Incentive Height and Design Overlays for River North / 38th & Blake Station Area

Updated 7/16/18

As part of ongoing efforts to implement the 38th and Blake Station Area Plan Amendments, City Council President Albus Brooks sponsored Denver Zoning Code text and map amendments to establish an incentive height overlay for the 38th and Blake Station Area and a design overlay for the station area and surrounding River North (RiNo) Art District.

The intention of the overlays is to help direct growth into areas of the city that are best equipped to handle change, while also ensuring that those areas become great places. The overlays promote high quality design and capture a portion of the increased property values that result from significant public investments, such as the train station and use them to ensure that new development benefits the community. 

Key Facts on 38th and Blake Zoning Overlays

> Projects seeking to take advantage of the height incentives must submit site development plans to Development Services and a proposal on how they intend to meet overlay requirements to the Office of Economic Development. Both must be approved for a building permit to be issued. As of July 1, 2018, no project has submitted a proposal to the Office of Economic Development.

> The design overlay establishes new high-quality design standards.

> The incentive overlay requires projects that use the height incentives to provide affordable housing units in the station area, or significantly greater contributions to Denver’s Affordable Housing Fund than are required elsewhere in the city.

> To meet incentive requirements:

• Affordable housing units must be new units that would otherwise not have been built.
• Affordable units must be comparable to the market-rate housing units that generated the requirement.
• Affordable units must be inside the overlay boundary, not elsewhere in the city.
• The zoning is rooted in a form-based zoning code; floor-area ratios (FAR) do not apply. 
• The number of affordable units required for development is based on square footage above the base height. 
• Residential buildings must provide affordable housing units.
• Commercial buildings can: 
  • provide affordable housing units according to square footage above the base height, or
  • pay the city’s affordable housing fee for the square footage below the base height and pay five times the city’s existing affordable housing fee for square footage above the base height, or 
  • pay the city’s affordable housing fee for the full square footage and offset fee for square footage above the base height by providing subsidized space for uses that serve the community, such as day-cares, groceries or artists’ spaces.

Council Adoption

City Council voted to adopt the incentive height and design overlays for the 38th and Blake Station Area and the River North Arts District at its meeting February 12, 2018.  The following documents were presented for council review ahead of the vote. To see a replay of the meeting visit the Denver Channel 8 Archive.

• Staff report (PDF)
• Staff presentation (PDF)
• Staff report for related rezoning proposal 2017I-00122 (PDF)
• Staff presentation for related rezoning proposal 2017I-00122 (PDF)

Project Information

The intention of the overlays is to help direct growth into areas of the city that are best equipped to handle change, while also ensuring that those areas become great places. The overlays promote high quality design and capture a portion of the increased property values that result from significant public investments, such as the train station, and use them to ensure that new development benefits the community. They were implemented through Denver Zoning Code text and map amendments. The text amendment created the overlays, a map amendment established where the overlays apply, and a second map amendment rezoned certain properties to achieve the appropriate base zoning for the height incentive overlay to be applied properly.

Legislative Process for Zoning Code Text & Map Amendments

The public legislative process for the proposed text and map amendments to implement both the River North Design Overlay and 38th and Blake Incentive Overlay began with a public hearing at the Denver Planning Board on December 6. The Planning Board voted to recommend that the City Council approve the proposed text and map amendments. City Council held a public hearing February 12 and voted to approve the amendments. 

Adopted Denver Zoning Code text and map amendments:

• Adopted River North Design Overlay / 38th and Blake Station Area Incentive Overlay Ordinance and Redlined Zoning Code Text Amendment  (PDF) 

Adopted Denver Revised Municipal Code (DRMC) amendment:

• DRMC Amendment to Establish Incentive Requirements (PDF)
  This amendment established requirements related to the proposed 38^th and Blake Station Area Incentive Overlay.
• Ordinance to Establish Related Affordable Housing Incentive Fee Fund (PDF)
  This ordinance established a new fund to collect fees related incentive projects in the proposed 38th and Blake Station Area Incentive Overlay. Fees collected must be used to support provision of affordable housing.

Rezoning of Base Zone Districts

To use the Incentive Overlay, properties were mapped to a non-customized Denver Zoning Code zone district with a maximum height in building stories (i.e., I-MX-5 or C-MX-8). City Council President Albus Brooks proposed a legislative map amendment to rezone some properties not previously mapped with a qualifying district to allow use of the Incentive Overlay. This map (PDF) illustrates the adopted legislative rezoning. 

River North Design Overlay

The 38th and Blake Station Area Plan Amendment process indicated a community desire for design regulations to encourage creativity and ensure the area remains a welcoming place for artists, residents, and businesses. A concurrent RiNo Art District request for a Denver Zoning Code design overlay district expressed similar desires for the wider RiNo district. 

The adopted River North Design Overlay District implemented plan amendment recommendations and the RiNo Art District overlay request by establishing regulations to achieve a vibrant pedestrian realm with building and site design that emphasizes walkability and access to daylight, minimizes the impact of parking and integrates appropriately with existing buildings in RiNo and portions of the 38th and Blake Station area that are just outside the district. The Design Overlay District includes regulations for building setbacks, parking location and access, massing (the shape and form of a building as perceived by a viewer at street level), street-level active uses, pedestrian access and transparency. 

• Summary of River North Design Overlay (PDF)
• Map of proposed design and incentive overlay boundaries (PDF)

38th & Blake Incentive Overlay

The 38^th and Blake Station Area Plan Amendment process indicated community support for taller building heights with development that provides community benefits. The 38th and Blake Incentive Overlay implements those recommendations by allowing a building to exceed the maximum height specified in the underlying zone district if the building provides specific benefits, such as affordable housing units in the area around the station, increased payments to the city’s Affordable Housing Fund, or community-serving uses. Specific requirements vary depending on the uses in the building: 

• Projects with 50 percent or more residential uses: Development using the incentive are required to build affordable housing within the station area (no fee option)
• Projects with 50 percent or more non-residential uses: Development using the incentive has an option to build affordable housing units within the station area, pay increased affordable housing fees or pay the city's standard affordable housing fee and provide community-serving uses (such as artist studios or maker spaces)

Affordable housing unit and fee requirements are based on multiples of the formulas included in the Affordable Housing Fee ordinance adopted in 2016 (Chapter 27, Article 5 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code). Increased requirements apply only to the square footage of the building above the maximum height set in the underlying zone district. This package of adopted amendments included an amendment to the Denver Revised Municipal Code to create a new Article VI: Incentives for Affordable Housing, which established the affordable housing requirements for the 38th & Blake Incentive Overlay.

• Overview with sample calculations (PDF) 
• Feasibility study (PDF), conducted by a third-party consultant to analyze how additional height in return for affordable housing might impact project outcomes
• Map of proposed overlay boundaries (PDF)
• Proposed amendment to the Denver Revised Municipal Code to establish affordable housing requirements (PDF)