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City advances Phase 2 of 1st & Main campus as FRCC commits $4 million for predevelopment
Summary
Longmont staff and Front Range Community College presented Phase 2 of the 1st & Main urban innovation campus. FRCC will contribute $4,000,000 toward predevelopment work; the council approved related IGA and appropriation on the consent agenda, which carried unanimously.
City staff and project partners on Wednesday outlined Phase 2 of the 1st & Main urban innovation campus, a public‑private effort centered on a mixed‑use academic campus and a new transit hub on the south side of Downtown Longmont.
"I'm here this evening to talk about the next phase of the innovative urban downtown academic campus for the city of Longmont," said Jen Newton, assistant city manager for external services, introducing the IGA and related agreements. Front Range Community College will contribute $4,000,000 for predevelopment work under the proposed intergovernmental agreement, Newton said.
Dr. Simpson of Front Range Community College described the campus as a non‑traditional academic environment that blends classrooms, labs and industry partnerships. "This campus is not going to be like a traditional academic campus," Dr. Simpson said, adding that the college envisions five anchor areas including health and technology, advanced manufacturing, engineering, business and the creative arts.
Staff described the package before council as three linked actions: a resolution to approve the IGA with FRCC (resolution 20‑26‑34), an ordinance to appropriate the predevelopment funds into the 2026 budget (ordinance 20‑26‑41), and a development agreement with Vertical Richmark LLC that advances schematic design, entitlement work and construction drawings (ordinance 20‑26‑42). The development agreement covers work on roughly 6.83 acres east of Main Street between 1st Avenue and Boston Avenue and anticipates a multi‑story parking garage and transit hub. Staff said the garage is planned to provide about 700 parking stalls and that the private developer would construct the garage; the project team described a financing model that includes tax‑increment financing as part of the overall funding approach.
If council moved the consent agenda, staff noted, the city would enter the Phase 2 development agreement to advance predevelopment design and entitlement tasks. The consent agenda items containing these actions were approved as presented; council members recorded unanimous support for the consent slate.
Project leaders told council they expect the garage construction to start later this year and that the city would enter a 30‑year lease with FRCC for the campus, with an option for the college to purchase the campus in year 10. Staff also emphasized continued community engagement and iterative design work before final construction documents are completed.
Next steps include finalizing the IGA and development agreement language, completing environmental and engineering surveys during Phase 2, and returning to council for subsequent approvals and the required second readings of the appropriation and development agreements.
