Community Planning and Developing is launching 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 would focus 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.
Want to get involved?
The project will kick off and begin public engagement in summer 2025. Community members interested in participating are invited to sign up for email updates or be considered for the community advisory committee.
Unlocking Housing Choices email sign up
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. 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.
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.