A move by Woodward Inc. into new headquarters will mean vacating up to 337,000 square feet of mostly light industrial space in Fort Collins and Loveland.

Just what to do with all of that space — nine buildings on 76 acres — is a question that the cities, economic development organizations, neighborhood groups and real estate brokers and their prospective tenants will be left to tackle.

The possibilities are many, and none are exactly easy.

There is the chance that the engines-control maker — which is considering building a new HQ on the Link-N-Greens golf course in Fort Collins — might hold onto some of its existing space, according to Rocky Scott, director of business development for Woodward.

But the size of the Link-N-Greens project, outlined in planning documents submitted to the City of Fort Collins last month, makes it clear Woodward needs more space.

Its buildings there would eventually be more than 2.5 times larger than all of the space Woodward now occupies — about 871,000 square feet.

The Fort Collins Woodward campus now serves as the company’s world headquarters and consists of 227,000 square feet in six buildings. Most of the