Next phase of Uplands development to include 180 homes

WESTMINSTER — Conceptual plans for the next phase of developer Dream Finders Homes Inc.’s (NYSE: DFH) Upland’s mega-community in Westminster include 180 homes at the northwest corner of West 84th Avenue and Federal Boulevard.

The units would be built on 18.62 acres and divided between “112 two to three-story, single-family detached homes and 68 two-story, single-family attached homes,” according to a city planning memo. “The proposal also includes a 4.2-acre publicly accessible park.”

Westminster City Council reviewed concept plans for the latest phase this week. Meanwhile, there are “six other neighborhoods that are going into process” in the Uplands community, project representative Marcus Pachner told city officials. 

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The broader Uplands community is expected to eventually include “234 acres of medium-density neighborhoods … connected by an abundance of paths, parks, and public spaces,” according to Dream Finders’ website. 

The developer said it plans to build an average of about 10 units per acre, meaning that the completed development could have roughly 2,300 new homes. Those homes would be made up of single-family “homes, cottages, duplexes, townhomes and multifamily units,” the website said. 

Dream Finder intends, the project website said, to include more than 300 permanently affordable homes set aside for residents earning 30% to 80% of the area median income and another 150 for-sale, workforce-housing cottages.

Dream Finder has communities along the East Coast and in Texas and Colorado, including in Broomfield’s Baseline mega-development. 

For the latest phase at West 84th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, Dream Finders is requesting exceptions from city code related to reductions in setbacks, lot depth, off streeting parking and landscaping. Dream Finders is committed to alternatives that work better for the space while “still meeting the spirit and intent” of city code, Uplands representative Bonnie Niziolek said.

Westminster City Council members raised several concerns relating to creeping density as a result of exceptions, difficulty following where in the overall process of Uplands development the builder is at any given point, noise from parks and the alignment of decks on neighboring homes. Officials did not appear overwhelmingly concerned by any of these issues. 

“I live in a townhome myself, and I think it’s a needed product type within our city,” Councilwoman Lindsey Emmons said. “… I don’t see any problem with this.”