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1999
Experienced Jim Sell Design team navigates city’s new Land Use Code
“Breaking the code” – The Rigden Farm success story
Fort Collins, Colorado – Every city has its growing pains, and when Fort Collins, Colorado, overhauled its city Land Use Code in 1997, developers and investors were naturally a little nervous about giving the new code a “spin.” Rigden Farm – off Timberline and Drake roads – provided the opportunity for the code’s inaugural flight, and the Jim Sell Design, Inc., team was one of the groups at the controls.
A 308-acre, mixed-use, residential development anchored by a King Soopers market, Rigden Farm is reportedly the largest mixed-use development project ever done in the city of Fort Collins. The project’s girth alone tested the new code’s mettle at every turn.
Relocating a major arterial
One of the Jim Sell Design team’s biggest contributions was rerouting the way Drake Road flows into Rigden Farm and Ziegler Road, and this also markedly improved the flow of traffic to busy Harmony Road.
“We also moved the old Rigden farmstead and the 30-foot trees around it to a central location inside Rigden Farm,” says Jim Sell, president and principal landscape architect for Jim Sell Design, Inc.
Guiding the way through the City Plan process
“Because Rigden Farm was the first and largest project to go through the new City Plan review process, it took perseverance,” says Fred Croci, partner and managing broker for Wheeler Commercial Real Estate in Fort Collins. “There were enormous challenges, because many of the land-use guidelines were contradictory.”
According to Croci, the Jim Sell Design team was on the front line going through the process. “They were one of the pioneers in taking a project of this magnitude through the new approval process. We all learned a lot.”
Transforming a development into a neighborhood
Croci says that Rigden Farm is now approximately 60 percent complete, and it’s been an enormous success. “People love the sense of community there,” states the real estate broker. “They have nearly everything they need there, and they can stay the balance of their lives.” Rigden Farm has a variety of home solutions, including patio homes for first-time buyers and retirees, homes for growing families, as well as an independent-living facility and nursing facility.
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