Reporting by Amber Roldan, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Eco-Thrift owner Stacy Koeckeritz took to Facebook on July 15 to announce the upcoming closure of her popular reuse store.
Her announcement — which was largely met with sadness from customers and community members — came just nine days after Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore announced its 2026 closure.
So what comes next for the Eco-Thrift building? How long could the building sit empty? Read on for more info.
What comes next for the building in Old Town?
Situated on the corner of North Howes Street and Maple Street, Eco-Thrift has long operated as a private tenant of the city. At the beginning of the year, Koeckeritz was informed that her lease would not be renewed past September 2026.
This nonrenewal notice came with the news that a housing project is expected to take over the space, though development might not break ground until well after Eco-Thrift’s departure.
Even though Eco-Thrift will be completely moved out in just over two months, the property could sit empty for more than a year.
Where does development stand?
The city of Fort Collins is in the process of executing a Purchase and Sale Agreement and conveying the property to Housing Catalyst, a Northern Colorado building community that plans to bring an affordable housing community to the space.
Despite a unanimous July 21 City Council vote to move forward with the conveyance, Housing Catalyst has yet to secure project funding. If council approves the measure upon a second reading, the building community will have the property under contract and will continue pursuing project funding.
On July 20, Housing Catalyst’s Chief Real Estate Officer Kristin Krasnove Fritz told the Coloradoan that with how long it could take to secure funding, building likely won’t begin until at least 2028. Fritz said the project will require a variety of competitive funding sources from both local and federal entities and tax credits.
The Coloradoan asked July 28 how much funding was needed to start the project but had not received a response by the time this story was prepared for publication.
Why will the property remain vacant?
With more than a year until the project is expected to break ground, questions have arisen about what will happen to the city-owned property when Eco-Thrift moves out in September.
Sylvia Tatman-Burruss, a policy and project manager with the city manager’s office, explained that the city’s Purchase and Sale Agreement with Housing Catalyst stipulates that the building community can request to close on the property with 30 days’ notice. After the agreement is executed, Housing Catalyst can close on the property any time between the date of execution and 2029.
According to Tatman-Burruss, having a tenant on the property during this time frame could “complicate any affordable housing funding applications.”
She also noted that no tenant can “reasonably plan a move on 30 days’ notice.”
“Staff from our Economic Health team have been in contact with the owner of Eco-Thrift and throughout the process have tried to balance the very important priority of small businesses with the priority of affordable housing,” Tatman-Burruss said in a July 23 email.
While Koeckeritz confirmed this communication, she said she had to initiate all follow-up conversations.
She also said that while the city has offered to help her look for real estate and connect with brokers, that this is largely unhelpful due to the barriers of entry and financial strain associated with relocating.
Amber Roldan covers local and trending news for the Coloradoan.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan.
