its place. At the time, the property was listed for nearly $4.5 million.”
• Fort Collins URA Wants to Buy Another Motel With Nuisance Issues, Blight
  • Coloradoan | “The Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority wants to buy a third property along North College Avenue that has been deemed a blight or a nuisance, and it’s willing to use eminent domain to do it. The URA, whose mission is to transform blighted areas, is already planning to purchase the old Albertsons building, 1636 N. College Ave., and the Budget Host motel, 1513 N. College Ave. This time, it’s the El Palomino Motel, 1220 N. College Ave., a 36-room motel. On May 22, the board voted 9-0 to negotiate for the purchase of the site and to use eminent domain to acquire it if necessary….There were 404 calls for service to Fort Collins Police Services and 60 to Poudre Fire Authority in the past year, staff said in a report. The property also has unresolved public nuisance issues with the city program, and the physical property is being neglected.”
• Greeley Rejects Purchase of JBS Headquarters Building
  • BizWest | “Greeley officials first revealed the potential purchase of the 136,500-square-foot property during a City Council meeting in April, during which more than a dozen “major projects” were described in a staff presentation…Documents obtained by BizWest through a Colorado Open Records Act request revealed that the city was looking to purchase the building for $15.7 million, or $115 per square foot, with another $4 million in economic incentives. The acquisition would have facilitated JBS’ purchase of the largely vacant, 450,000-square-foot State Farm campus next door, providing ample space for expansion. The City Council last fall had given Lee permission to negotiate the JBS purchase, Gates noted, but priorities have shifted. With Greeley having recently given initial approval to the massive Cascadia project in west Greeley — including a new arena, hotel and water park that would be city-owned — and with the city also working to fund a new civic campus downtown, priced at a revised estimate of $80 million to $95 million, the JBS acquisition didn’t make financial sense, Gates said.”
• King Soopers Open New Colorado Store in Frederick
  • 9News | “The new store is at 5801 Silverstone Drive, at the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Highway 52 in Frederick….The 122,900-square-foot store features fresh sushi, Murray’s Cheese, Starbucks, a pharmacy with drive-up service, grocery pickup and a fuel center. The King Soopers Marketplace anchors the Silverstone Marketplace shopping center, which hopes to add approximately 75,000 square feet of additional retail, restaurant, and commercial space. The store is the third of four new locations King Soopers will open this year, the company has said. New stores opened in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs in January. Another new store is expected to open in Fountain later this year.”
• CVS is Closing 270 Stores in the U.S. Will Yours Be One? What to Know in Colorado
  • Coloradoan | “CVS is making progress in plans to close 270 stores in 2025, although it is remaining tight-lipped about which stores will close. However, the retail pharmacy giant will not be closing any stores in Colorado as part of the restructuring, according to Amy Thibault, a CVS spokesperson. The chain will not release a single, complete list of planned or completed store closings, but Thibault confirmed in an email that none of CVS’s Colorado stores were slated to close. That is in contrast with a retail reckoning that has already cost the state multiple Walgreens stores. Rite Aid, a third pharmacy chain, is set to close 300 locations around the country in the aftermath of its own bankruptcy filing, although none of those are in Colorado.”

