Cory M. Rutz

Overview

Cory Rutz represents property owners and developers in the acquisition and entitlement of commercial, residential and industrial projects. Cory’s practice includes assisting clients with local government approval of annexations, subdivisions, rezonings and development agreements. Her recent work includes advising clients on incorporating various types of short-term rental uses into their properties. With joint degrees in law and urban planning, Cory is also a certified member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). She fundamentally understands the real-world challenges and implications of her clients’ work, and she focuses on offering pragmatic solutions aimed at accomplishing their individual goals.

In addition to her land use practice, Cory works with clients on purchase and sale agreements, common interest community plans, construction contracts, public-private partnerships and related financing matters. Her transactional work includes representing private landowners, real estate developers and corporate clients across the Front Range.

Cory chairs the firm’s Land Use and Real Estate Development Practice Group. She teaches Planning Law and Institutions at the University of Colorado Denver School of Architecture and Planning, and serves on the board of directors for Urban Peak, a nonprofit that enables youth experiencing homelessness to access essential services—housing, healthcare, education, and job training—that lay the groundwork for lasting independence. Cory is a frequent writer and speaker at regional and national land use law conferences, is the immediate past chair of the Planning and Law Division of the American Planning Association (APA), and also serves on the APA’s Amicus Committee. Before starting law school, Cory worked as a resin engineer for a global supplier of paints, coatings and other chemicals.

I serve on the board of, and also personally support, Urban Peak (opens in a new tab) because I believe that all youth deserve safe, secure environments as they learn and grow into adulthood.

Speaking & Publications

• Presenter, Zoning Map Adjustments, CLE International Land Use Law: How-To (December 2025)
• Presenter and Moderator, Real Estate Law for Planners, APA National Planning Conference, Minneapolis, MN (April 2024)
• Presenter, Mistakes Were Made… and Lessons Learned, Rocky Mountain Land Institute Annual Conference, Denver, CO (March 2024)
• Presenter, Rezoning (Map Amendments), CLE International Land Use Law: How-To (December 2023)
• Presenter, How Communities are Addressing the Impacts of Short-Term Rentals, CLE International Land Use Law: How-To (Advanced Tools & Issues in Theory & in Practice), (December 2022)
• Co-Presenter, The End of Single-Family Zoning?, APA Colorado Conference, Virtual (October 2020)
• Author, The Value of Virtual Public Meetings for Land Use Matters: Now and Post-COVID-19, Denver Business Journal (September 2020)
• Co-Presenter, Navigating Virtual Public Meetings, Webinar (August 2020)
• Moderator, Role of Government in Real Estate Finance, Rocky Mountain Land Institute Annual Conference, Denver, CO (March 2020)
• Presenter, Transferrable Development Rights, CLE International Land Use Law: How-To (Advanced), Denver, CO (December 2019)
• Co-Presenter, Short-term Rentals: Trials and Tribulations, CBA-CLE Fall Real Estate Update, Denver, CO (October 2019)
• Presenter, Short-term Rentals: The Big Five, Denver Business Series Legal Café, Denver, CO (September 2019)
• Guest Lecturer, University of Colorado Denver Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program, Denver, CO (September 2019)
• Co-Presenter, Why Home Rule Matters (Or Doesn’t), APA Colorado Conference, Snowmass Village, CO (September 2019)
• Co-Presenter, Everything Old is New Again: Evolving Approaches to Nonconformities, APA Western Planner Conference, Santa Fe, NM (September 2019)
• Co-Presenter, Fundamentals of Real Estate Law Workshop: Property Law Basics, Rocky Mountain Land Institute Annual Conference, Denver, CO (March 2018)
• Speaker. ABA Real Property Trust & Estate Law Spring Symposia, The Short-Term Rental Conundrum: Entrepreneurial Spirit vs. Local Regulation (April 2017)
• Author, Denver’s Dedicated Affordable Housing Fund: Taxes and Fees Take Effect January 1, Otten Johnson Alert (December 2016)
• Co-Presenter with Brian Connolly, Ex Parte Communications, Ethics: Best Practices in a Changing Field, Denver, CO (December 2016)
• Co-Presenter with Tom Macdonald, Ethical Issues in the Land Use Process, CLE International Land Use Law: How-To, Denver, CO (November 2016)
• Author, Denver’s Much-Anticipated Short-Term Rental Regulations Take Effect July 1st, Otten Johnson Alert (June 2016)
• Author, Tiny Houses: Problems Bigger than Where to Put Your Stuff, Otten Johnson Alert (November 2015)
• Co-author, Mobile Home Parks: Time to Scrap Outdated Rules, Policies and Ads, Colorado Real Estate Journal (July 1, 2015)
• Co-author, ILSA Requirements for Condos Facing Change, Law Week Colorado (October 13, 2014)
• Author, Good News for LLC Members and Managers; Bad News for Lenders and Other Creditors, Otten Johnson Alert (July 2013)
• ​Co-author, Does the Upper Basin have a Delivery Obligation or an Obligation Not to Deplete the Flow of the Colorado River at Lee Ferry, Colorado River Governance Initiative (April 2012)

Awards & Involvement

• Best Lawyers in America: Real Estate Law (2026-2027)
• Legal 500 – United States – Denver Elite: Real Estate (2026)
• Chambers USA, Land Use Law – Colorado (2026)
• American Planning Association, Planning and Law Division, Chair (2022 to present); Chair-Elect (2020 to 2022); Secretary-Treasurer (2018 to 2020)
• Adjunct Professor, University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture & Planning, Planning Law & Institutions (Fall 2023 – Present)
• Adjunct Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Land Use Law (Fall 2020)
• Urban Peak: Board Member (2018 to present)
• Downtown Denver Partnership Leadership Program (2017)
• Booklovers Ball, Corporate Committee (2017)

Jurisdiction

• State of Colorado
• Colorado Bar Association

Education

• J.D., University of Colorado Law School (2014)
• M.U.R.P., University of Colorado Denver (2014)
• B.S., Chemical Engineering, Tulane University (2008)

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