If you take a wrong turn in the intense commercial development around Mesa Ridge Parkway in Fountain, you might end up in a curious swath of undeveloped land.

Designated by the East Infill Urban Renewal Plan, this 213-acre area has resisted development despite the presence of big box stores, dense residential neighborhoods and apartments on its fringes. An old ranchette still sits abandoned, within sight of a King Soopers.

Fountain Urban Renewal Authority director Kimberly Bailey calls the East Infill a “doughnut hole” surrounded by developed land. Owners want to build there, but intrinsic conditions prevent them.

“It’s a naturally attractive location for commercial development,” she said.

According to an assessment, the East Infill fits nine out of 11 categories for blight designation. Those include factors such as deteriorating structures and streets, environmental contamination and faulty lot layout. The biggest recent issue has been a lack of infrastructure, specifically improvements around Mesa Ridge Parkway that the Colorado Department of Transportation requires.

Bailey said that the area would require approximately $23 million in roadway infrastructure before it could be built out. That’s a big lift for any of the four major landowners who currently hold the East Infill.

The properties would likely need to be developed all together, or not at all.

“We need a collective project,” she said.

To encourage such a project, the Fountain City Council last week approved an updated tax increment financing agreement for the properties in the East Infill. The agreement allows developers to finance the necessary road infrastructure based on future estimated sales tax generated from the land once it is developed.

The final development might be a mix of commercial and residential, similar to the areas around the East Infill. Bailey confirmed Classic Homes is one of the property owners through a real estate management company.

Jerry Schramek is a business owner with property on the borders of the blight-designated area. He said he was in favor of development for the sake of his own property values, but he was concerned about adding road infrastructure when the city’s existing streets need repairs. Mesa Ridge Parkway itself is managed by CDOT, not the City of Fountain.

Schramek said driving could be a challenge on nearby roads.

“Hold onto your teeth because they’re going to get jarred loose,” he said.

Bailey said the local benefit of putting in the necessary infrastructure to develop the East Infill area would be alleviating congestion on Mesa Ridge Parkway, which creates a daily bottleneck due to the nearby high school and Fort Carson commuters.

The improvements required by CDOT would create new access points, giving drivers more options than the parkway.

“It helps our citizens gain better access,” she said.