Boulder Medical Center proposes 223 apartments across three sites
The concept would replace the 2750 Broadway clinic and parking with 160 apartments and add 63 units on two nearby Balsam Avenue parcels; rezoning and height changes are still needed.
Boulder Medical Center presented a concept for 223 apartments across its 2750 Broadway clinic property and two nearby Balsam Avenue parcels at a Sept. 29 Planning Board meeting, where the board reviewed the proposal.
The plan would replace the clinic building and surface parking at 2750 Broadway with a 160-unit, four-story building reaching 55 feet. It also proposes 30 apartments in a 39-foot building at 1233 Balsam Avenue and 33 apartments in a 49-foot building at 1310 Balsam Avenue.
The concept review was advisory, not a decision. Board members gave feedback but did not approve, deny or recommend the plan; the city’s notice for case LUR2026-00007 says concept review does not approve or deny a proposal. Members raised questions about the Broadway building’s scale and massing, open-space design and access, parking, and site circulation.
The applicant is seeking to change the Broadway property’s zoning from BT2 to BC2, add it to the city’s Appendix N special-use area and obtain height modifications above the city’s 35-foot limit. City staff told the board that Appendix N inclusion could allow a floor-area ratio of up to 2.0, or building floor area equal to twice the site’s area. Staff also said residential use on the ground floor would require a use review.
Flooding is a design constraint at the Broadway property, which staff said lies in both the 100-year and 500-year floodplains. Staff described city requirements for new multifamily housing to be elevated two feet above the highest base flood elevation across the building footprint. Parking in the flood zone must be above grade and no more than 18 inches below that elevation. The applicant argued those requirements make it impractical to modernize the existing clinic on the site.
Boulder Medical Center CEO Donna Bayston told the board the clinic is nearing the end of its useful life, is at capacity and needs modernization. She said the organization wants to use equity from the property to invest in modern facilities in central Boulder while remaining an independent, physician-owned medical group. Bayston did not identify a replacement location or timeline.
The city notice describes a detailed Site Review proposal as the next step after concept feedback.