Colorado Is Rezoning 31 Cities by December 31. Check Your Denver Listings.
- Jerad Larkin
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
There is a hard state deadline sitting about four months out that almost nobody in Denver Metro real estate is talking about. On December 31, 2026, roughly 31 Colorado cities and counties have to hand the state a finished plan proving they have zoned enough capacity for housing near transit. Most of those jurisdictions are in the Denver Metro. Yours is almost certainly one of them.
That deadline does not move a single sale price by itself. What it moves is what a lot is legally allowed to become. And when the legal ceiling on a parcel goes up, the buyer pool for that parcel changes. A tired 1950s ranch a quarter mile from a frequent bus line stops being only a house and starts being a site.
What is Colorado's Transit-Oriented Communities law and how does it affect Denver real estate agents?
Colorado HB24-1313 requires 31 Front Range cities and counties, most of them in Denver Metro, to zone for higher housing density near transit and file final Housing Opportunity Goal reports with the state by December 31, 2026.
I am Jerad Larkin, a Sales Executive with Chicago Title Colorado. I spend my days with Denver Metro real estate agents on the parts of a deal that live between the contract and the closing table, and land use is one of the quiet ones. Nobody mails you a notice when a zoning map changes. You find out six months later, when a builder outbids your buyer on a lot everyone assumed was residential and done.
Here is what the law actually says, how to check whether a listing sits inside one of these areas, and the three conversations that come out of it.
What Is Colorado's Transit-Oriented Communities Law?
HB24-1313 passed on May 13, 2024. It requires certain Front Range cities and counties to allow more housing near rail stations and frequent bus routes, sets residential zoning capacity targets, streamlines approvals for qualifying housing projects, and directs local governments to adopt affordability and anti-displacement strategies. The full bill text lives on the Colorado General Assembly site.
The mechanics matter more than the summary. According to the policy breakdown published by Housing Forward Colorado, the law sets Housing Opportunity Goals built around zoning capacity that reaches an average of at least 40 dwelling units per acre across a jurisdiction's transit areas. Inside a half mile of a rail station, or a quarter mile of a frequent bus route, local zoning has to accommodate a minimum of 15 units per acre.
Read that again as a listing agent. Fifteen units per acre is not a duplex allowance. That is townhome and small apartment territory on land that is currently sitting under single-family zoning across a lot of Denver Metro.
Which Colorado Cities and Counties Are Affected?
About 31 jurisdictions qualify as transit-oriented communities. All but two of them, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs, are inside the Denver Metro. The list includes Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Boulder, Broomfield, Centennial, Commerce City, Edgewater, Englewood, Glendale, Golden, Greenwood Village, Lafayette and Cherry Hills Village, among others.
If you sell real estate in the Denver Metro, you sell inside a transit-oriented community. This is not a niche topic for land brokers. It is your farm.
What Does the December 31, 2026 Deadline Actually Require?
The implementation timeline runs like this. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs published transit area maps by September 30, 2024. Local governments submitted preliminary assessment reports by June 30, 2025. Final Housing Opportunity Goal reports and strategies are due December 31, 2026. Jurisdictions also have to select and implement at least three affordability strategies from a state menu by the end of this year.
Miss the deadline and a city loses access to certain state infrastructure funding, including dollars flowing through the Transit Oriented Communities Infrastructure Grant Program administered by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. That grant program was funded at $35 million.
Translation for Colorado agents: cities have a real financial reason to actually rezone. This is not a study that gets filed and forgotten.
Why Should Denver Metro Agents Care About a Zoning Deadline?
Because zoning capacity is the invisible input in every land value conversation you have, and it is about to change under thousands of Denver Metro parcels at the same time.
Zoning Capacity Changes Who Bids on a Lot
A 1,100 square foot ranch on a 7,000 square foot lot near a frequent bus route prices one way when the highest and best use is a single family home. It prices a different way when a small builder can put four to six attached units on it under an administrative approval instead of a two-year rezoning fight.
You do not need to become a land broker to use this. You need to know which of your listings sit inside a transit area so you are not the last person in the room to understand what the property is worth.
The Parking Rule Sitting Right Next to It
HB24-1313 did not pass alone. Colorado also adopted HB24-1304, which eliminates minimum parking requirements near transit, and HB24-1152, which legalized accessory dwelling units in residential zones across much of the state. I broke that one down in how Denver agents can use Colorado's new ADU law to win more listings.
Stack those three together and you get the actual picture. More allowed units, fewer required parking spaces, and a legal ADU path on top. That combination is what makes small infill pencil for a builder. On the financing side, buyers can now count ADU rental income toward qualifying, which pulls owner-occupants into the same conversation.
