About Landmark Preservation

Landmark Preservation is a vital and integrated component of Community Planning and Development. Denver’s landmarks and historic districts enhance the city’s unique identity, quality of life and economic vitality. Denver’s City Council first enacted the Denver Landmark ordinance in 1967 to help preserve, enhance and encourage the use of structures and areas of the city with historical, architectural, cultural, and/or geographical significance.

About Landmark Preservation

Denver Landmark Preservation was established by City Council in 1967, who stated: “It is the sense of the council that the economic, cultural and aesthetic standing of this city cannot be maintained or enhanced by disregarding the historical, architectural and geographic heritage of the city and by ignoring the destruction or defacement of such cultural assets.”
Denver Landmark Preservation has two different work groups: the Planning and Regulatory team and the Design Review team.
- The Planning and Regulatory team guides customers through the individual landmark and historic district designation process. They also undertake the Denver in Context program and serve as subject-matter experts for neighborhood and area plans. In addition, they review Colorado historic preservation tax credit applications, perform Section 106 reviews, and review State Register and National Register nominations.
- The Design Review team assists customers who propose alterations to individual landmarks and properties in historic districts. They guide customers through the design review process, as well as the permitting process, and assist inspectors with enforcement efforts. In addition, they review all demolition applications in Denver.
The Landmark team supports two commissions: the Landmark Preservation Commission, and the Lower Downtown Design Review Commission.
Landmark Preservation is in the Planning & Policy Division of Community Planning and Development, but we work closely with our colleagues in Development Services plan review and inspections, as well as the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) and Denver Parks and Recreation (DPR).

Fast Facts

There are 60 historic districts in Denver.
There are 371 individual landmarks in Denver.
About 4.5% of primary structures in Denver are in a historic district or an individual landmark, which is comparable to other cities of similar size.
Landmark Preservation was established by Denver’s City Council in 1967.
The Landmark Preservation ordinance is found in Chapter 30 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code.
Denver’s historic districts have twice as much housing density as the rest of the city! As of 2023, Denver’s historic districts had 9.8 housing units per acre. The rest of the city, not including airport land, had 4.6 housing units per acre.
In 2025, Landmark Preservation reviewed over 1800 design review applications, 414 demolition review applications, and 36 tax credit applications, which amounted to almost $550,000 in tax credits to owners of non-income producing properties.

Year in Review

At the beginning of each year, Landmark Preservation staff updates the Landmark Preservation Commission and Lower Downtown Design Review Commission about the previous year’s designations, design review and demolition review workload, tax credit certifications, planning and regulatory projects and community engagement. The year in review for the previous five years is linked below.

Quarterly Newsletter

Landmark Preservation's quarterly newsletter covers local designation news, current initiatives and ways to participate, as well as educational opportunities and resources for landmark property owners in Denver.

Webinar Series

Landmark Preservation recorded a webinar series about common topics related to our work.

View the webinar series