CREJ - Building Dialogue - June 2017
There is a radical new trend in housing about to sweep through Denver; of course, you probably won’t even notice. Over the last few years, I have had the same conversation with many different people and see a clear pattern emerging: accessory dwelling units (aka ADUs) would work really well in Denver. They are not really new and most will be effectively invisible, but they are on their way and it is pretty cool for the healthy growth of the city. Conversations with various people in the planning and development community as well as the well-informed group assembled at the Mayor’s Housing Summit and the AIA Housing Knowledge Community have consistently devolved to the same basic question, “Why don’t we have more ADUs in Denver?” A few of these insightful people discussing this topic might be a coincidence, a few more just anecdotal, but the local debate coupled with the success of the movement in Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas, and other cities suggests more. On top of this recent resurgence, Denver already has many older ADUs in the carriage houses of its historic neighborhoods, since they were a regular part of cities until the mid-20th century. So what is an ADU? Though it may sound like the name of a NASA space station module, accessory dwelling units are actually everything from basement apartments to carriage houses, but the currently trending topology is the alley flat. A rental unit “docked” to a single-family home is an ADU. This antiseptic term has caught traction because it covers so many interesting buildings forms: granny flats, alley flats, laneway houses, backyard cottages, and the list goes on. ADUs are unique in their flexibility, small size and potential to fit into many different neighborhoods. Alley flats and other detached ADU typologies are appealing because they look good. They are the puppy form of housing, and it is hard not to love the cuteness of these buildings. Beyond the visual advantages of their small size and ability to fit in almost anywhere, ADUs are flexible. They can start out as a man cave or studio, then pay for themselves as a short-term rental. Over time, they could transition from housing a live-in nanny, to a growing teenager, to an aging parent or caregiver. Another family might find that they move into their ADU first and rent out the larger front house, then move into the front house when their family grows, then move back into the ADU when the kids are gone. In Denver, about 44 percent of the city is made up of the single-family homes suitable for ADUs, which means that tens of thousands of ADUs could be added – an almost invisible expansion to housing in the city. They can also be added to larger developments; for example, in Vancouver, ADUs sometimes are used to help step down from larger buildings to a smaller-scale neighborhood across the alley. Imagine adding a few granny flats to every block in Denver, piece by piece no one would notice, but for the city as a whole, it would be pretty cool. So what’s the catch? Why don’t we see hipster hideaways accessorizing every property in the city? For starters, many people do not realize it is an option. Portland has formed an active ADU community over the last few years and, at just over 1,000 units, its ADUs are still less than 1 percent of all the housing in that city. Austin has taken a different approach and set up programs to remove barriers, actively promoting ADUs with dedicated resources and building department support for families who are adding units to help make a dent in the city’s housing shortage. These cities, among many others, have seen growth in ADUs, which Denver is likely to see soon. ADU benefits are also its liabilities. For example, there is no developer or homebuilder sweeping through cities adding tiny villas along every alley; individual citizens pay for and build a unit, renting it out to someone like a teacher in their neighborhood. By the same token, it is not developers profiting from ADUs, but rather the thousands of homeowners who spend the time and money to dock one on their homes. Similarly, while there are some prefab solutions available, most ADUs are custom built around people’s lives and existing homes, so there is no consistent formula or even predictable budget. ADUs may be the next small thing, but not quite as ubiquitous as other recent small trends like smartphones. Ready to be a trend setter, the vanguard of your neighborhood? Before you rush out and dock your own personal studio over your garage, make sure your zoning allows it. While Denver allows ADUs, not all neighborhoods have signed up yet. You may need to work to have your block join before you sign up your first renters or begin work on your first masterpiece. A lot of attention is paid to Denver’s big, new developments and rising skyscrapers, but the next hot trend in Denver is going to be small.