Affordable Housing Review Team

This is a new program in Denver and while it gets underway, projects that are 100% affordable will receive priority. In addition to meeting the required criteria below, acceptance into the program also depends on the number of projects already participating and the team's capacity. As capacity increases, more qualifying projects can be accepted into the program.

In order to qualify for the program, projects must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) funded affordable housing projects
• Any project with a funding commitment from the city's Department of Housing Stability (HOST)
• Any Denver Housing Authority (DHA) project
• Any deed-restricted Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) that will be used for affordable housing
• Projects restricted by law, covenant, deed, contract, or any other legally enforceable instrument to provide affordable housing and developed by a community land trust or other non-profit developer (such as Habitat for Humanity)
• Any other affordable housing project that has dedicated at least 20% of the units for households earning 80% or less of the area median income and has a term affordability commitment in line with HOST requirements
• Projects that chose to comply with the "enhanced build on-site requirement" of the city's Expanding Housing Affordability Ordinance

Our objective through the Affordable Housing Review Team process is to reduce the number of plan resubmittals, which we anticipate will result in a shorter overall review period in most cases, bringing much needed affordable housing to market sooner. Through this enhanced review process and dedicated staff to work through projects as efficiently as possible, accepted projects can expect to meet or exceed standard target review times for comparable new commercial and multifamily developments.  

Project teams will receive:

• Dedicated staffing for project review
• Initial meeting before a concept plan is submitted, if requested
• Comment review meeting after concept submittal, if requested
• Comment review meeting after the first formal site development plan (SDP) review
• Comment review meeting with any outstanding reviewers before submittal of a 4th formal SDP
• Meeting following review of the first building permit submittal, if requested

To be considered for the program, please submit the following information with your initial concept plan or building permit application (for projects not subject to a site development plan):

• Download the submittal form(PDF, 212KB)

Projects that are unable to demonstrate that they meet the eligibility requirements at the time of concept plan submittal can still request to be considered for the program at a future date, such as by including the above documentation when submitting the first formal site development plan.

Applicants pursuing the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority’s competitive rounds, should submit pre-applications and applications for rezoning on the timelines suggested below to ensure the rezoning can be considered by  City Council prior to CHFA’s application deadlines:

Round One: Federal 9% Competitive

Pre-application should be submitted by June 30, and applications by August 1 for a final City Council hearing to be scheduled by the following January.

Round Two: State Credit and 4% Federal Credit

Pre-application should be submitted by November 30 and applications by February 1 for a final City Council hearing to be scheduled in July.

If you are interested in rezoning your property, more information on the process is available on the rezoning page.  

In order to provide a thorough review of projects intending to apply for the February round of Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) funding, we will require you to submit AHRT applications by November 27, 2024. If accepted into AHRT, all concept applications must be submitted to E-Permits no later than December 12, 2024. This allows AHRT staff the time needed to review your project for feasibility and write the associated zoning verification letters. If a project is accepted and concept plans are submitted after December 12, 2024, AHRT staff cannot guarantee that the reviews will align with the February 1 application deadline for CHFA funding.

Note: We do not recommend requesting a zoning verification letter before your concept plan review has been completed.