The agreement stipulates that the City of Denver will chip in $70 million to buy the land of the future National Women's Soccer League stadium as well as build infrastructure in the surrounding area. Though the full council still needs to vote on the agreement, two weeks ago it seemed like the committee might kill the idea before it gained steam.
“All of us, not many months ago, were begging for money for after-school programs and were told there was no dough, and now we find out we have $60 million,” Councilman Paul Kashmann said on April 9.
Other councilmembers expressed similar concerns, saying they weren’t sure the project was the best use of limited taxpayer funding.
But members of the council, Mayor’s office, and the yet-to-be named Denver NWSL team put in hours of work to refine the agreement in the following weeks. Last week the group toured the possible stadium site in District 7, represented by Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez.
Alvidrez was always on board with the idea as an investment into her district. Additionally, she said the infrastructure upgrades in the area are needed regardless of the stadium, and that her district has been historically neglected during considerations of major city projects like this.
On April 23, other councilmembers said they feel better about the project after learning more and providing input.
“This is a big deal, because we're talking about establishing a commitment to use taxpayer dollars for something,” said Councilwoman Jamie Torres, who chairs the South Platte Committee that moved the proposal forward. “It is really consequential.”
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.
The eleven projects that would be involved include completing the 16th Street Mall remodel, a portion of the Colfax Avenue Bust Rapid Transit project, safety enhancements on West Colfax, reworking Speer Boulevard over Little Raven Street, and finishing the Denver Central Library remodel.
Of the $70 million total the city expects to spend on and around the stadium, about $20 million is contemplated for roads connecting the neighborhood to other parts of the city and improvements to pedestrian, bike and park infrastructure. Additionally, street parking, traffic lights, storm drainage, water and sewer lines, and fire and security systems are anticipated uses of city funds.
A maximum of $50 million would be used to buy the land. Therefore, 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.
Denver's new (and unnamed) professional women's soccer team needs the city as a partner.
Catie Cheshire
Development on the proposed site, the former Gates Rubber campus in the Santa Fe Yards, has undergone several starts and stops.
In the 1900s, Gates Rubber was the largest employer in Denver, producing car parts like tires, gaskets and batteries, but in the 1980s, Gates moved most manufacturing jobs to plants in other places. In 1996, the Gates family sold its interest in the company to a British conglomerate, Tomkins PLC, which moved its administrative headquarters downtown and closed the plant on Broadway completely.
Since then, the main factory and surrounding buildings have been part of several development ideas that never came to fruition. A company called Cherokee Denver purchased the land in 2001 and wanted to build an “urban village” on the site, including 3,000 residential units. But the company lost funding during the financial crisis in 2008 and the project died.
In 2016, a group called Broadway Station partners formed to turn the site into a mixed-use development that also never came to fruition.
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. Essentially, what the NWSL franchise would pay in increasing taxes will instead be given back to the team for investment 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.
Councilwoman Sarah Parady worries the stadium development will face the same budget issues previous projects did. On April 9, Parady said that given the shaky economic conditions in the country right now she doesn’t believe the NWSL team will be able to fund the cost of constructing the stadium, which is anticipated to be between $100 and $200 million.
“I just can't look at the headlines and what's happening right now in markets, and think that there's almost any chance that the stadium gets built,” she said during the meeting. “We really have to be careful about our dollars.”
By April 23, Parady still had a lot of questions, but said she had learned more information that helped her feel slightly better about the idea.
Before the April 23 hearing the proposal was amended to remove the city’s responsibility for costs of refurbishing a pedestrian bridge on the north end of the property, and to ensure the city is not the last entity paid back on the stadium investment. The city and the NWSL team, along with the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, plan to renegotiate those terms.
Councilmembers still want some changes made, however. Kashmann said he is hoping for ongoing funding for the surrounding area and a voluntary seat tax that would go toward children’s programming in the city. Councilman Chris Hinds added that he wants extra work done on the transit and non-car connections to the stadium in future plans.
Rob Cohen, the primary owner of the team, told the council that the team will create a Community Benefits Agreement for the stadium development based on conversations about many of those issues.
If the funding receives full approval during a May 12 council hearing, the site still needs to file a formal redevelopment plan and be replatted. Both of those items require further city council action and are anticipated to come up sometime in the fall.
The stadium is expected to open in 2028. In the meantime, the team's ownership plans to host games at a temporary stadium in Centennial being built in partnership with the Cherry Creek School District; that stadium was announced less than a month ago.
