DRCOG assessment: Lakewood needs 8,640 new housing units by 2032, majority for very‑low‑income renters

City staff presented the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) regional housing needs assessment at the July 28 Lakewood City Council meeting, telling councilors that Lakewood’s portion of the region’s unmet housing need is an estimated 8,640 units to be identified by 2032 and that the greatest need in the city is for deeply affordable rental homes for households earning 0–50% of area median income (AMI).

Chris Connor, Lakewood’s Housing and Thriving Communities manager, delivered the presentation required by the state’s sustainable affordable housing assistance law. Connor said DRCOG’s regional assessment finds roughly 511,000 units are needed across the nine‑county region through 2050, with 44% of those units needed by 2032. “The most significant housing need in Lakewood is for deeply affordable rental housing at very low income 0 to 50% AMI,” Connor said during the presentation.

Connor summarized the numbers for Lakewood: DRCOG estimated 70,600 housing units existed in Lakewood at the time of its July 2024 analysis, and the city’s share of the near‑term need is about 8,640 additional units by 2032. He said that, of units the region needs before 2032, approximately 60% should serve households at 0–50% AMI — a level the presentation characterized as “very low income” and equating in cost‑of‑living terms to roughly $49,000 a year for a single‑person household and $70,000 for a family of four in the DRCOG analysis.

Connor and councilors also discussed the practical implications of the numbers. Councilor [first name provided in transcript] asked whether the 8,640 total meant roughly 1,200 new units per year in Lakewood to meet the goal; Connor said that, when combined with preservation of existing affordable units, meeting the target would require a much larger pace of building than recent permit totals show. The presentation noted that Lakewood issued around 185 single‑family building permits in 2024 and 153 in 2023, figures far short of the pace implied by the assessment.

Council members stressed the regional nature of the shortage and asked how the DRCOG figures align with state housing goals and local programs. Connor said local jurisdictions may submit comments on the regional assessment; the DRCOG analysis will be used to meet compliance with DOLA (Department of Local Affairs) methodological requirements and does not preclude local governments from pursuing additional or more granular needs assessments.

Ending: The council held the housing needs assessment as a public hearing item and did not take a vote; staff will submit comments to DRCOG and said the assessment will inform local planning, preservation and affordable‑housing strategies going forward.