Unlocking Housing Choices

Latest News

Tell us what you think about draft proposals 

The Unlocking Housing Choices project team is collecting community feedback on potential ideas to expand and diversify housing in Denver's neighborhoods. We're grateful to everyone who attended one of our public meetings in March and April or participated in our survey. If you missed the meetings, you can review materials below. We will continue taking comments on the draft proposals, and plan to hold another round of meetings later this year. 

See draft proposals

• Update scale and form: Limit the mass and scale of new house-sized building forms.
• Infill bonus: Allow more housing when the primary structure is retained.
• Affordability bonus: Allow more housing when affordable unit(s) are provided.

Review new materials from the project team and consultants

The Unlocking Housing Choices project team has published several new documents that may be of interest to stakeholders, including: 

1. Community Engagement Summary: A summary of our recent round of community meetings held around the city and the feedback received. Read the Community Engagement Summary(PDF, 689KB)
2. Public Survey Results: Results of an online survey asking Denverites their opinions about expanding missing middle housing, updating design standards and other elements of this project. Read the public survey results(PDF, 388KB)

3. Expected Outcomes Analysis: An analysis of expected development outcomes, based on peer city and local development trends, if these proposed amendments are adopted. This analysis found that in favorable future economic conditions, these proposed amendments could result in the conversion of up to 675 existing single-unit properties annually into up to 2,025 new “missing middle” housing units if adopted. At the lowest level of economic favorability, the city could see 83 single-unit properties convert into 249 missing middle units annually citywide. These analyses assumed that additional units would be evenly split between duplex and fourplex development. Some of this new housing would not involve demolition of existing houses, because the proposed infill bonus requires existing structures to be preserved. Read the Expected Outcomes Analysis(PDF, 812KB)

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, and notes, presentations and meeting recordings will be posted in the Project Materials section. 

About the Project

Community Planning and Development 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 this project? 

The Unlocking Housing Choices project aims to amend the Denver Zoning Code to allow small-scale multi-unit housing, tandem homes and other so-called “missing middle” housing types in Denver’s residential neighborhoods. This would implement adopted policies in Blueprint Denver and many area plans that call for increasing the diversity of housing while preserving existing affordability and ensuring new development adds attainable housing stock. The changes to the zoning regulations will focus on low- and medium-residential zone districts including single-unit (SU), two-unit (TU) and row house (RH) and the comparable Former Chapter 59 zone districts.

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 does this project propose to do?

CPD expects this project to occur over two phases. Phase 1 will include proposed Zoning Code updates that implement adopted plan guidance via three strategies:

1. House scale and form updates: amend regulations to limit the mass and scale of new houses and house-scale multi-unit forms like duplexes.
2. Infill Bonus: Allow more housing units on a lot in a single- or two-unit zone district when the primary structure (such as an existing house) is retained.
3. Affordability Bonus: Allow more housing units on a lot in a single- or two-unit zone district when affordable unit(s) are provided.

Phase 1 proposals will be considered by City Council for adoption in late 2026. Phase 2 of the project, expected to start in 2027, will explore further changes to the Zoning Code to expand allowances for more market-rate middle housing, further updates to building form requirements, and updates to development review procedures for small-scale residential projects. 

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.

If these proposed changes are enacted, would new “missing middle” housing actually be built?

Yes. Our consultants studied historical development trends in Denver and peer cities where missing middle code updates have been enacted. Based on these trends and peer city outcomes, they estimate that under favorable market conditions, local zoning changes could result in development of up to 2,025 new dwelling units annually citywide. For more detail, read the full analysis here(PDF, 812KB) .

How will this impact the demolition of existing single-unit homes for redevelopment in Denver?

Over the last 15 years, an average of 237 existing houses were demolished annually in Denver to make way for redevelopment of new single-unit houses or small-scale multi-unit residential development of fewer than ten units (the latter occurring in areas where zoning already allows multi-unit development by right). Of those 237 demolitions, about 2/3 were replaced with larger, more expensive single-unit homes, while about 1/3 were replaced with small-scale multi-unit developments such as a duplex or rowhouse. Future development is expected to mirror existing trends – conversion of existing single-unit homes to small-scale multi-unit development is expected to be more common in neighborhoods where a variety of housing types already exist. Our consultants’ analysis found that under favorable market conditions, an average neighborhood where conversion to small-scale multi-unit development has already been strong could see as many as 11 houses converted to missing middle housing per year. A similar neighborhood where conversion of existing single-unit homes to much larger single-unit homes has been historically strong, could see approximately 2 properties convert to missing middle homes annually, with a larger proportion of demolitions in those neighborhoods resulting in larger single-unit homes. Citywide, this means that under very favorable market conditions, up to 675 existing single-unit properties could be converted annually for the development of up to 2,025 new missing middle housing units. Some of this new housing would not involve demolition of existing houses, because the proposed infill bonus requires existing structures to be preserved. These outcomes could vary widely by neighborhood as described in the full analysis here(PDF, 812KB).

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