“This is a very volatile commodity,” Bayens said.
The market perked up after the commissioners settled on the new house-size cap in November. “As soon as they made the changes recently, several TDRs traded hands,” Bayens said.
TDRs are a uniquely Pitkin County development tool. They are a key part of a program to limit residences in the backcountry and, to a lesser extent, coax conservation and preservation of historic structures and offset development foregone on constrained properties or portions of properties.
Pitkin County downzoned backcountry property on the back of Aspen Mountain and elsewhere in the mid-1990s to prevent the proliferation of mansions seen around Aspen, Snowmass Village and the mainstems of side valleys. The Rural and Remote Zoning that was created limited development on rural parcels that met certain criteria to 1,000-square-foot cabins. The county later created the transferable development rights program to ensure the Rural and Remote Zoning could survive legal challenges alleging a “taking” of property rights. TDRs are issued as an alternative to allowing a cabin. The number of TDRs issued depends on the size of the property.
Between 1997 and 2023, there have been 416 certificates issued for TDRs, according to Wolff. Of those, 297 have been used or extinguished.
“That leaves 119 TDRs available for use,” she told the county commissioners in a year-end update on Wednesday. Over the last decade, 66 TDR certificates have been issued and 129 have been extinguished, showing a bigger demand than supply.
About two-thirds of the 416 TDRs that have been issued have come from lands zoned Rural and Remote. Some landowners choose to build cabins rather than sell the development rights for big bucks. Since 1996, there have been 23 cabins built or approved for development. Fifteen have been constructed; one was expanded; three are under construction; and four are approved but unbuilt, according to the county report. The report indicated 18 of the 23 are on the backside of Aspen Mountain — in areas where there would probably otherwise be sprawling mansions.
Bayens expects more buyers to be seeking TDRs in 2024 as county regulations settle.
“I’m telling my clients if you want to sell a TDR, you can expect to pay $1 million,” he said.
Availability is hard to gauge. While the county’s tracking indicates there are 119 TDR certificates available, not all of them are floating around on the market. About 25 are presumed to be held for specific approved development, the county report said. Bayens said some holders of certificates, such as heirs of estates, might not realize the value of the piece of paper they possess.
“It’s such an esoteric commodity,” he said. “There may be some out there in the wilderness.”