City changes zoning to allow ADUs in NW Denver

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City changes zoning to allow ADUs in NW Denver

Chris Freeburg
Real Estate Agent · Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 145 posts · 99 votes

The Denver City Council just passed a new ordinance that changes zoning to allow ADUs in all of Chaffee Park. The change allows ADUs in the neighborhood on any lot of at least 4,500 square feet.

The Chaffee Park neighborhood runs from I-70 (southern edge) to 52nd Avenue (northern edge), and Federal Boulevard (on the west) to just past Pecos (on the east).

Approximately, one quarter of Denver lots are currently zoned to allow ADUs. Otherwise, applicants have to apply for a zoning change, pay a $1,000 fee, and go through the red tape with the city.

See the full article here. It mentions zoning changes being considered in Sloan's Lake and East Colfax next.

This clears one major hurdle for all residents (if not interested parties), though the cost of new-build may be a more substantial challenge. Chaffee Park remains a little sleepy compared to Sloan's Lake, for now, though development and demand near Regis is quickening.

What is your outlook? 

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  • Eric DeNardoPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Denver · Member since 2020 · 363 posts · 151 votes
    5y

    I think it's a great opportunity for investors! 

    [email protected]
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  • James CarlsonBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Colorado | stan.store/JamesCarlson · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    5y

    I think this is very interesting. Denver needs density, in my opinion. I'm a raging liberal who's worried about affordable housing, and maybe -- maybe -- this can help ease some of that. And this is great for any Denver house hacking types. (Not necessarily right now, because house hackers inherently want to save money so they're not going to drop $200k on an ADU, but maybe in the future when Chaffee Park might have a collection of homes with carriage houses out back that future house hackers can buy.)

    But the bigger issue remains the exorbitant cost of building an ADU. I talked with one company -- admittedly a high-end custom home builder that specializes in ADUs -- and they're starting at $200k now. I'm waiting for a company to emerge that can do it for $100k. That starts to make sense to me.

    The other issue I see with this is that a lot of the clients I work with who want homes with a mother-in-law or carriage house want that setup not to rent long-term at a reasonable rate to a resident of Denver. Rather, they want to operate a short-term rental on Airbnb and crush it with revenue. I'm guilty of this. I talk up Airbnb, talk about short-term rentals all the time. Because right now the Airbnb law in Denver allows you to only rent in your primary residence, but it also allows to rent on Airbnb full-time in your carriage house. 

    I can see a future where most of the city is zoned to allow ADUs, people start loving them and then most turn into Airbnbs, prompting outcry from neighbors and affordable housing advocates and the city responds by prohibiting Airbnb in those carriage houses. As a believer in creative solutions to affordable housing issues, I don't hate that. As a real estate agent holding myself out as the Airbnb expert in Denver, I have some mixed feelings about it. 

    [email protected]720-460-1770
    James Carlson Real Estate
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