The city would invest up to $70 million toward land acquisition and improvements connected to Denver’s professional women’s soccer stadium under a proposal Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration unveiled Wednesday.
In March, Johnston and the National Women’s Soccer League team ownership group announced plans for the 14,500-seat stadium at the Santa Fe Yards on about 14 acres in Denver’s Baker neighborhood. But several City Council members, whose approval is needed for the purchase and rezoning of the land, have said they need details on the cost before they will commit to supporting the project.
“We’re being asked to invest $70 million in a time of economic hardship,” council President Amanda Sandoval said during an afternoon committee meeting where the mayor’s staff and the team’s owner presented the proposal.
Sandoval and other council members scrutinized the plan during the meeting of the South Platte River Committee. While several said they supported the idea for the stadium, they questioned the fairness of the planned financial strategy and voiced concerns over global economic uncertainty.
“I don’t believe this stadium will ever be built,” Councilwoman Sarah Parady said. “I wish that I did.”
Some on the committee said they were grateful that they weren’t expected to vote on forwarding the deal to the full council right away — as was originally intended — because of how recently the mayor’s office provided the details.
Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez, who represents the area where the stadium would be built, called the committee’s questions “a little bit disturbing.”
“This, to me, is a small investment in an area that has historic redlining, that has a lack of public spaces,” she said. “I’m pretty appalled that when it comes to investing in this area, all of a sudden it’s too much.”
The city’s dollars would go toward purchasing the land near Broadway and Interstate 25, necessary infrastructure updates, and improvements to bike and pedestrian access and parkland amenities around the site. The stadium site is west of the I-25/Broadway light-rail station. The city already owns a portion of the land — an undeveloped park called Vanderbilt Park East.
The city proposes to pay for the bulk of its investments in the project through its Capital Improvement Program “by capitalizing on our positive interest performance from (the) Elevate Bond,” according to the presentation. Voters approved that 10-year, $937 million general obligation bond program in 2017 to support city and community projects.
The money has generated tens of millions of dollars in interest income — though that money would not be tapped directly for the stadium, instead being used to free up capital improvement dollars by shifting other projects to Elevate interest funding.
The city will be able to spend up to $50 million for the on-site development and up to $20 million for off-site improvements if the council approves the proposal, according to the presentation. On the site, city investments would include things that make it possible to build there, like drainage work and utilities. Work elsewhere would include sidewalks, a pedestrian bridge and other public infrastructure.
The soccer team, which hasn’t been named yet, has agreed to build the stadium, expected to open in 2028. On Wednesday, club owner Rob Cohen told the committee that he expects the stadium to cost $150 million to $200 million.
Property records indicate the total value of the land, where the former Gates Rubber Co. once sat, is about $24 million. But sale prices often fluctuate beyond valuations.
According to the presentation to the committee, “at least” $50 million would be tapped from the city’s capital improvement fund. That money would be freed up by shifting funding for several projects like the 16th Street Mall renovation — which was paid for both from the Elevate Denver Bond program and other sources — to draw from Elevate’s interest account.
Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer criticized that approach.
“There are Elevate Denver bond projects that were reduced in scope because of the economic uncertainty in 2021 and 2022. To say now we have $50 million in interest that we can put towards something else … is not fair to (voters),” she said.
Half of the remaining $20 million will come from future interest the bond program is expected to earn and the other half will come from the capital budget over the next three years, said Laura Swartz with the city’s finance department.
In response to council members’ questions about economic uncertainty, Cohen said the investor group is “very committed” to building the stadium.
“I can unequivocally tell you: We won’t abandon this project,” he said.
Jeff Dolan, the city’s chief strategy officer, also defended the project as a necessary step in developing the land there.
“I would say there’s a huge risk for the city — if we don’t move forward with this particular project, with the private investment that has been committed, that this land will sit vacant for another several decades,” Dolan said.
The larger Gates redevelopment site, which covers more than 40 acres on both sides of the tracks, already had tax-increment financing approved to support public investment aiding redevelopment there. The TIF fund was set up to collect potentially tens of millions of dollars from the growth in property and sales taxes that’s attributable to development of the land in coming years.
Wednesday’s stadium presentation says city officials plan to work with the Denver Urban Renewal Authority “to explore whether there may be TIF (money) available after the existing and future infrastructure reimbursement obligations are repaid to cover some of the remaining $20 million in costs” for the stadium investments.
The committee is set to vote on whether to forward the plan to the full council in two weeks.
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