City council was also supposed to vote on a project to expand the National Western Center campus near the Globeville, Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods in north Denver. The proposal would see $812 million in tourism tax dollars sent to the National Western Center from the City of Denver over the next 35 years at a rate of around $23.3 million annually to help add an equestrian center, workforce housing and hotel to the campus.
Though council still held a public hearing on the Western Center investment, councilmembers Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez and Sarah Parady requested the vote be postponed by one week for more time to consider the deal, particularly the elements related to community input and benefits.
Before the meeting, the Globeville, Elyria and Swansea Community Investment Fund GES CIF called for revenue sharing between GES CIF, which funds community-led projects in the area, and the National Western Center Authority. Though the National Western Center has insisted that the plan is based in community, those who represent the fund believe revenue sharing is needed to make that statement true.
"This is a bad deal and has been misrepresented multiple ways, mostly by the authority," said Denver resident and activist Harmony Cummings, who said she had worked with the mayor's office to try to improve the project over the last few months. "There's no real, meaningful collaboration or equitable partnership."
The GES CIF receives funding from “round up” dollars on the National Western Campus, where visitors who purchase concession items can round up their total; that has raised just $176,000 to date. The group argues that more funding is needed to truly make a difference for the community, asking for $16 million in dedicated funds (representing 1 percent of the total public money that would be spent between this appropriation and the last city investment in the campus).
Brad Buchanan, CEO of the National Western Center Authority, said the improvements would unlock more funding for the GES CIF. While some community members testified that they're still not happy with the plan, others spoke in support of the funding during the May 12 meeting.
The proposal will be back in front of city council on Monday, May 19.
City Council Approves Up to $70 Million for Soccer Stadium
One major item that didn't get postponed was a vote on an agreement for the new Denver National Women's Soccer League team's future stadium in central Denver.While the city hasn’t officially appropriated any funds yet, councilmembers approved an agreement with the Broadway Station Metropolitan District to pave the way for Denver to chip in up to $70 million toward buying land and making infrastructure improvements for a new soccer stadium at the Santa Fe Yards on the home of the former Gates Rubber factory.
Denver's future NWSL team has committed $100 million to building a stadium, but needed some help to get the job done. The agreement, which passed 11-1 on May 12, stipulates that the city will pay up to $50 million to buy the land and around $20 million for new roads and improvements to pedestrian, bike and park infrastructure. Street parking, traffic lights, storm drainage, water and sewer lines, and fire and security systems are also anticipated uses of city funds.
According to the agreement, the city will have a permanent investment stake by owning the land even if the team eventually folds or moves elsewhere. If the agreement passes, the city will give Broadway Station Metropolitan District No. 1 the funds to buy the land. The metro district offers tax-increment funding on the development, so as the property value grows, the difference between the land’s current value and the growth will be used to fund improvements and redevelopment in the area. Under the agreement for the 2016 Broadway Station development, both property and sales tax would be part of the tax-increment funding; that agreement currently lasts until 2042 and will need to be amended to incorporate the new plan for a soccer stadium.
To find the money, the Denver Department of Finance proposes first using interest gained from the 2017 voter-approved Elevate Bonds to finish eleven projects around the city that were part of previous bond packages, which are currently funded by the Denver Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget. The CIP funds previously allocated for those projects would then be made available for the stadium project.
City council will officially appropriate the funding contemplated later this year, likely sometime in November, when the property will come before council to be rezoned. Many councilmembers said they aren’t guaranteed to be ‘yes’ votes in the future on items like zoning or amendments to the tax-increment funding plan, but only Parady voted no on May 12.
According to Parady, Denver only spends about $300 million on capital improvement projects every six years. The idea of appropriating $70 million to just one project with that limited funding didn’t sit right with the at-large councilmember.
“We'd be investing in a large parcel that we wouldn't otherwise be buying just to assist a private ownership group to have a place to build a private stadium, which is ultimately for private profit,” Parady said. “I cannot look the city in the eye and tell people that we funded something like that over housing, over infrastructure on our high-injury network that causes traffic deaths daily, over shelter, over electrification to save us from the doomsday clock.”
The Denver NWSL franchise has committed to a community benefits agreement with the surrounding neighborhoods — an area almost every councilmember said they have high expectations for, given the amount of taxpayer money that will be going toward the stadium.
Denver Will Officially Own the Park Hill Golf Course
What wasn’t controversial on May 12 was Denver’s acquisition of the Park Hill Golf Course.City council unanimously approved an agreement to exchange 145 acres of undeveloped land in Adams County for the 155-acre Park Hill lot, which has been unused since 2018. The city plans to turn the area into a park and will open it to the public as open space this summer.
Westside Investment Partners, which purchased the course in 2019, hadn’t been able to successfully navigate or change city rules requiring that the land be used only as a golf course. In April 2023, voters shot down a ballot measure that would have lifted the conservation easement on the land to allow Westside to develop the land into a neighborhood.
Now, the space will become one of Denver’s largest parks, and Westside can develop a space near Denver International Airport.
Council will hold a hearing in June on rezoning the site as parkland.
