Service area Adams County
Commerce City home remodeling, from the Core City to the Northern Range
Commerce City sits beside the Rocky Mountain Arsenal refuge, with its original neighborhoods south of East 96th Avenue and newer subdivisions to the north. Which side you're on shapes most remodeling decisions.
Commerce City within the Front Range service area
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Overview
Remodeling Commerce City homes
Remodeling For Less offers Commerce City home remodeling on both sides of East 96th Avenue, with kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, basement finishing, open floor plans and whole-home refreshes. It's for owners who want to know what their house needs, and what the city will ask for, before committing to a scope.
The city's 2015 Historic Preservation Plan ties its housing to three growth spikes: before 1940, from 1940 to 1960, and the early 21st century. The population more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, from 20,991 to 45,913, mostly in the Northern Range. Permits for all of it come from the Building Safety Division.
Areas and neighborhoods in Commerce City
- Adams Heights
- Tichy
- Derby
- Belle Creek
- Reunion
The housing
Three growth spikes and the houses they left
Commerce Town incorporated in 1952 to head off annexation by Denver and became Commerce City in 1962 after annexing Derby. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal, founded in 1942 on 17,000 acres of farmland, is now a national wildlife refuge whose only entrance is in the city.
Farmhouses from the agricultural years
The city's oldest homes reflect its farming past. The preservation plan describes them as modest in size, on large lots, with gables, porches and columns. Echo Vale on Holly Street, built in 1892 as part of a dairy farm, is the oldest residence in the city. Houses like these have usually been added onto and patched by several owners, so remodeling them means sorting out what's original, what was added later and what the foundation, wiring and plumbing can support.
Postwar houses in the Core City
Housing followed the Arsenal's arrival. The Adams Heights subdivision was established in 1946, and the plan names it and the Tichy neighborhood as examples of the era. The city describes mid-century homes as usually single-story, set farther back from the street for the car, and built to meet postwar demand for mass-produced housing. Houses of this type often have closed kitchens and few baths, so opening walls, adding a bath and replacing aging systems are the most common projects here.
Northern Range subdivisions
Before 2000 the Northern Range, north of East 96th Avenue, was mostly dry-land agriculture. Eagle Creek, near 96th and Highway 2, was the first northern subdivision, followed by River Run, Belle Creek, Reunion and Fronterra. The city describes these homes as a mix of one- and two-story houses set close to the street and to one another. Narrow side yards make material staging and exterior work harder, while the interiors mostly need finishing and upgrading rather than any structural change.
Local factors
What Commerce City asks for before you build
When a basement needs a plan submission
Commerce City's Typical Basement Finish Details say a basement finish that includes a kitchen, wet bar or bedroom requires a plan submission and city approval, and so does cutting an opening in an existing basement wall. The document must be on the job site at each inspection, and any deviation from its details needs staff approval before construction. It sets a minimum basement ceiling height of 7 feet, with beams and ducts allowed to project down to 6 feet 4 inches.
Floating partitions and shower walls
The same document says new partitions on basement slabs in areas prone to heaving from expansive soils should be built to accommodate vertical movement. If you don't know whether your slab moves, the city strongly recommends floating partitions anyway. The gap is hidden behind baseboard or crown molding. Floating connections at the top are required for partitions around shower compartments, so a basement bathroom needs that detail in the plan from the start rather than improvised later.
Metro districts and design review
The city explains that a metro district is a special district with taxing power, used to fund infrastructure for new subdivisions, while an HOA is a private entity that enforces restrictive agreements and has no taxing power. The city website has a lookup to check whether you live in one. In Reunion, the community declaration requires Architectural Committee approval before any improvement to property, which it defines broadly to include any change in a building's exterior appearance. Get that approval before applying for a permit.
If this, then that
Where a Commerce City project usually begins
| If | Then |
|---|---|
| If your house is a postwar single-story in the Core City | Then look at an open floor plan or a kitchen reconfiguration, with any bearing wall evaluated before demolition. |
| If you're adding a wet bar or bedroom in the basement | Then expect a plan submission and city approval, with egress designed in from the beginning. |
| If your Northern Range house has tired builder finishes | Then a whole-home refresh or a kitchen refresh likely covers it without moving walls. |
Services in Commerce City
Commerce City homes and three of the five services
A 1946 house in Adams Heights and a 2020s house in Reunion don't need the same things.
Open floor plans
In the single-story postwar houses of the Core City, where kitchens were built as separate rooms, open floor plans are often the most useful change. The wall in question may carry ceiling or roof load, which calls for an engineered beam and a permit from Building Safety. Newer Northern Range houses usually have open main floors already, so this is mostly a Core City project.
Basement finishing
The city's typical details set the baseline for finishing a basement here: insulated exterior walls, interconnected smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, a switched light for the stairs, and floating partitions where the slab may move. Add a bedroom, kitchen or wet bar and you'll need a plan submission. Measure headroom under the main duct before laying out any rooms or soffits.
Bathroom remodeling
For a basement bathroom remodel, the city's details call for an exhaust fan vented outdoors unless the room has a window with enough opening area, plus floating top connections on partitions around the shower. Upstairs, older Core City houses may need a second bath carved from an existing closet or bedroom corner, with new drain and vent lines run to it.
Planning checklist
Before you remodel in Commerce City
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Questions
Remodeling questions from Commerce City homeowners
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It depends on what goes in. The city's Typical Basement Finish Details say finishes that include a kitchen, wet bar or bedroom require a plan submission and approval, as does cutting openings in existing basement walls. Work must follow the published details unless city staff approve a change before construction.
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The city says a metro district is a special district with the power to tax, paying for new-subdivision infrastructure through a mill levy on your property tax bill. An HOA is a private entity without taxing power that enforces restrictive agreements and maintains common areas. Exterior changes usually go through the HOA, as they do with Reunion's Architectural Committee.
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Applications go through eTRAKiT: a gateway review for completeness, plan review by the Building Safety Division, Planning and Public Works, and a pre-issuance review of fees and contractor licensing. The city notes some small residential projects are exempt, but exempt work still has to meet code.
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The 2015 Historic Preservation Plan identifies important eras and properties, including Echo Vale and the Adams Heights and Tichy neighborhoods, but says whether any warrant historic preservation status will be decided in a later phase. It also notes mid-century neighborhoods are only now becoming eligible for designation at the national level.
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They come from the 21st-century growth wave, and the city describes those homes as one- and two-story houses set close to the street and to one another. That affects logistics more than design: narrow side yards limit access for materials, and exterior work may need neighbor coordination. Inside, they usually need updates, not structural change.
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The bottom line
The bottom line
Commerce City's houses fall on either side of a clear line. South of East 96th Avenue, farmhouses and postwar single-story homes often need layout and system updates. North of it, newer houses mostly need finishing. Check metro district and design review rules, read the city's basement details, then pick a refresh, a reconfiguration or a full remodel. Call [Phone] to talk through your Commerce City project.
Talk through your Commerce City project
Start with the room and what isn't working. The scope follows from there.
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