Denver City Council approves Monaco Parkway rezoning tied to larger affordable-housing proposal

Denver City Council on June 15 approved a rezoning for 831 S. Monaco Street Parkway, changing the Washington Virginia Vale parcel from S-MX-3A to S-MU-3 so it matches the zoning next door at 801 S. Monaco Street Parkway and can be combined with that site for a larger affordable-housing redevelopment.

At the June 15 council hearing, planning staff said 831 S. Monaco is a 7,050-square-foot parcel with a single-unit house and that the owner wants to combine it with 801 S. Monaco, an adjacent affordable-housing property that already has S-MU-3 zoning.

According to a city planning staff report, 801 S. Monaco now has 28 deed-restricted affordable units in two-, three- and four-bedroom homes. Staff said redeveloping 801 by itself could add about 35 units, while combining 801 and 831 could add roughly 12 more, bringing the concept to about 75 units total.

Staff also told council the combined-site concept is aimed at households earning 30% to 60% of area median income. Separate rezoning outreach materials described a 75-unit concept with a four-story apartment building and one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom rental units, while the staff report described likely family-oriented housing with two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, supportive programming and amenity space.

The public record is clearer on the project concept than on what the rezoning itself requires. The ordinance changes the zoning classification, but the reviewed records do not show that it guarantees the final unit count, bedroom mix or 30% to 60% AMI targets for new construction.

Public records are also limited on financing and timing. At the hearing, staff said the applicant is pursuing low-income housing tax credits, but the reviewed council and planning records do not include a full financing package, a tax-credit award or a separate city loan approval for the combined project. The records reviewed also do not identify a construction start date, completion date or formal phasing schedule.

In recommending approval, the staff report said the change would eliminate a zoning mismatch between the two parcels while keeping the site's expected building form consistent with nearby S-MU-3 zoning. The report supports a modest increase in scale from combining the parcels — about 12 more units than redeveloping 801 alone — but the reviewed record does not include a separate quantified traffic analysis or a detailed comparison of neighborhood impacts under the two scenarios.

Staff told council they had received no comments or support-or-opposition letters from registered neighborhood organizations or the general public, and no opposition was recorded before the vote.

The approval removes a parcel-level zoning barrier that staff said could otherwise limit expansion of a site that already includes deed-restricted affordable housing. The final development plan, financing and construction schedule still appear to be unresolved in the public record.