Land near 40th and Colorado rail station rezoned for big housing projects despite lingering concerns

Plans to build at least 300 units of affordable housing on vacant land a short walk or roll away from the 40th and Colorado Boulevard rail station in northeast Denver are back on track after City Council members paused a rezoning application for the project two weeks ago.

Following that delay, council members voted 10 to 2 on Monday night to rezone the 14-acre property located at the northeast corner of East 40th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. The zoning changes clear the way for buildings as tall as 12 stories on the northwest portion of the site if those buildings provide more affordable housing than the city already requires in new construction.

But the central issue that slowed down the application remains unresolved in the eyes of Councilman Kevin Flynn, who joined Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer in voting no Monday.

Specifically, Flynn voted against the rezoning because one of the property owners involved didn’t consent to being included in the application in the first place, he said. The rezoning application was moved forward by another property owner that controls just 54% of the land there, according to city officials.

Flynn said he is concerned that the city is setting a “legal precedent of rezoning someone else’s property to get the zoning you want.”

“I liked the project,” Flynn said of the proposed afforable housing. “It just would have been cleaner if we could have found a way to just rezone where the project is. This is a (city) problem.”

The Urban Land Conservancy, a nonprofit real estate firm, owns the vacant, northern portion of the site. The organization is already working with a Tennessee-based developer Elimington Capital Group to build 300 units of affordable housing there with future phases being completed that could add hundreds more affordable apartments or condos down the line, ULC representatives say.

“We have been engaging with Northeast Park Hill regarding this property for 12 years. We’re pleased with City Council’s decision tonight and are looking forward to seeing Elmington deliver new, transit-oriented, affordable housing in response to the wants and needs of the neighborhood,” Andrea Burns, the organization’s vice president of impact and engagement, said in an emailed statement Monday.

The southern portion of that site is already heavily developed with the Park Hill Station apartment complex — itself an affordable housing project set back from Colorado Boulevard. Closer to the street sits a row of businesses including a Starbucks, a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and a Carl’s Jr.’s burger restaurant.

But Delwest, the real estate company that owns the southern portion of the site, did not consent to the rezoning, which also upzoned its property to allow for new development of at least five stories. Delwest bought its land from ULC, according to the later company.

On Sept. 16, when the application first went before the council for a public hearing and vote, Alisha Hammett, an architect working with ULC, testified that the city planning officials encouraged her group to rezone the entire parcel. The rationale Hammett provided was that the entire site is subject to an existing set of planning criteria known as a planned building group, or a PBG. The agreement could be easily modified or ended once the entire site is moved out of the city’s legacy zoning codes from the 1950s and into the updated codes adopted in 2010.

Hammett testified the properties owned by Delwest would not be adversely impacted by the new zoning, but the company has been at odds with ULC and its partners about plans for the northern portion of the site. The two sides have already undergone mediation at the city’s urging.