Denver City Council Voting on KSE Ball Arena Project Tonight After Public Hearings

Editor's note: Catie Cheshire is monitoring the Denver City Council meeting; the lifting of the view plane for the project has been approved. There are four more votes to go.

Before the Kroenkes can turn the 55 acres of parking lots around Ball Arena into a brand-new neighborhood, the land must be rezoned and other aspects of the project approved. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, the company through which the Kroenke family — which owns the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Mammoth — conducts most of its business in Colorado, has been moving toward that rezoning vote at the Denver City Council meeting scheduled for Monday, October 21.

Council will begin a marathon meeting that day with a vote that would exempt the project from Denver's view plane. But while no public hearing is required on that matter, one is required on four other issues involved with the project, including whether the property should be rezoned to fall under a new zoning type created in 2018. That discussion will start at 5:30 p.m., but councilmembers have already heard plenty.

“Councilwoman [Jamie] Torres has led this process, and she is very good at looking at the details and making sure that we do not miss the opportunity for community voice to be a part of this,” says Councilman Darrell Watson. “I'm looking forward to hearing from community any thoughts or questions that I may have missed.”

For the last several months, councilmembers who are part of the newly constituted South Platte River Committee have heard from city staffers and KSE employees about proposed rezoning that would allow denser development, as well as a plan to guide the development process, new taxing districts to fund parts of the development, and an additional rezoning move that would exempt the development from Denver’s view-plane rules.

“We've tried to provide a good amount of information about what kind of view is protected in that view plane and what is not protected, and what's the current state of that view plane,” Torres says. “That may be some of what we'll hear from the public. I think what we'll probably hear is a lot of general feedback about the lots being redeveloped, what they plan to provide in the redevelopment.”

What could turn into a residential/retail neighborhood over the next twenty years is today primarily a series of surface parking lots for Ball Arena. The Kroenke development proposal calls for new roads, including a “Sports Mile” connecting Ball Arena to Coors Field. The project would add thousands of square feet of residential and retail space, along with a new public park for the city that would be a central feature of the area.

The Ball Arena neighborhood will border another Kroenke-connected development: the River Mile, an in-the-works residential/retail project that involves fixing the South Platte River to eliminate floodplain concerns involving much of the land for both developments. The result will be two new neighborhoods that double the size of Denver’s downtown.

“That's one of the big things I want to make sure folks understand,” Watson says. “This is a massive development. This is almost another new city.”

The Ball Arena neighborhood will include up to 6,000 housing units, 18 percent of which will be income-restricted affordable units. That came about after KSE engaged with neighbors to form a Community Benefits Agreement for the property; city rules would have required that only 10 percent of the units be affordable.

City Council to Vote on Rezoning, View Plane, Development Agreement

Denver City Council will begin the approval process for the plan on October 21, starting with the vote on rezoning.

The property is currently zoned for a maximum building height of five or eight stories, depending on the exact location of the proposed structure. As city rules currently stand, zoning allows commercial and residential uses in this area, but it's meant to be less dense than a typical downtown district.

The proposed rezoning creates a transition area from the edge of the Auraria Campus along Speer Boulevard, which will maintain lower building heights, to the rest of the property, which will fall into a new zoning type designed for the Central Platte Valley and Urban Center.

“It's an exciting zone district that was adopted in 2018,” Senior City Planner Tony Lechuga explained at an August 14 South Platte Committee meeting. “No building has been built in this particular zone district because it applies to such a small geography right now. … We have really strong standards for creating good urbanism, but also making sure that we're preserving some sort of atmosphere on the ground.”

The Center District Zoning does not put a maximum height on towers. Rather, towers are governed by a floor-area ratio that requires buildings to get skinnier as they get taller. Unlike in Denver’s current downtown zoning district, this zoning type requires tall buildings to be spaced out by at least eighty feet, rather than being stacked right next to other towers. Most building types allowed under this zone also require upper-story setbacks to promote views when looking up from the street.

“We end up preserving some sort of light and air as buildings get taller,” Lechuga explained.

But not all the light and air are preserved, including the air currently protected by the Old City Hall view plane. That view plane is designed to ensure an uninterrupted sightline from central Denver to the Rocky Mountains.

The view plane would limit heights for most of the property from 70 to 95 feet, but KSE has applied for an exemption to that. The Auraria Campus, which is right next to Ball Arena, is already exempt because it is a state enterprise — and that led Denver Community Planning and Development to question the usefulness of the view plane in the modern day.

