Develop
Zoning is aboutto change again
Denver made ADUs legal citywide in late 2024. A missing-middle rezoning with floor-area caps reaches City Council by the end of 2026.
Both change what your lot is worth. Neither is on another agent's website.
Already law
ADUs,citywide
Passed November 2024, effective that December. If you own a house in Denver, this probably applies to you and you may not know it.
The measure expanded ADU-eligible land from roughly 36% of the city to about 70%. It implemented Colorado House Bill 24-1152, which pushed cities toward allowing accessory units near transit.
Two changes matter most in practice. It removed the old owner-occupancy requirement, which used to kill the ADU the moment you moved off the property. And it overrode HOA restrictions that had blocked them.
On the right lot an ADU is rental income, a place for a parent, or a way to hold a property you would otherwise sell. On the wrong lot it does not pencil. Setbacks, alley access, lot size and utility runs decide it. Send me the address and I will tell you before you pay anyone for drawings.
Coming
UnlockingHousing Choices
Denver's missing-middle proposal is scheduled to reach City Council by the end of 2026. Three pieces, and they cut in different directions.
A cap on floor area for single-family homes. Aimed at discouraging teardown-to-mansion. If it passes, the maximum house you can build on a standard lot gets smaller.
Duplexes and small multi-unit on existing lots. More units allowed where only one is today.
An affordability requirement when a property is fully redeveloped.
Northwest Denver's blocks are exactly what this targets. The streetcar grid, the single-unit zoning, the scrape economics that have driven the last decade here.
The window and the rules are both moving. A scrape that pencils under today's floor-area rules may not pencil under tomorrow's, and a lot that only supported one house may support two. Which side you land on depends on your specific parcel. This is the single most consequential thing happening to northwest Denver property values right now and almost nobody is talking about it.
Reading the code
What those letterson your zoning mean
Denver's format is context, then form, then lot size. U-SU-C reads as urban, single unit, 5,500 square foot minimum lot.
| Piece | Meaning |
|---|---|
| First letter | Neighborhood context. U is urban, which covers most of northwest Denver's streetcar grid. |
| Middle | Form and use. SU is single unit. TU is two unit. MU is multi unit. |
| Last letter | Minimum zone lot size. A is 3,000 sq ft, B is 4,500, C is 5,500, D is 6,000, and up from there. |
Knowing your code is the start, not the answer. Overlays, historic designation, alley access and setbacks all change what is buildable. Berkeley has no historic district, which is why the scrapes happen there. Potter Highlands does, which is why they do not.
Start here
Send methe address.
I will tell you what the lot is zoned, whether an ADU works, and how the proposed changes would affect it. Before you spend money finding out the hard way.
Heidi Kuker · milehimodern · Denver, Colorado