Council postpones Foothills Metro District service-plan amendment and public-benefits vote to July 1

Lede: Fort Collins City Council on Tuesday opened a public hearing on a proposed amendment to the Foothills Metropolitan District’s service plan that would authorize additional debt and extend the district’s financing powers, then voted to postpone a decision until July 1, 2025.

Nut graf: City staff and the site’s developer told council the amendment would allow refunding of existing bonds and issuance of new debt to support redevelopment of the Foothills Mall site; council members raised repeated questions about affordable housing commitments, limits on the public-improvement fee and financial risks before asking staff and the applicant to return with tighter terms.

Body: Josh Birx, deputy director of sustainability for the city, summarized the request as an amendment to allow the metropolitan district to issue additional debt and extend debt maturities to finance further public improvements at the former Foothills Mall site. Birx said the district originally authorized $53 million in net bond proceeds in 2013 and now faces revenue weakness tied to changing retail market conditions and the pandemic-era effects on enclosed malls.

Will Little and Dan Daugherty, representing the property owner/developer, described a redevelopment plan that would reduce enclosed mall space, add open-air retail and public amenities, and include roughly 300 residential units in a rightsized project. The developer said one parcel of about 30,000 square feet is identified for affordable housing and that they expect to partner with an affordable-housing developer to build units there.

Birx and the applicant described a financial package in which refunding existing debt and issuing additional debt could produce up to $166.1 million of authorized debt capacity and provide about $75 million in new public-improvement funds. Staff also described a worst-case assumption that sales-tax increment could contribute about $30.5 million to the district, while an alternative projection of overall new revenues tied to the project could be about $78 million (staff presentation, service-plan analysis).

Council members pressed the developer and staff on several recurring points: how many affordable units the 30,000-square-foot parcel would actually accommodate; whether the parcel would be donated or deed-restricted; what timing or construction triggers (if any) would ensure affordable units are built; and whether limits should be placed on the public-improvement fee (PIF) that can act like a point-of-sale surcharge. Council asked staff and the developer for clearer, enforceable commitments on the affordable housing parcel, and for explicit language tying approval of the service-plan amendment to a finalized public-benefits agreement.

City staff recommended council consider the amendment but said additional work was needed to align language in the amendment, the redevelopment/reimbursement agreement and the public-benefits agreement. Staff and the applicant agreed to continue negotiations on PIF language and affordable-housing specifics.

Action: Councilmember motioned to continue the public hearing and postpone consideration of Resolution 2025-059 (First Amendment to the amended and restated service plan for the Foothills Metropolitan District) to July 1, 2025; the motion was seconded and passed on roll call, 7-0. Council later moved and passed, 7-0, a separate postponement of the associated public-benefits/development-agreement resolution to July 1, 2025.

Ending: Council and staff asked the developer to return with more specific affordable-housing proposals and clarified PIF language before the July 1 return; the public hearing and related votes were continued to give staff and the applicant time to finalize a public-benefits agreement and related document edits.

Speakers: [{"name":"Josh Birx","role_title":"Deputy Director of Sustainability","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"City of Fort Collins","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:54:57","transcript_line_range":[3291,3347]}},{"name":"Will Little","role_title":"Project representative","affiliation_type":"business","affiliation_name":"McWhinney (applicant)","first_reference":{"timecode":"01:05:30","transcript_line_range":[3930,3940]}},{"name":"Dan Daugherty","role_title":"Project representative","affiliation_type":"business","affiliation_name":"McWhinney (applicant)","first_reference":{"timecode":"01:05:40","transcript_line_range":[3940,3944]}},{"name":"Alan Pogue","role_title":"General Counsel","affiliation_type":"business","affiliation_name":"Foothills Metropolitan District","first_reference":{"timecode":"02:26:05","transcript_line_range":[8817,8849]}},{"name":"Emily Francis","role_title":"Mayor Pro Tem","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"City of Fort Collins","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:00:08","transcript_line_range":[8,24]}}],"authorities":[{"type":"policy","name":"City Metro District Service Plan Policy (2021)","referenced_by":["Josh Birx"]},{"type":"ordinance","name":"Foothills Metropolitan District amended and restated service plan","referenced_by":["Josh Birx","Will Little"]},{"type":"agreement","name":"Redevelopment and reimbursement agreement / public-improvement fee (PIF)","referenced_by":["Josh Birx","Will Little"]}],"actions":[{"kind":"other","identifiers":{},"motion":"Continue the public hearing and postpone consideration of Resolution 2025-059 approving the First Amendment to the amended and restated service plan for the Foothills Metropolitan District to 07/01/2025.","mover":"not specified in transcript","second":"Canonical (second recorded)","vote_record":[{"member":"Arndt","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Francis","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Olsen","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Pat Yandi","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Canonico","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Pinotaro","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Gutowski","vote":"yes"}],"tally":{"yes":7,"no":0},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Council postponed action to allow further negotiation of PIF and affordable-housing provisions; staff recommended tying approval to execution of a public-benefits agreement."},{"kind":"other","identifiers":{},"motion":"Postpone Resolution 2025-060 (development/public benefits agreement for Foothills Mall redevelopment) to 07/01/2025.","mover":"Emily Francis (motion recorded)","second":"Olsen (second recorded)","vote_record":[{"member":"Arndt","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Francis","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Olsen","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Pat Yandi","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Canonico","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Pinotaro","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Kotowski","vote":"yes"}],"tally":{"yes":7,"no":0},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Council instructed staff and applicant to provide clearer affordable-housing commitments and PIF language before return."}],"discussion_decision":{"discussion_points":["Need for refunding of existing debt and potential issuance of additional debt to support Foothills Mall redevelopment","Projected revenue scenarios and worst-case sales-tax increment exposure","Unclear timing and unit counts for the developer-identified affordable-housing parcel (30,000 sq ft)","Questions about caps or limits on the public-improvement fee (PIF)","Desire to tie approval to a fully executed public-benefits agreement"],"directions":["Staff to work with applicant to clarify PIF language and affordable-housing commitments and return with a finalized public-benefits agreement","Add a condition in the service-plan resolution that approval is subject to execution of the public-benefits agreement"],"decisions":["Public hearing and both resolutions postponed to July 1, 2025 for further negotiation and drafting"]},"clarifying_details":[{"category":"max_authorized_debt","detail":"Maximum debt authorization described in staff presentation","value":"166100000","units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Josh Birx"},{"category":"new_public_improvement_funds","detail":"Estimated new public improvements funding in scenario presented","value":"75000000","units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Josh Birx"},{"category":"sales_tax_increment_ceiling","detail":"Estimated potential additional sales-tax increment in worst-case scenario","value":"30500000","units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Josh Birx"},{"category":"projected_new_revenue","detail":"Projected total additional revenues under more optimistic scenario","value":"78000000","units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Josh Birx"}],"proper_names":[{"name":"Foothills Metropolitan District","type":"other"},{"name":"Foothills Mall","type":"location"},{"name":"McWhinney","type":"business"},{"name":"Poudre Fire Authority","type":"agency"},{"name":"City of Fort Collins","type":"agency"}],"community_relevance":{"geographies":["Foothills Mall site, Fort Collins, CO"],"funding_sources":["metro district bonds","sales tax increment","property tax increment","public improvement fee"],"impact_groups":["shoppers and retail businesses","nearby residents","future on-site residents","affordable-housing candidates"]},"meeting_context":{"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":12,