After years of sitting quiet and empty, Longmont’s former Walmart site has finally changed hands, selling for nearly $7.6 million and nudging a long‑talked‑about apartment project closer to reality. The June 26 sale removes a major hurdle for a proposal that could bring several hundred new homes to the sprawling big‑box site.
The nearly $7.6 million deal was reported by BizWest. Local coverage and city materials tie the property to plans for an initial phase of roughly 265 apartments, followed by a potential second phase of about 230 additional units, according to the Longmont Times‑Call.
How the City Cleared the Path
To get this corner moving again, Longmont officials rewired the Twin Peaks Mall urban‑renewal plan and negotiated tax‑increment financing language that would reimburse certain public‑infrastructure costs on a performance basis. The changes, laid out in the Nov. 18, 2025, City Council record, include reimbursement caps and a structure that staff says is designed to make the project pencil out financially, as seen in the council video posted by Longmont Public Media.
Those policy tweaks are essentially the city’s way of saying: we will help pay for eligible public improvements, but only if the project actually gets built and performs.
Developer Plans and Next Steps
Reporting has identified Hines, working through an affiliate called Hines Longmont 800 LLC, as a party at the table in the redevelopment talks. City materials outline a TIF model that could reimburse up to $15 million over 25 years for qualifying public‑improvement costs tied to the project.
Despite the land changing hands, the developers still have plenty of boxes to check. They must secure construction financing and nail down detailed site‑plan approvals before any dirt is turned. City staff has emphasized that no TIF reimbursements will be paid until the project is fully built and a certificate of occupancy is issued, according to Longmont reporting, which effectively makes the public support contingent on delivery.
What It Means for Housing in Longmont
For a city that has been steadily trying to turn fading big‑box asphalt into actual neighborhoods, this sale fits a pattern. Recent large multifamily projects, from Notch66 to Alta Longmont, show that higher‑density housing is not just a planning buzzword in Longmont; it is getting built.
The Notch66 transaction was detailed by the Denver Business Journal, while the groundbreaking for the mega 252‑unit Alta Longmont project was covered in regional reporting, underscoring solid demand for multifamily housing in the Boulder‑Longmont submarket.
With the Walmart parcel sale now officially recorded, the focus shifts to financing, detailed permitting, and final site‑plan approvals. If those pieces fall into place, the former big‑box site could move from concept to construction.
City planning materials and staff comments reiterate that public reimbursements are locked to performance milestones and will not be paid out until after occupancy certificates are issued. Officials have framed that structure as a way to protect taxpayers while still making it possible to replace an aging retail box and its sea of parking with new homes.
