How Multifamily Housing Gets Approved in Denver

Denver multifamily development sits under two 2024 Colorado housing laws, the city's own decision to go further than the state on parking, and a 2022 mandatory affordable housing ordinance. Once a parcel's zoning already permits the proposed building, site development plan review is the city's main checkpoint.

Colorado's transit-oriented communities law

House Bill 24-1313, signed May 13, 2024, requires a transit-oriented community, a municipality at least partly within a metropolitan planning organization that meets population and acreage thresholds, to meet a housing opportunity goal equal to 40 dwelling units per acre multiplied by its acres of transit related area. Within each transit center, generally no more than a quarter mile from a qualifying transit stop, the municipality must allow a net housing density of at least 15 units per acre and an administrative approval process for a multifamily development on a parcel of 5 acres or less. Denver sits within the Denver Regional Council of Governments metropolitan planning organization. The law set a preliminary assessment deadline of June 30, 2025, requires affordability and displacement mitigation strategies and a housing goal report by December 31, 2026, and allows department certification of a transit-oriented community through December 31, 2027.

Parking: the state floor and Denver's own repeal

House Bill 24-1304, effective August 7, 2024, prohibits a municipality within a metropolitan planning organization, including Denver, from enforcing a minimum parking requirement, from June 30, 2025 forward, on a multifamily residential development, or an adaptive reuse project that is at least half residential, sited at least partly within an applicable transit service area, an area within one quarter mile of a qualifying transit stop on a map the Department of Local Affairs publishes; a local government may still set a maximum, honor an existing affordable housing agreement, require bicycle parking, or require parking for a project of 20 units or more with published written findings. Denver went beyond that floor: a zoning code text amendment removed minimum parking ratios in every zone district citywide, effective August 11, 2025, leaving in place only the code's separate limits on parking within a quarter mile of a rail station.

Expanding Housing Affordability

Denver's Expanding Housing Affordability (EHA) ordinance, in effect citywide since July 1, 2022, requires a new residential development of 10 or more units to designate a share of units, generally 8 to 15 percent depending on market area and tenure, as income restricted for households between 60 and 90 percent of area median income, or to pay a fee in lieu before building permits issue, aside from excavation and shoring work. Zoning and financial incentives in the ordinance offset part of the cost of the set-aside units.

Site development plan review

A multifamily project in Denver that needs no rezoning still goes through site development plan review by Community Planning and Development, generally 3 to 5 review cycles before release for a building permit. A project that exceeds 5 acres or 3 blocks of gross land area, needs major infrastructure, requires an amendment to a prior general development plan, or sits under a City Council adopted plan that calls for it, must first complete a written framework approved by the Development Review Committee and hold a public community information meeting before it proceeds to a rezoning or site development plan application.

Questions

Has Denver eliminated parking minimums for multifamily housing?

Yes, citywide, effective August 11, 2025, which goes further than the transit area floor Colorado's HB24-1304 set for June 30, 2025.

What share of units must be affordable under Denver's EHA ordinance?

A new development of 10 or more units generally sets aside 8 to 15 percent of units as income restricted, depending on market area and tenure, or pays a fee in lieu.

When does a Denver multifamily project trigger Large Development Review?

When its gross land area exceeds 5 acres or 3 blocks, it needs major infrastructure, a prior general development plan needs amendment, or a City Council adopted plan calls for it; otherwise it follows a standard site development plan.

Sources