Housing Cost and Availability in Centennial

In 2022, the City of Centennial completed a Housing Assessment to examine housing costs and availability. The assessment aimed to better understand the full spectrum of housing issues, identify specific needs, and help inform future policy priorities.

The Housing Needs Assessment(PDF, 3MB) identified four key needs in Centennial:

Increase housing production to accommodate projected household and employment growth
Accommodate more missing middle housing types for small-scale ownership opportunities
Address existing gap for low-income renters (income <$35,000)
Target affordable homeownership and rental strategies toward price points Centennial workers can afford

Housing is a major undertaking that prioritizes community input and collaboration among a wide range of community stakeholders. The Housing Assessment was funded in part by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

Request for Interest (RFI)

The City of Centennial remains committed to expanding affordable housing opportunities that reflect the needs of the community. The City is seeking Requests for Interest (RFI), from experienced and reputable developers interested in constructing and/or rehabilitating for-sale or for-rent affordable housing in Centennial, Colorado.

This RFI is the next step in the City’s engagement with the development community.

Developers interested in affordable housing opportunities in Centennial are encouraged to respond. Submissions will initiate conversations and guide the City’s approach to affordable housing.

The deadline for responses is May 30, 2025, at 2 p.m. MT. Additional details and submission instructions are available in the Request for Interest Housing Development form(PDF, 247KB).

How Did We Get Here?

The Housing Study and Policy Development Project started in spring 2021. City Council, the public and housing stakeholders uncovered Centennial’s housing challenges and evaluated strategies to address these concerns.

For a summary of the housing conversation to date, please see Visual Housing Project Timeline(PDF, 699KB).

Policies Explored

The Housing Study and Policy Development Project is currently exploring strategies that could influence the housing options and opportunities in Centennial. The strategies are progressing on separate timelines, and updates will be posted here and shared with the housing newsletter as available.

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are small secondary residential structures located behind the primary house or within an existing house. Alternate names for ADUs include granny flats, mother-in-law apartments, alley houses, secondary dwellings or carriage houses. City Council is considering regulations that would allow property owners to construct ADUs with appropriate height, size restrictions, setbacks and other requirements to ensure ADUs will fit seamlessly into Centennial’s neighborhoods.

Ordinance No. 2024-O-03(PDF, 279KB) passed with a 9-0 vote by City Council on May 7, 2024.

Learn more about ADU regulations and view building guides.

An Incentive policy would add clarity about the types of funding available from the City and the desired project goals for developments that receive City funding. An initial draft was presented to City Council in March 2025 and will be further refined based on feedback received through the Request for Information process this summer.

A land banking program is a tool used by local governments to buy, acquire, and hold land for later development that meets City priorities. Land banks are often eligible for external funding sources that the City may not apply to directly. Council’s research in 2024 will seek to identify land that is available and suitable for land banking to better understand the budgetary impacts and potential outcomes of starting a land bank in Centennial.

Inclusionary zoning is a program that expands the locations and availability of affordable housing by establishing a requirement that new housing developments include a percentage of affordable housing as part of the project. On June 4, 2024, a majority of Council decided (5-4) to stop researching inclusionary zoning for the City of Centennial.

An expedited review process would accelerate the approval of housing projects in areas where zoning permits residential use. This would help reduce the project timeline and expenses, which impacts the time it takes to build, contributing to reduced housing costs for the consumer (sale and rent).

For more information about each strategy that has been researched, see the Community Housing Strategies Summary Report(PDF, 3MB).