A 74-acre patch of mostly underused land near Denver International Airport could be reborn as a full-fledged neighborhood, with close to 700 homes, new retail and community amenities, under a fresh rezoning proposal now in the works. The concept sketches in a public school site and roughly nine acres of parkland, building on development interest in the airport submarket that dates back to 2022. City planners and developers say the idea is to trade vacant dirt for housing and everyday services in one of the metro’s fastest-growing corners.
According to documents reviewed by the Denver Business Journal, the 74-acre site could host nearly 700 residences along with ground-floor and standalone retail, a designated school site and a central park of roughly nine acres. The outlet reports that the parcel has been under consideration for development since 2022 and that early maps already sketch out tentative blocks and open-space areas. Developers behind the proposal frame the mix as a way to put housing, groceries and other daily needs closer to airport and corridor workers.
Where the land sits
The property is in the airport submarket east of E-470, near the Tower Road and East 56th Avenue corridor, a stretch that has recently seen land swaps and major retail and distribution projects. BusinessDen has detailed nearby acreage trades and how developers have been piecing together large holdings south of DIA. Coverage of the Link 56 project has also tracked how the first homes and retail pads there are already under construction, quietly reshaping the metro’s northeastern edge.
What the rezoning would allow
The materials cited by the Denver Business Journal describe a mix of single-family, townhome and multifamily parcels that together approach about 700 units. Retail would be clustered along the main entry into the site, and a dedicated school parcel would sit within the new neighborhood fabric. The plan also reserves roughly nine acres for a central park meant to serve both future residents and workers in the surrounding job hubs. For now, it is all conceptual: rezoning would change what can be built and at what density, but it would not by itself authorize construction…