Fort Collins allocates $12.5 million to purchase former Hughes Stadium land from CSU

Fort Collins is one step closer to owning the land that once held Hughes Stadium.

City Council approved the allocation of $12.5 million at its meeting Tuesday night, meaning the only steps left in the purchase process are to approve the allocation on a second reading and set a date to close. Deputy City Manager Tyler Marr told the Coloradoan that they're finishing up due diligence tasks, like environmental assessments and titling work, and expect to close sometime in the next 30 days.

Here’s what to know about the purchase.

Where did the money to buy Hughes come from?

Fort Collins is paying for the Hughes land using certificates of participation — which are tax-exempt bonds —  and money from the city’s general fund and Natural Areas fund.

The city had to take out $8.7 million in these bonds, of which $8.5 million are for the sale and the remaining $200,000 will cover issue costs that may arise.

In addition, the city will put $2 million from both the Natural Areas and general fund budgets to the cause to start, but costs will be allocated proportionally after the city determines the land use for the site. For example, if they decide to do something with the land that doesn’t fall under Natural Areas, more money will come from the general fund and Natural Areas would get its money back.

Why is the city buying the land?

A citizen-driven ballot initiative requiring the city to rezone the space as public open lands and attempt to purchase it from CSU passed in 2021, which kicked off the sale process.

The ballot language directed the city to make a “good-faith effort to purchase” the 165-acre site from CSU within two years and, on March 2, the city and CSU signed a contract for the sale and fulfilled the wish of the voters.

What will the city do with the land?

They’re not sure yet.

The land was rezoned as public open lands, so what it can be used for is limited, but options include natural areas, publicly-owned parks and open lands that have a communitywide emphasis.

Because of the rezoning, there cannot be housing built on the land, unless it’s rezoned again, which was CSU’s original plan that led to the ballot initiative. In 2021, CSU unveiled plans to develop the Hughes site and build 671 dwelling units, including single-family homes, duplexes, townhomes and apartments, along with a daycare, an urgent care, transit centers and 70 acres of open space.

The city has conducted some early outreach to get an idea of what the community wants to see the land used for, and focus groups conducted with stakeholders showed support for things ranging from keeping the area as open space to low-impact recreational uses to a multi-use recreational space with a bike park, and more.

But, the city is still early in the process and no decisions have been made on what will or will not go on the site.

At last week’s council work session on the matter, council members said they didn’t want to rush this decision and planned to take the time to make sure they get it right and give the community what it wants.

Molly Bohannon covers Fort Collins government for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @molboha or contact her at mbohannon@coloradoan.com. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins approves $12.7M to purchase former Hughes Stadium land