Councilmember Chris Hinds, whose district is where the Old City Hall view plane begins, says he’s heard a lot of feedback from constituents whose view would be impacted; they aren't so sure they want the exemption to move forward.

“There are a whole bunch of people living in condominiums and apartments in downtown Denver whose view would be affected if the view plane goes away for that particular zone district,” Hinds says. He’s working to connect those residents with KSE so that they can discuss their concerns.

Along with rezoning, city council will weigh in on the creation of five metropolitan districts to finance the project. One will be a maintenance district for public improvements beyond what the city would typically undertake. The others would be financing districts devoted to raising funds to build the public infrastructure needed to support the population and activity growth in the area.

“Some of these infrastructure improvements include two pedestrian bridges, the parking structures, the signature park and two different open spaces within the district,” Laura Wachter of the Denver Department of Finance explained at the August 14 meeting. “The roads, safety, protection, the drainage, and then other, just, earthworks and street landscaping as well.”

Extra Affordable Housing, Nuggets and Avs Staying in Denver Part of Agreement

KSE and the city have created a development agreement stipulating other requirements. According to Torres, whose district includes Ball Arena, many of its provisions feel fresh and original.

“We don't see these kinds of large-scale, full-swath developments come through the city very often,” she says. “This is one of the rare times that we're able to see multiple ideas actually come to the table.”

For example, the development document includes a special agreement with the Denver Department of Housing Stability requiring that 18 percent of the units across the site be affordable, with some units integrated into mixed-income buildings and others in all-affordable buildings. Affordable housing will be included during every phase of construction and spread across the geographical area of the development.

“There is a value to the city that we are not isolating either poverty or affluence,” Torres says. “We are making sure that our neighborhoods are accessible to every economic level.”

Twenty percent of the income-restricted units will have two bedrooms, and 15 percent will have three bedrooms so that families can be part of the development, too. A minimum of fifty affordable units will be at 30 percent Area Median Income or below, representing a “deep level” of affordability, according to Torres.
In exchange, the city is allowing KSE to retain up to $10 million in affordable housing linkage fees to help construct those buildings. Linkage fees are paid when building permits are issued; they're designed to give HOST money to build affordable housing across the city. Usually, developers cannot access any of that money.

“The deep affordable units and economic integration across the site require additional subsidies, and providing an opportunity to access some of this linkage fee will help bring those units into fruition,” Lechuga said during the August 14 meeting.

Along with housing, parks and open space are key items in the development plan. KSE will be required to provide at least 12 percent of the land as open space; that includes a new, 3.5-acre park that will be turned over to Denver Parks & Recreation once completed.

The River Mile had already agreed to build the shell of a new rec center for Denver Parks & Rec; the Ball Arena project will fully outfit that facility so that the area will have a complete public rec center when both projects are done.

Economic benefits in the development agreement start with a KSE commitment to build a child-care facility on site. “That is a pretty big deal, and I have not seen that before,” Torres says.

During construction, KSE will give Denver residents from qualified low-income census tracts first-hire opportunity. Even after construction is complete, 20 percent of permanent jobs will come from those census tracts. Additionally, KSE will hire a workforce coordinator for twenty years to help ensure Denver residents are prioritized. KSE has also agreed to host a small business incubator program on site.

Should KSE convey any land to the city, the company will be required to environmentally remediate the land before it does so.

Lastly, the agreement includes vesting rights that will keep every requirement and agreement in place through 2050, with the stipulation that the Avalanche, Nuggets and Mammoth all stay in Denver until that date. Even if KSE chooses to build a new arena, it will have to be on the Ball Arena or River Mile properties.

“We see teams moving to Las Vegas, in and out of L.A. and Oakland,” Torres says. “Teams move. They're businesses. This becomes a really important thing, not just for this space, but for Denver as a whole.”

Although the city included innovative items in its development agreement with Kroenke, many of those ideas and the drive to push them through came from the Ball Arena Community Benefits Agreement Committee, which worked for fifteen months to finally reach a Community Benefits Agreement with KSE on October 16. The CBA is voluntary, and not approved by the city.

KSE Pledges $16 Million in Community Benefits Agreement

“We don't sign that agreement as city council, but it is important for me as a representative that that conversation completes its course,” Torres says. “Those will be important triggers for me that community is at a good place with what is going to be built there over the next thirty years.”

