Since the renovation of Old Town Square in 1984, downtown Fort Collins has seemingly maintained a steady upswing in development activity. By all appearances, the upswing has become an upsurge. Corporate expansion combined with a resurgence in multi-family construction are together driving a new era of growth in the city center that will potentially bring hundreds of jobs and residents in the coming years.

Corporate investment is highlighted by the new Woodward Inc. campus at the southeast corner of Lincoln Street and Lemay Avenue (the site of the former Link’ N Greens golf course), and new office buildings in the works by OtterBox and its corporate cousin Blue Ocean Enterprises. Woodward’s plans call for more than 800,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space—the first phase of which is now under construction. The project will shift about 700 jobs from the existing Woodward campus at Drake Road and Lemay Avenue to the downtown area; and the company is projecting up to another 1,000 jobs will eventually come to the area by way of company transfers and business growth.

OtterBox, known for its protective cases for smart phones, opened a new downtown headquarters office at 209 S. Meldrum St. in 2011 and is now building a five-story office building nearby at 331 S. Meldrum St. and Blue Ocean, which provides management services for OtterBox, is planning a six-story office building at 111 S. Meldrum St. By one estimate, the two new buildings could bring up to 900 new jobs to downtown district.

Multi-family housing, motivated in part by job growth as well as an overall tight rental market, is also in high gear downtown. Including recently completed projects, investors will be adding approximately 320 housing units to the area. With single-family projects, including townhomes, the number is closer to 400.