Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority

The Urban Renewal Authority eliminates blight by catalyzing projects and accelerating investments that would not otherwise happen, thereby creating improvements with lasting value through tax increment financing.

Fort Collins is a community with a strong sense of place. It has gained accolades as one of the best places for jobseekers in Colorado, one of the best towns in America and among the healthiest and most bicycle friendly to live in.

As part of the City’s mission to provide exceptional service for an exceptional community, the Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority is committed to placemaking. That means creating a long-term strategy that meets – and even exceeds – the community’s goals for redevelopment within the City. The Urban Renewal Authority focuses on redeveloping the urban core, with particular attention paid to areas with aging infrastructure and unsafe conditions. Through financial incentives and strategic partnerships, the URA attracts private sector investment to the urban core to achieve the community’s desired land-use pattern.

The URA invests Tax Increment Financing and forms strategic partnerships with the aim to:

• Create a project that would not otherwise happen when site conditions make private, market-rate redevelopment impractical.
• Accelerate the timing of a project when conditions on the site make the timing of market rate redevelopment uncertain, and perhaps slower than the community would like to see.
• Enhance a project so that it conforms, or exceeds identified objectives in the City’s comprehensive plan when conditions on the site are such that the likely market rate redevelopment outcome is not desirable.