Require Community Review Before the 3800 Xanthia Redevelopment Moves Forward

*UPDATE — New City records clarify the timeline*

Since this petition began, see below original post,  we have reviewed Denver Development Services records for the proposed 573-unit redevelopment of the former RK Mechanical property at 3800 N. Xanthia.

Those records show that the redevelopment entered Denver’s formal review process on June 2, 2022, when the Project Master and Concept Plan were opened. The developer submitted the Formal Site Development Plan on March 1, 2024.

Based on the CPUN records and community materials we have identified to date, meaningful neighborhood engagement did not begin until April 2024 — nearly two years after the project entered City review and after the formal Site Development Plan had already been submitted.

Denver subsequently approved the Site Development Plan on April 3, 2025, and it was recorded on April 14, 2025.

Importantly, however, the project is not finished with the City review process. As of September 2026, City records show:

·      A new Site Development Plan amendment is pending and currently requires resubmittal.

·      The project’s zoning permit is still In Progress.

·      The main building review is still In Progress.

·      The main commercial construction permit is still In Progress.

·      An excavation-only construction permit is also still In Progress.

Before the remaining City approvals are finalized, we are asking for the following:

1. A District 8 community meeting with Councilmember Shontel Lewis’s office, Denver Community Planning and Development, the developer, CPUN, and affected residents.

2. A complete explanation of the project’s community-engagement history, including what outreach occurred between June 2022 and April 2024, who was notified, when residents were first informed, and what opportunities for input were provided before the formal Site Development Plan was submitted.

3. A full accounting of CPUN’s community engagement, including how many residents were notified, how many residents participated in the survey, what neighborhoods or geographic areas respondents represented, what feedback was collected, what feedback or recommendations were sent to the developer, what response the developer provided, and which community requests, if any, were incorporated into the project.

4.  A public briefing on the approvals that are still pending, including the 2026 Site Development Plan amendment, zoning permit, building review, commercial construction permits, excavation permits, and any other approvals that must occur before full construction can proceed.

5. Meaningful time for residents to review and comment on the current proposal before remaining approvals are finalized, where legally permissible. This should include concerns related to traffic, neighborhood access, parking, buffering, privacy, lighting, noise, construction impacts, stormwater, utilities, and other infrastructure.

6. A direct response from the developer to community concerns, including which concerns can still be addressed, which changes the developer is willing to make, which requests it is declining, and the reasons for those decisions.

7. Transparency regarding any material changes to the project since the original 2025 approval, including the pending 2026 Site Development Plan amendment and any changes to building count, parking, site layout, or other significant design elements.

8. A commitment that future material changes or discretionary approvals include meaningful District 8 community engagement, rather than residents learning about major decisions only after the project has substantially advanced through City review.

 

Original Post: 

The former RK Mechanical property at 3800 N. Xanthia Street in Central Park is being proposed for a major redevelopment by Grand Peaks. Publicly available plans describe a four-story multifamily development of approximately 500–573 market-rate apartments.

For a project of this size, many of us who live immediately around the property expected there would be an opportunity to learn about the proposal, understand its effects on our neighborhood, and provide meaningful input while the design was still being developed.

Instead, many nearby residents are only now learning how far the project has progressed.

I live near the property and recently began trying to understand the history of the project. What I have learned raises important questions about when the community was informed and what opportunities residents had to participate.

At the May 19, 2026 CPUN annual meeting, detailed plans and architectural renderings for the development were presented. The project was identified as approximately 500 market-rate apartments, and attendees were told that the project was anticipated to begin in Q3 2026.

Yet many residents living immediately around the property appear to have had little or no awareness that the project had reached this stage.

This is about responsible redevelopment, not preventing redevelopment.

We understand that 3800 Xanthia will not remain the former RK Mechanical site forever. We also understand Denver needs housing and that the property's existing zoning permits substantial redevelopment.

But how a large development meets an existing neighborhood matters.

For residents closest to the property, important issues include building height and massing, setbacks, privacy and overlooking, landscaping and buffering, traffic and parking, pedestrian safety, exterior lighting, amenity noise, mechanical equipment, refuse and loading areas, stormwater, and construction impacts.

There may be reasonable ways to address these concerns while still allowing substantial redevelopment—for example, greater setbacks and landscaping along the residential edge, upper-story stepbacks, lower-scale buildings where the project directly faces existing homes, and concentrating greater height and density toward less-sensitive portions of the site.

Those conversations are most useful before every meaningful design decision has been finalized.

We are asking to be part of that conversation.

Residents should not first learn the true scale and design of a project affecting their neighborhood after the meaningful opportunities to influence it have passed.

We are asking our elected officials, neighborhood organizations, the City of Denver, and Grand Peaks to ensure that doesn't happen at 3800 Xanthia.

Please sign this petition if you support meaningful community review and neighborhood participation in the redevelopment of 3800 Xanthia