It Lands in a Market That Already Has a Supply Problem
Denver Metro attached housing is not tight right now. Condo and townhome supply is running near six months while detached sits closer to three. More zoned capacity for attached product does not immediately flood the market, but it does mean the seller who is waiting for the market to come back needs a straight answer about what is getting built around them over the next five years.
How Do You Find Out If a Listing Sits in a Transit Area?
Start With the State Map, Then Confirm With the City
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs publishes transit area maps and an applicability tool showing which jurisdictions and which geographies fall under the law. Start there to get the general answer. Then call the planning department for the specific city and ask two questions: is this parcel inside a designated transit center, and what is the current and proposed zoning.
Write down who you talked to and when. Zoning answers change, and a planner's name on your notes is worth more than a screenshot of a map.
Read the Zoning, Not the Map Color
A parcel can sit inside a transit area and still be constrained by a private covenant, an HOA declaration, a plat restriction, or a recorded easement that has nothing to do with city zoning. State law changing what a city must allow does not erase what is recorded against the land.
This is the part where agents get burned. The zoning says yes. The title work says not so fast.
How Do Denver Agents Turn This Into Listings?
The Seller Conversation
For a homeowner sitting inside a transit area, the message is simple and it is not a scare tactic. Their neighborhood is being rezoned for more housing, that changes who might want their lot, and they should know what their property is worth to both a homebuyer and a builder before they decide what to do. Pair it with what is happening to Denver Metro property tax bills in 2026 and you have a real reason to call.
Pull the list. If you already run a geographic farm, overlay the transit area boundary on it and you have a segmented mailing that says something specific instead of the usual just sold postcard.
The Investor and Builder Conversation
Small builders and buy-and-hold investors in Colorado are actively hunting for parcels where the zoning math just improved. If you can hand a builder a list of parcels inside a transit area with older improvements and low lot coverage, you are useful in a way most agents are not. That is a repeat client, not a transaction.
The Content Play
This topic is tailor made for short video and email because it has a date attached to it. December 31, 2026. Record a 60 second clip standing near a light rail station or a bus stop in your farm explaining what the deadline is and what it means for the houses behind you. Do one per neighborhood. You will be the only agent in your market producing it.
Where Rezoning Creates Title and Closing Problems
Part of what I do as a Sales Executive at Chicago Title Colorado is help Denver Metro agents see these issues before they become closing delays. Upzoning does not clear a property's recorded history. Old subdivision covenants, use restrictions, access easements and utility easements survive a zoning change, and they can quietly kill a redevelopment plan that the city would have approved.
When a client is buying a lot because of what the new zoning allows, the title commitment is the document that tells you whether the plan is actually possible. I wrote more about how title insurance handles rezoning and land use changes if you want the longer version.
If you have a deal where the buyer's plan depends on density, get me the address early. An Owner and Encumbrance report is cheap compared to finding a restrictive covenant during inspection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Colorado's Transit-Oriented Communities law?
HB24-1313, passed in May 2024, requires about 31 Front Range cities and counties to zone for higher housing density near rail stations and frequent bus routes. It sets Housing Opportunity Goals, streamlines approvals for qualifying projects, and requires final reports to the state by December 31, 2026.
Which Denver Metro cities have to rezone under HB24-1313?
Nearly every major Denver Metro jurisdiction is included, among them Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Broomfield, Centennial, Commerce City, Englewood, Golden, Glendale and Greenwood Village. Only Fort Collins and Colorado Springs on the list sit outside the Denver Metro. Confirm your specific city with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs applicability tool.
Does HB24-1313 automatically upzone my client's property?
No. The law sets capacity targets that cities must meet across their transit areas. Each local government decides how to get there through its own zoning code. Some parcels will see a real change in what is allowed, and many will not. Always confirm the specific parcel with the city planning department.
How do Denver real estate agents use transit-oriented zoning to get listings?
Identify which parts of your farm fall inside a designated transit area, then reach out with a specific message: the zoning around their home is changing, and they should know what their lot is worth to a builder as well as to a homebuyer. Pair it with a short video per neighborhood and a segmented mailing.
Is this worth learning if I only sell single-family homes in Colorado?
Yes, because the parcels being rezoned are mostly single-family lots today. The change affects the value and the buyer pool of the exact homes you already sell. You do not need to do land deals to benefit from knowing what your listing is legally allowed to become.
If you want help checking whether a listing sits inside a transit area, pulling a parcel list for a Denver Metro farm, or running an Owner and Encumbrance report before your client writes an offer on a redevelopment lot, reach out. I put out tools, market data and free classes for Denver Metro real estate agents at milehightitleguy.com. Come to one of the upcoming classes and bring a deal you are stuck on.
Jerad Larkin
Sales Executive | Chicago Title Colorado
milehightitleguy.com
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