Loveland developer Mc-Whinney has submitted plans to the city of Fort Collins to build up to 315 apartments at the intersection of Drake and Timberline roads.

The proposal is winding its way through the Fort Collins development review process, said Mike Hill, senior vice president for multifamily development.

The 15.85 acres sit just south of Fort Collins Police Services and catty-corner from King Soopers.

Hill said plans will likely be tweaked as they go through the city's development review process, but at the moment, McWhinney is envisioning 12 buildings, 315 units - half of which will come with detached garages - and be a combination of studio apartments through three-bedroom units.

Like its Lake Vista apartments in Loveland, the project is likely to include a clubhouse.

Hill declined comment on potential rents or completion date.

McWhinney has sought to enter the Fort Collins apartment market for months and had a contract on an underdeveloped city block in Old Town.

Last week, Hill said McWhinney pulled out of the contract in Old Town when they couldn't make the economics work for the kind of project they envisioned - a combination of apartments, office and retail space along with a parking garage.

With vacancy rates at near-record lows in Fort Collins and Loveland, McWhinney has jumped full force into apartment construction.

Last year, it built a $45 million, 303-unit luxury apartment complex, Lake Vista, in Loveland and in March broke ground on 252 units on the Van de Water property off U.S. Highway 34.

Multifamily construction is the one shining star in the real estate industry, said Ryan McMaken, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Housing.

"Declining vacancies are now a statewide trend, and it's no longer a matter of just a few tight markets," said Ron Throupe, an assistant professor of business at the University of Denver.

"Even among the areas with sizable drops in vacancies, northern Colorado stands out with rates in Larimer County and in Greeley now dropping below 4 percent."