Denver’s “Unlocking Housing Choices” plan proposes unit-count incentives, backyard cottages, and inclusionary zoning to shift developer math away from McMansions.
Key Takeaways
Single-family zoning on expensive lots forces a binary: teardown McMansion ($3-4M) or nothing; lot-split to 3-4 cottages at $500-700k each is currently illegal.
Phase 1 has three levers: cap unit size but allow more units, expand ADU/backyard cottage rules, and offer density bonuses for one deed-restricted affordable unit.
Author is most bullish on the backyard cottage concept; preserved front house satisfies “neighborhood character” concerns while new rear structures pencil out for developers.
Inclusionary zoning bonus is viewed skeptically: construction costs likely require impractical density ratios to break even on one deed-restricted unit.
Author’s missing piece: same-day pre-approved permits for city-preferred housing types, a more powerful incentive than any zoning tweak.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters focused hard on permitting timelines: Denver averages 264 days for projects over $1.5M valuation, and construction loans at 8-13% in Colorado make that delay financially lethal for small multi-unit projects.
Broad consensus that the root fix is deregulation (remove parking minimums, cap approval timelines, implement land value tax) and that the city’s complex overlay schemes are workarounds for problems the city itself created.
Skepticism that any zoning reform alone arrests gentrification: one thread argued rising desirability of urban cores is a preference shift, not a supply failure, so price pressure persists regardless of unit count.
Notable Comments
@JumpCrisscross: 264-day approval window plus 8-13% construction loan rates in Colorado make the cottage-infill math nearly impossible without permit reform.
@ecshafer: Argues the full fix is three lines: remove zoning/deed restrictions/parking minimums, time-cap approvals, add land value tax.
@burlesona: Notes Denver already repealed parking requirements, removing one common NIMBY veto point against cottage-home density.
