Save the date! Upcoming public events to discuss the city's draft policy proposal |
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Expanding Housing Affordability is hosting several events to collect input on this project. To participate, click the links below to register for topic-specific focus groups, to join a general session, or to speak with a planner during virtual "office hours."
GENERAL
Virtual Open House
Thursday, November 4, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Virtual Office Hours
Thursday, October 28
Tuesday, November 9
FOCUS GROUPS
Proposal Overview
Monday, November 1, from noon to 1:30 p.m.
Mandatory Housing - Program Requirements & Alternative Compliance
Thursday, November 4, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Incentives for Mandatory Housing
Monday, November 8, from noon to 1 p.m.
Linkage Fee - Commercial, Industrial, Retail, Office
Wednesday, November 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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Draft policy proposal available for review and comment through the end of 2021 |
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This proposal is the result of many months of work balancing the perspectives of industry and neighborhood stakeholders, studying comparable programs in other cities, and developing a detailed financial feasibility analysis. It will help create new, mixed-income communities in Denver that contain affordable homes priced within reach of our workforce— teachers, firefighters, restaurant workers, and everyone else who helps make our city great. This is an issue that affects all of us, and as a city we can do more to address the housing needs of all residents.
The draft proposal includes provisions for mandatory affordable housing, incentives, and an update to the existing linkage fee.
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Mandatory affordable housing ties the creation of new market-rate housing (commonly serving higher-income households) to the creation of affordable housing, resulting in mixed-income developments and neighborhoods citywide. Understanding that these policies will have a financial impact, the proposal includes zoning and financial incentives to partially offset costs and encourage more affordable housing.
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Linkage fees tie the impacts of new development to the need for affordable housing. These fees play a critical role in funding new affordable housing throughout the city. Under this proposal, residential projects that build affordable units as part of the development would not pay linkage fees.
This is a draft proposal that is subject to change based on feedback received. The proposal will be available for public review and comment through the end of the year.
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Recap of Earlier Milestones |
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Key themes identified as important for this proposal |
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From March - June 2021, city planners met with residents, affordable housing providers, commercial real estate groups, City Council offices and others, and heard a wide range of perspectives on housing. In addition to community meetings, the project team held focus groups, office hours, Community Connector sessions, and received written comments on feedback forms.
Some of the key themes that emerged included...
- a desire to see the entire housing continuum addressed through complementary tools,
- a need to explore incentives and be thoughtful about achievable policies,
- concerns about involuntary displacement and whether new homes will be affordable for existing residents,
- a desire for on-site construction of affordable units,
- and a need to consider timing for implementation of new policies that may impact development investments already underway.
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Key themes are described on page 2 of the outreach summary, followed by details of who and how people participated. |
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Financial feasibility and peer city analysis that informed the current proposal |
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Before drafting a policy proposal, the Expanding Housing Affordability project researched best practices from peer cities, studied the financial feasibility of different affordability requirements or fees, and solicited feedback on feasibility.
Of critical importance is ensuring new requirements maintain financial feasibility. The city is using a financial feasibility model informed by data on real building costs, operating costs, rents and sales prices on recent projects. The model incorporates variations by geographic submarket and by development prototype/height. It does not yet reflect any incentives or off-sets that may be added, which would improve financial feasibility.
Please note: This is a technical report providing critical data needed to develop and evaluate policy proposals. It is not the draft policy proposal.
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State law makes way for mandatory affordable housing |
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This spring, the Colorado state legislature passed HB21-1117, which allowed Denver and other communities across the state to require affordable housing on all new for-sale and for-rent housing. Specifically, the bill…
- Enables “local governments to regulate the use of land to promote the construction of new affordable housing units”
- Requires a “choice of options… and creates one or more alternatives to the construction of new affordable housing units on site”
- Requires that local governments demonstrate their commitment to “increase the overall number and density of housing units… or create incentives to the construction of affordable housing units”
- Does not authorize a local government to adopt or enforce any ordinance or regulation that would have the effect of controlling rent on any existing private residential housing unit in violation of the existing statutory prohibition on rent control
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Denver has an immediate and growing need for housing. As costs go up, many families are spending more on housing, and many are being priced out of the neighborhoods they grew up in. To address that need, the city is working to create more options for everybody. This project will develop tools to encourage the construction of affordable and mixed-income housing across the city. New housing where people can live near jobs, transit and the services they need will help address housing demand and create a more sustainable Denver.
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