It is a sad statement when one of the oldest and most respected Denver developers looks elsewhere to build due to unnecessary and over burdensome delays and requirements by the City of Denver’s Building Department.
PLAN FOR A HEADACHE
Denver’s permitting process isn’t changing fast enough for developers, and many are looking to other cities for relief.
By Robert Davis
Driving through Denver brings up mixed feelings for Carl Koelbel.
As the chief operating officer of Koelbel and Co., a Denver-based development firm his grandfather founded in 1952, there’s a sense of pride that comes from seeing completed developments like Yale Station, LoHi Court and CityHomes at Lincoln Park.
But each project also reminds Koelbel, now the CEO and president of Koelbel and Co., of the headaches that came from working with Denver’s building department.
Once, Denver’s Community Planning and Development office asked Koelbel’s company to provide address signs for individual units in an entry-level townhome project in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Submitting that seemingly minor revision triggered a restart to the lengthy site development plan review process, Koelbel told the Denver Business Journal, delaying when the building could generate cash flow.
Koelbel finds other requirements impractical. He points to one parcel of industrial land his company owns on Wynkoop Street in the River North Art District. Before granting permission to develop the property, CPD asked Koelbel and Co. to activate the street with retail opportunities. However, low foot traffic in that area makes it difficult to attract customers. Koelbel has not yet developed the site because of this issue.
“These issues are pushing [builders] out of the city of Denver, and I’m not the only one,” Koelbel said. “I’ve got partners that operate nationally and they say Denver, in its current state, is the most challenging municipality outside of California to operate in from an approval process standpoint.”
Complaints about Denver’s system were so common, Mayor Mike Johnston campaigned in 2023 on a promise to fix the permitting backlog and repair the city’s relationship with local builders. But some say those changes aren’t happening quickly enough. Instead, they claim they’re looking to build in other cities like Littleton, Aurora and Boulder — or outside of Colorado altogether — to maintain their project flow.
