Out with the old: King Soopers begins razing Kmart for new grocery store

Pat Ferrier, Fort Collins Coloradoan
·2 min read

Bring on the wrecking ball.

Fourteen years after buying the Kmart building at 2535 S. College Ave., and seven years after the discount retailer closed in Fort Collins, Kroger is finally bringing the building down.

Demolition began this week on the 50,000-square-foot building to make room for a new King Soopers grocery store nearly triple the size of the Kmart store.

A small retail building on the east side of the property was razed in February and will become a King Soopers fuel center. The city approved plans for a new store and seven-pump fuel center in January 2021.

Here's what we know:

  • Kroger, the parent company of King Soopers, applied April 5 for a permit to raze the Kmart building that has been empty for seven years at the corner of Drake Road and College Avenue.

Demolition is underway Friday on the old Kmart to make way for a new King Soopers at Drake Road and College Avenue.
Demolition is underway Friday on the old Kmart to make way for a new King Soopers at Drake Road and College Avenue.

  • At completion, the new grocery store will be about the size of King Soopers' North College Marketplace store. Once it opens, King Soopers' smaller store at 2211 S. College Ave. will be closed and the site redeveloped by the property owner.

  • Plans for the grocery store include a drive-thru pharmacy, parking spots for its grocery pickup program, a promenade on the west side of the building, pedestrian corridors through the site and a garden-themed outdoor plaza on the south side.

  • The old Radio Shack, 2505 S. College Ave., came down in February to make room for a new fuel station that is part of the redevelopment. The Loaf N' Jug at 150 W. Drake Road came down earlier this week.

An excavator digs through rubble after the demolition of a former Radio Shack at 2505 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins on Feb. 7.
An excavator digs through rubble after the demolition of a former Radio Shack at 2505 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins on Feb. 7.

  • Kroger officials previously expected demo to begin three months ago, with the store opening midsummer 2024. If the 17-month construction time frame holds, a new store could be open by the end of next year. Company officials did not return emails seeking clarification.

  • The redeveloped 11.5-acre site would have 416 parking spaces, including about 120 shared spaces for the city’s MAX bus rapid-transit line. A bus pullout lane is expected to be added to Drake Road near the MAX station.

  • The new grocery store is expected to be a catalyst to future development and improvements to the College-Drake intersection. Designs for a new intersection will be presented at an open house from 4:30-6:30 p.m. May 31 at Gilded Goat Brewing in conjunction with the Midtown Business Improvement District's plans for the Midtown corridor.

  • King Soopers has five stores in Fort Collins: at South College near Columbia Road, which will move to the old Kmart site; Taft Hill Road and Elizabeth Street; Harmony Road and John F. Kennedy Parkway; Timberline and Drake roads; and North College Avenue and Willox Lane.

Demolition is underway on the old Kmart to make way for a new King Soopers at Drake Road and College Ave. on Friday, May 5, 2023.
Demolition is underway on the old Kmart to make way for a new King Soopers at Drake Road and College Ave. on Friday, May 5, 2023.
Demolition is underway on the old Kmart to make way for a new King Soopers at Drake Road and College Avenue.
Demolition is underway on the old Kmart to make way for a new King Soopers at Drake Road and College Avenue.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins' old Kmart is being demolished for new King Soopers