Wheat Ridge to legalize Airbnb investment properties

[James Carlson]

Wheat Ridge is joining the small list of Denver area cities that allows Airbnb investment properties. And to me, it's the most interesting city yet.

I wrote about Arvada and Littleton legalizing short-term rentals in non-owner occupied homes in 2020. But Wheat Ridge is intriguing because it so close to Denver. Specifically, there are Wheat Ridge homes within a 5-minute drive of Tennyson Street in the Berkeley neighborhood, and 32nd Street in Highlands, some of the best performing STR markets in the metro area. Not a bad place to buy a home and rent it full-time on Airbnb.

A few highlights of the proposed law:

• Only one whole-house Airbnb investment property per owner. 
• No limit on the number of nights you can rent per year.
• There will be a cap on the number of investment STRs per council districts to 2% of the total housing stock in that district.
• Registration for licenses will go live May 1. 

A glutton for boring ordinance research? Read the actual ordinance here. Thoughts out there?

[David Williams]

Great news! Thanks for sharing @James Carlson. Wheat ridge will be a great location on the west side of town for STRs. I love the light rail aspect in both Arvada and Littleton, but as you mentioned Wheat Ridge neighbors the Highlands, Berkeley and Edgewater, not to mention its own commercial district on 38th. @William Beck there are plenty of non regulated homes without HOA in desirable areas of Wheat Ridge.