The function of the Lower Downtown Design Review Commission is to preserve, enhance, and perpetuate structures that have architectural, historical, geographic or cultural significance within the Lower Downtown Historic District.
Agenda items for consideration can include the following:
- Recommendations to City Council on the contributing (or historic) status of structures within the district
- Design review for new construction, alterations, signs and demolitions
- Adoption of design guidelines, policies and procedures related to historic preservation within the district
General Meeting Information
- Time and date: Lower Downtown Design Review Commission meetings are held the 1st Thursday of every month at 8:30 a.m.
- Location: Meetings are held in Room 4.F.6 of the Webb Municipal Building (201 West Colfax Ave) with virtual options via Zoom for applicants and members of the public.
- Virtual access: Members of the public may participate virtually via Zoom. Meeting links and call-in information is posted for every meeting.
See info for April 3rd Meeting
Language and ADA Assistance
Denver’s Department of Community Planning and Development (CPD) complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or gender to include language. It is your right to request oral or written language assistance services in your primary language, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations, if needed. Please visit our language services page to fill out our language services request form, and these services will be provided free of charge. If you have any questions, contact CPD’s Operations Team at cpdoperations@denvergov.org.
Language and ADA Services at CPD
Submission and Staff Review
Design review applications, and other applications for board consideration, are due 4 weeks prior to the first Thursday meeting. Once a project is submitted, Landmark Preservation staff works with the applicant to ensure that the project meets the design guidelines, the materials are complete and to write a staff report and create a presentation for LDDRC members that includes a recommendation of approval, approval with conditions, or denial for the project.
To make meeting length more manageable and create greater predictability for commission members and applicants, agendas are capped at a certain number of projects. Complete applications are added to the agendas on a first come first served basis.
Helpful Downloads
The Lower Downtown Design Review Commissions conducts design review for the Lower Downtown Historic District, using the following design guidelines.
Commission is made up of nine members who are appointed by the mayor, serve three-year terms and receive no compensation. Members must include the following:
- Real estate developer with experience in rehabilitation of commercial/residential projects similar in scale to buildings in the district
- Practicing architect
- Historic preservationist
- Preservation architect
- Resident of the district
- Property owner in the district
- Owner or operator of a business in the district
Andy Duckett-Emke - Vice-Chair
- Preservation Architect
- Term expires 5/1/2026
Andy Duckett-Emke is a licensed architect and associate at CSHQA. He has over twenty years of work experience after completing his Masters Degree in Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Technology, Helsinki. Andy served 2 terms on Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission and is currently serving on Denver’s Lower Downtown Design Review Commission. Andy’s professional work includes the rehabilitation of stone and cast iron lighthouse within the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, rehabilitation of the log and timber Many Glacier Hotel, the stone and brick Pitkin County Courthouse and the wood framed Elkhorn Tavern in the Pea Ridge National Military Park.
Fred Glick
- Property owner in the district
- Term expires 5/1/2025
Fred Glick is a commercial real estate developer working primarily on adaptive reuse projects in Denver’s urban core and is Vice-Chair of the Denver Planning Board. He is also an active community volunteer and currently serves on the boards of RedLine Contemporary Art Center, Denver Civic Ventures and Clayton United RNO. He also serves on the Downtown Denver Partnership’s Mobility Council and Urban Exploration Planning Committee. Fred chaired the board of the Academy of Urban Learning, a Denver charter school serving unhoused and at-risk students. He led the Learning Spaces Committee at Denver Shared Spaces, was a member of the Mile High Connects Advisory Council and helped establish the Aurora Welcome Center, serving immigrants and refugees.
A Denver native, Fred spent twenty years abroad in Swaziland, South Africa, India, Egypt and the United Kingdom. He holds a BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a masters from the University of Colorado Denver’s Urban and Regional Planning program.
James Graebner
- Resident of the district
- Term expires 5/1/2025
Jim Graebner was born in western Pennsylvania in a town without a stop light. He received his undergraduate degree from Valparaiso University and a graduate degree from Case Western Reserve University. He first came to Denver when he was assigned to manage the study which led to the city buying the Denver Tramway. He became RTD’s fourth employee and spent 4 1/2 years there before becoming the general manager of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. This was followed by 8 years as CEO of the San Jose Transit system, quintupling ridership and building the light rail line. A three-year stint in Canada gave him the courage to return to Denver where he started his own consulting firm, which has kept him busy for the past nearly 35 years. He moved to LoDo in 1994 and has watched it change and grow into a model for the mixed-use urban community that it has become.
Craig Lawrence
- Business Owner in the district
- Term expires 5/1/2026
As Principal and Partner at Rowland+Broughton Architecture / Urban Design / Interior Design Craig has a wide range of experience in new construction, renovation, and preservation projects along the Front Range, the Rocky Mountain region, and beyond. Craig and R+B are dedicated to the success and health of LoDo and its diverse and inspiring community and have maintained a thriving design studio on Blake Street for over a decade.
Heather Vasquez Johnson - Chair
- Practicing Architect
- Term ends 5/1/2025
Nick Allen
- Real Estate Developer
- Term Expires 5/1/2027
Nick Allen is a commercial real estate development project manager and a licensed architect in Colorado. In his 14 years as a built-environment professional, he has designed and managed a variety of projects, including commercial office, multi-family, healthcare, and higher education.
Nick is a born and raised in Colorado and has lived and worked in Denver since 2010. He obtained his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kansas, and later a Master’s of Real Estate and the Built Environment from the University of Denver. Outside of the office, he is actively involved in the mentorship of students and young professionals and is passionate about enjoying all the entertainment and recreational opportunities that Colorado has to offer.
MiMi Jones
- Historic Preservationist
- Term expires 5/1/2028
Madison Wilson
- At-Large
- Term expires 5/1/2028