The Ball Arena Community Benefits Agreement Committee included members of the Auraria community, Denver Housing Authority, Denver Streets Partnership and the La Alama Lincoln Park, Sun Valley and downtown Denver neighborhoods. Simon Tafoya, a La Alma Lincoln Park resident and committee co-chair, says it was important for the community to secure some assurances that the city couldn’t get, and know that even if city leadership changes, KSE will remain consistent in its commitments to the community.

“Things change,” Tafoya says. “You get a new mayor, new city council, new staff, who could renegotiate a development agreement and say, ‘Oh, we don't think that's important anymore.' … Our agreement doesn't change if the city changes its requirements.”
A major part of the agreement is a $16 million community investment fund that will be filled through a 1 percent public improvement fee on retail and hotel transactions in the future development. The fund will support Indigenous communities and displaced Aurarians, people and their descendents who once lived where the Auraria Campus is now; create a connection with the 5280 Trail designed to connect downtown Denver to the Ball Arena development; oversee long-term and construction employment goals; and provide a pop-up program for small businesses at a discounted rental rate, community art and youth programming.

KSE will host ten free community events per year as part of the CBA, too.

“The words 'community' and 'development,' they don't have to be opposite each other, and I think this process has shown that we can, as a community, work with a developer,” said Susan Powers, a community developer and BACBAC co-chair, at an October 16 event announcing the agreement. “We ended up with an agreement that I think we're proud of as a community and that KSE is proud of as well.”

The community benefits agreement has four main areas: affordable housing; infrastructure and connectivity; family, arts and culture; and economic opportunity. The affordable housing mirrors the language in the city development agreement; Tafoya says he believes the residents were able to push the city to demand more so that both documents would match up.

Under the BACBAC agreement, if homes are built for sale on the site, affordable homes will be included. KSE will also set aside a $1.1 million fund for eviction and down payment assistance to keep people in the neighborhood as it grows.

KSE committed to enhanced bicycle and pedestrian connectivity to surrounding neighborhoods, as well as safety infrastructure on streets within the development. The project also focused on sustainability.

“We're building a major neighborhood that's going to have energy needs, and we’re really proud that KSE is willing to commit to green, renewable and sustainable energy on site,” said Jeanne Granville of the Sun Valley Community Coalition at the signing announcement. “Should there be a need for off-site infrastructure, there's a commitment to avoid placement along the river or in neighborhoods like Sun Valley or La Alma Lincoln Park.”

Along with the child-care facility, KSE also committed $5 million to public art, with 25 percent paid to Denver artists and another 25 percent paid to Colorado artists. Additionally, KSE pledged to fund $1 million in internships in the sports and entertainment industries, with Indigenous youth and displaced Aurarians as hiring targets.

“Thank you for negotiating and working with us,” said Carrie Makarewicz, a University of Colorado Denver professor and committee member. “Those are a lot of probably non-traditional asks, but we think they're important for an integrated community in this part of our city that will truly support everybody in living their best lives.”

The BACBAC agreement is attached to the land, so even if the Kroenkes sell a parcel or all of the property, the agreement still applies. And as Granville points out, while $16 million is nothing to scoff at, the CBA represents an even bigger investment from KSE: Affordable units, free events and lower rent for pop-up retail spaces all subtract from the development’s bottom line.

“I don't even know what the real cost of this will be for them in terms of what they're putting into the community,” Granville tells Westword.

According to KSE’s Matt Mahoney, who has overseen much of the community engagement and was key in CBA negotiations, the downtown community is important to the developers.

“The arena is downtown. Our office is downtown. Our teams play downtown,” Mahoney says. “This is a new downtown neighborhood, and our ownership takes the view of long-term perspective, long-term ownership. Having a community benefits agreement is the only way to fly when you have that perspective.”

According to Mahoney, there's no timeline for construction yet; KSE wants to get through the rezoning first in order to avoid getting ahead of itself...and the city. And there’s still plenty more to do before every aspect of the development is approved, including transportation demand management and infrastructure plans, which are in progress now.

“It's essential and it’s important that we get it right,” Watson says. “Also considering how this impacts social services like Denver Fire and Denver Health is one of the questions I've been consistently asking.”

Working with Denver Fire on safety issues is a requirement for KSE going forward, and Torres wants to gain clarity on a few more items as the development process moves forward.

“We still don't know how this site will be powered,” she says. “How will we ensure first responders are prepared for that kind of infill development? Those are still things that we have to discuss. … There are still a lot of things that are not squared away.”

But after the October 21 council vote, rezoning may no longer be one of those things.