Years after city planners sat down at their drafting tables, South Fort Collins is beginning to see some big changes — with even more coming soon.

The biggest change could break ground in late 2013: A $200 million residential development to be called Kechter Farms.

More immediately, developer Les Kaplan is now pushing forward with his plans to lure retail and build apartments south of Harmony Road after selling off a chunk of his land near the intersection of Lady Moon Drive to Banner Health System, which is planning a hospital at the location.

Once Kechter Farms and whatever Kaplan has in mind are built, a lot of the raw land and open fields that are now part of the scene will be gone.

Hundreds of homes will have been built and, every day, hundreds of new workers will head to the medical offices, shops and offices that are coming to South Fort Collins.

Kechter Farms will be a single-family development that has been in the planning stages since 2005, according to developers Tom Dougherty and Mike Sollenberger.

Working with staff from both the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County, the pair created a plan with nearby Fossil Creek Reservoir in mind.

In addition