City officials in Fort Collins are trying to re-ignite a nearly 200-unit student housing complex project that was stalled more than a year ago.
The project, with a planned 4,000 square feet of retail space, belongs to Valeo Groupe Americas, which is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and specializes in student and senior housing developments, among other areas.
The company was earlier profiled in the Charlotte Business Journal and lauded for “delivering unmatched personalized resident experiences in the senior and student market it serves.”
Work on the project at 255 Johnson Drive in the midtown section of Fort Collins began some two years ago after a handful of 1950s-era ranch houses at the site were demolished to make way for the new complex.
But that work came to an abrupt halt in early 2022 for undisclosed reasons.
Before the project was halted, some foundation work had begun, including the building of a series of concrete pillars, an elevator shaft, and masonry stairwells.
Around the same time that Valeo, which has advertised itself as having completed more than 22.5 million square feet in housing projects, ended its project in Fort Collins, it also stopped work on five other projects in various parts of the country.
For all of that, Valeo continues to have a web presence, advertising its “cottages, townhomes, and brownstones.”
According to the Coloradoan newspaper, the company has been looking for someone to buy the property, but without apparent success.
Fort Collins city officials are hoping that another development company will step in and take up the project. But in order for that to happen, the company would have to obtain a building permit and pay off any fees’ association with the failed project.
By Garry Boulard
