Unlocking Housing Choices

Latest News

Public Meetings Scheduled for March and April

The Unlocking Housing Choices project team will host five public meetings to present draft proposals in late March and early April. Meetings will be held at locations around the city, as well as a virtual option. All of the meetings will feature the same content and agenda, starting with an open house for the first 30 minutes, followed by a presentation and Q&A from the project team. Meeting dates and locations will be as follows:

Tuesday, March 24, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Highland Recreation Center
2880 Osceola Street, Denver

Wednesday, March 25, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Cook Park Recreation Center
7100 Cherry Creek S Drive, Denver

Tuesday, April 7, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Athmar Recreation Center
2680 W Mexico Avenue, Denver

Thursday, April 9, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Montbello Recreation Center
15555 E 53rd Avenue, Denver

Wednesday, April 15, 5:30 -7:00 p.m.
Virtual meeting via Microsoft Teams
(accessible in a web browser without a Microsoft account)
Join via this link: Unlocking Housing Choices Virtual Meeting

Advisory Committee meetings open to the public

The Unlocking Housing Choices project's advisory committee meets regularly with city staff as the project continues to evolve to consider proposals and provide feedback. Committee meetings don't involve public participation, but community members are invited to attend and observe. Meeting information will be posted on on this webpage (see "Upcoming Events" to the right), and notes, presentations and meeting recordings will be posted in the "Project Materials" section of the page. The next Advisory Committee Meeting will be held as follows:

Advisory Committee Meeting #6
4-6 p.m., Thursday, April 16, 2026
Webb Municipal Building
201 W. Colfax Ave.
Room 4.G.2 (4th floor)

Click here to join the meeting virtually

Want to get involved?

This webpage will be updated regularly with opportunities to engage and learn more about the project -- see the "Upcoming Events" section to the right. Community members may also sign up for e-mail updates at the link below:

Unlocking Housing Choices email sign up

About the Project

Community Planning and Developing has launched an inclusive community process with the goal of allowing more middle housing forms in Denver’s residential neighborhoods through potential updates to the Denver Zoning Code and other city rules and regulations. The project is focusing on this goal while working to preserve existing affordability and ensure that new development adds more attainable housing stock.

Middle housing refers to small multi-unit structures like duplexes, tandem houses, fourplexes and other house-scaled, middle housing building forms. The changes to the zoning regulations will focus on low- and medium-residential zone districts ranging from single-unit (SU) to rowhouse (RH), and the comparable Former Chapter 59 zone districts.

Project Goals

• Allow more housing choices in Denver's residential neighborhoods
• Update design requirements for middle housing building forms so that new construction is compatible with existing neighborhoods and  recommendations in adopted plans
• Encourage the preservation of existing homes
• Create incentives or requirements for affordable housing in newly constructed middle housing.

Background Documents and Research

Project Team

• Rob Haigh (rob.haigh@denvergov.org), Senior City Planner, Project Manager
• Andrew Webb (andrew.webb@denvergov.org), Principal City Planner
• Joe Green (joe.green@denvergov.org), Associate City Planner
• Alisa Childress (alisa.childress@denvergov.org), Associate City Planner

Frequently Asked Questions

What is “missing middle housing?"

Missing middle housing refers to housing types that fall between single-unit houses and large apartment buildings, including duplexes, fourplexes, row homes, townhomes and cottage housing. These housing forms are “missing” because despite their important role in providing housing options, very few are built today, and few have been built over the last 50 years. 

Why does the city want to add middle housing? 

Denver's adopted plans, formulated through extensive community engagement, include goals, policies, and strategies that call for the city to enable the construction of additional housing types in Denver’s residential neighborhoods. Allowing more housing options across the city can alleviate the ongoing housing shortage and provide attainable housing choices for more Denver residents.  

What is a "building form"?

Denver’s building forms are the standards for the development of buildings and structures in the Denver Zoning Code. Building forms vary between zone district and include different standards for different building types. For example, The “town house” building form has different standards from the “urban house” building form. These building form standards regulate building height, building siting, building design elements, and the permitted use of buildings.

Examples of building forms

Illustration of town house building form:

Illustration of urban house building form:

How will current neighborhood planning efforts contribute to the Unlocking Housing Choices project?

The strategies developed through the Unlocking Housing Choices project will be based on citywide and neighborhood plan guidance. Plan guidance around housing scale and form, as well as unique consideration relating to affordability and displacement can influence how UHC would be implemented in different parts of the city. As this is a citywide project, resulting strategies will need to balance guidance from Blueprint Denver that encourages missing middle housing in low and low-medium residential areas while also incorporating guidance from neighborhood plans to further refine the project’s strategies. Plan guidance adopted as a part of the Southwest and Far Southwest Area Plans will be incorporated into the project to help develop a neighborhood context sensitive approach to integrating missing middle housing into residential neighborhoods.

How does a citywide project adapt to differences in neighborhoods?

While the Unlocking Housing Choices Project will integrate missing middle housing into low and low-medium residential areas across the city, The project will not propose a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, the project will develop context-sensitive strategies that are appropriate for Denver’s different neighborhood contexts.

How does this affect residential neighborhoods?

This project will consider and may result in an increase in the number of dwelling units allowed on a lot. However, the project will also develop regulations so that these new dwelling units resemble a house in scale and character.

Is this the end of single-family neighborhoods?

No. We expect areas with single unit (SU-) zoning to remain predominately single-unit. This project will consider incentives for multi-unit developments that look and feel like houses as an alternative to the construction of much larger single-unit homes that feel out of scale in the surrounding neighborhood. The intent is to support the city's efforts to address the shortage of housing units. Other cities have undertaken similar zoning reform, and the changes have not resulted in drastic changes to single-family neighborhoods.

Will this project allow large apartment buildings low-scale residential neighborhoods?

No. This project could allow additional dwelling units within house-scaled building forms, but it will also refine building forms to ensure that new development resembles the look and feel of existing neighborhoods.

Middle Housing Photo Gallery

The following structures are examples of middle housing that currently exists in Denver. Many of these are older, historic buildings because middle housing forms were more common in years past and/or because they were built in places where they are no longer allowed due to current zoning regulations. 

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Advisory Committee

The project's community advisory committee is made up of residents and stakeholders from across the city, representing a diverse set of experiences, viewpoints and expertise. They will meet periodically and advise city staff as the project moves forward. Committee meetings are open for the public to observe. Meeting information will be posted ahead of time and meeting materials, including a recording of the meeting, will be posted on the project archive after the fact.

Committee Members

Project Materials

Background Documents and Research