Innovative Affordable Housing Strategies
Thank you for your interest. The 1271 program is now closed as of June 30th, 2025. Please reach out to the staff below if you have any questions about the program or other similar funding sources.
DOLA's Innovative Affordable Housing Strategies programs offered grant money, technical assistance, and other forms of state assistance to local governments to promote innovative solutions to the development of affordable housing across the state.
- Planning Grant Program
- Incentives Grant Program
- Affordable Housing Guided Toolkit and Local Officials Guide Program (Affordable Housing Toolkit Program)
- DOLA Template Land Development Code
Qualifying Strategies and Examples
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs competitively procured Root Policy Research, Plan Tools LLC, and SE Group to, among other items, create and revise guidance documents for qualifying strategies listed in House Bill 21-1271. The guidance below is intended to support local governments searching for initial or additional thinking to help them achieve their local land use goals related to affordable housing development.
- Use of vacant publicly-owned property for affordable housing development
- Subsidize/reduce local government fees
- Expedited development review for affordable housing up to 120% AMI
- Expedited development review for acquiring or repurposing underutilized commercial property
- Density bonus program for housing needs
- Promote sub metering utility charges for affordable housing
- Dedicated funding source to subsidize affordable housing infrastructure costs and fees
- Middle multifamily (duplex, triplex, other) use by right in single family residential zoning districts
- Affordable housing as a use by right in residential zoning districts
- ADU use by right in single family zoning districts
- Allow planned unit developments (PUDs) with integrated affordable housing units
- Allow small square footage residential unit sizes
- Lessened minimum parking requirements for new affordable housing
- Land donation/acquisition/banking program
- Inclusionary zoning ordinance (House Bill 21-1117)
- Other novel, innovative, creative approaches - General
- Other novel, innovative, creative approaches - Housing Authorities
Contact Information
Initial Interest
Direct inquiries regarding initial program interest to your Regional Manager. Use the other program contacts once the initial process with your Regional Manager is complete.
Program Contacts
Mitch Hendrick
Program Manager
mitch.hendrick@state.co.us
Phone: 303-548-9364
Nicola Donaven
Program Assistant
nicola.donaven@state.co.us
Phone: 720-955-9692