ECONOMIC & EMPLOYMENT NEWS

• 4 People Charged in Loveland Park Incident Involving Loveland Council Member Erin Black
  • Coloradoan | “Four people were issued a summons for harassment, but not Loveland City Council member Erin Black, after a March park altercation that has led to an effort to recall her….A video recording publicly posted March 30 by Kaiser showed the two sides arguing with each other for about 10 minutes. In the video, taken by Kaiser, the parties can be seen taunting each other, calling each other names and daring each other to make physical contact. Black can be seen yelling at Kaiser, carrying an umbrella and gesturing toward him with it while standing close to him. After the incident, Loveland City Council members formally asked Black to resign, calling her behavior unacceptable. They said her actions lacked decorum that an elected official should have, undermined public trust and damaged the integrity of the council. She has not resigned, and now a recall effort is underway.”
• Loveland’s Kelly Sage to Lead Longmont Economic-Development Group
  • BizWest | “Kelly Jones Sage, who resigned her position as economic-development director in Loveland early last year after serving seven years in that role, will start Monday as president and CEO of the Longmont Economic Development Partnership. LEDP board chair Cameron Grant, who made the announcement Wednesday, said the decision to hire Sage was made at the board’s latest meeting two weeks ago. ‘We had a really robust applicant pool and a thorough interview process with three rounds of interviews with our top candidates, with a mix of panelists in the process,’ Grant said. ‘Out of every single round and every single panelist, Kelly was the top choice.'”
• U.S. Consumer Confidence Rebounds in May After 5-Month Slide
  • Fox Business | “U.S. consumer confidence rose in May after five straight months of deterioration after a pause in higher tariff rates between the U.S. and China boosted optimism, though concerns about tariffs raising prices and hurting the economy remained. The Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose by 12.3 points to 98 in May, well above the modest rise to 87 that was projected by economists polled by Reuters. Roughly half of the consumer confidence survey’s responses were collected after May 12, when the Trump administration reached a deal to lower tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30% for a 90-day period, in exchange for China reducing its tariffs from 125% to 20%.”
• Dow Gains 700 Points After EU Agrees to Fast-Track Trade Talks
  • WSJ | “Easing trade tensions boosted optimism on Wall Street Tuesday, just days after the S&P 500 finished its worst week since the original Trump tariff announcements in early April. U.S. stocks rose sharply to start the week after President Trump walked back tariff threats against the European Union and the two trading partners indicated that talks were back on track. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 741 points, while the S&P rose 2.1%, its biggest jump since since May 12, when news of a rollback on tariffs between the U.S. and China sent the index 3.3% higher.”
• Bond Market to Washington: We’ll Make You Pay
  • WSJ | “Let’s put the bond turmoil in perspective. At 4.55%, the 10-year Treasury yield is back to where it started the year, and still below the 5% hit in the fall of 2023. So this week’s rise in yields does not signal panic, prelude to a crisis or a lender’s strike. But it matters….Still, the big picture is that before the pandemic, inflation was low and central banks kept interest rates at zero while buying bonds (“quantitative easing”). Corporations cut capital spending because of lackluster sales or “asset-lite” business models that used less plant, property and equipment. Jason Thomas of Carlyle Group estimates U.S. businesses switched from net borrowers to net savers in this period. Together, these factors made it easy for governments to borrow. All of that has changed. Inflation is around or above target in advanced countries. Central banks are no longer buying bonds. Companies are pouring billions into artificial intelligence, and their cash flow is down 75% from the previous economic expansion, Thomas figures. Deficits are an issue everywhere, but the U.S. is still an outlier. The federal shortfall topped 6% of GDP last year, and under the budget plan approved by House Republicans early this week (but before final amendments), is expected to top 7% for a decade, according to independent estimates. That would be higher than any other sustained stretch in U.S. history, and more than almost any other advanced economy. Because of the U.S.’s size, this has an outsize global impact. Before 2023, it accounted for half of advanced economies’ deficits, according to the International Monetary Fund. From 2023 through 2030, it will be two-thirds….Historically, investors gave up about a quarter percentage point of yield for the convenience of owning Treasurys instead of similarly safe securities, according to Viral Acharya and Toomas Laarits of New York University. Since the trade war, though, they estimate long term Treasurys have lost that yield advantage, another sign the U.S.’s special status is fading.” 

COMMUNITY & OTHER INDUSTRY NEWS

• Client Testimonials
• Larimer County’s Biggest Private Employers: Here’s Who Makes the List
• Old Town Square No. 4 in USA TODAY 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards Best Public Squares List
• Most Peaceful Place to Live? Fort Collins Tops the List With Outdoor Recreation, Low Noise
• Here Are 15 Road Projects at the Top of Fort Collins’ List for the Next 10 Years.
• Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce: Northern Colorado Economic Overview
• Northern Colorado Boasts Nine of Top 20 Fastest-Growing Communities in State
• 2 Colorado Cities in Top 4 ‘Best Places to Live Rankings
• Denver International Airport Ranked No. 6 in Passenger Traffic Worldwide
• Support Your Local Bold Voice of Business by Contributing to the 13th Annual Moving Fort Collins Forward! Campaign

FEATURED LISTING

NAI Affinity is pleased to present three exceptional development sites available within the Riverbend Master Planned Community in Timnath, Colorado. These prime locations are ideal for restaurants, breweries, distilleries, entertainment venues, and retail.

This rare opportunity presents prime real estate in a region experiencing tremendous residential growth with convenient access throughout Northern Colorado. Nestled in a rapidly growing, affluent community just east of Fort Collins, these sites offer exceptional access to the high traffic Harmony Road corridor, Interstate 25, Costco, Walmart Supercenter, healthcare facilities, and numerous other amenities.

Timnath’s population is currently growing at an impressive 9.79% rate annually and boasts the #1 Best Place to Live in Larimer County, according to Niche.com. Housing statistics also support retail growth, as Timnath’s detached home prices average $962,271 with a median of $755,000 and attached homes average $419,960 with a median of $419,900 (IRES, Q1′ 2025).

As one of Northern Colorado’s most dynamic and affluent markets, this location provides proximity to Fort Collins’ employment centers, dining establishments, shopping destinations, and recreational opportunities. The sites are surrounded by thousands of existing homes, with multiple large-scale residential developments currently under construction, planned, or proposed—creating a vibrant community atmosphere with strong sustainable growth potential for developers.

Click here to learn more about this prime development opportunity!

See previous newsletters here.

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