Stadium lot:
Pulling trigger on an entertainment district.
The Denver Broncos and public officials are ready to pull the trigger on an idea that for years has fueled speculation and intrigue: tearing up the sprawling south parking lots at the former Sports Authority Field to make way for an entertainment district.
Officials from the team, the Metropolitan Football Stadium District and the Denver Department of Community Planning and Development on Wednesday provided the first glimpse of a new planning effort that will be launched soon by the city, with community meetings to solicit input.
The resulting master plan will form the basis for redevelopment of as many as 52 acres of stadium parking lots — about half of the stadium parking — in phases over the next seven to 10 years. In place of the lots, officials envision mixed-use redevelopment that’s heavy on bars, restaurants and other game-day draws, as well as housing and other potential components.
Team and stadium district officials said redevelopment would help ensure the 17-yearold, taxpayer-owned stadium’s long-term viability by generating a new source of income to cover upkeep costs.
City planners, for their part, see a major opportunity to reconnect Sun Valley to the rest of the city with the addition of a regional draw.
“This is really game-changing,” said Brad Buchanan, the planning department’s executive director, before apologizing for the bad pun. “It really is game-changing for our city, and it gives the opportunity to, we think, find the right, smart, new ways to develop in our city in a time when that really takes some smarter approaches than we have needed to use in the past.”
Any plan will replace the thousands of lost parking spaces with garages, a team official said, since the existing surface lots largely are set aside for permit-holders.
The idea of building over the lots isn’t new. It was first raised formally in the 2013 Decatur-Federal Station Area Plan, which envisioned how to maximize the potential of the nearby station on the west line. The metro stadium district previously sold part of Lot M to the Colorado Department of Transportation, which is finishing its new headquarters on the site.
No developers are on board yet, making the coming master plan — which the city says will be done in the next year — a preliminary step. Construction outside the stadium still may be
couple years away.
Still, this is the first official step toward initiation of massive redevelopment for the south parking zone, which extends from the south end of the stadium to lots south of the Colfax Avenue viaduct.
“It kind of feels like the starter fired the gun,” said the Broncos’ chief commercial officer, Mac Freeman.
The redevelopment vision for the stadium seeks to capitalize on a multifront surge of development that’s taking hold west of downtown. It also would build on new public housing and other investments by government in the povertystricken Sun Valley neighborhood.
Just east of the stadium, the Santa Fe-based artist collective Meow Wolf in January announced plans to build a 90,000-square-foot Denver outpost near the $65 million Steam on the Platte project.
And to the northeast of the stadium, Revesco Properties recently announced its vision for the River Mile project, which aims first to build a mixed-use neighborhood over the Elitch Gardens parking lots and, potentially, replace the amusement park itself in coming decades. The Pepsi Center lots also could be prime for redevelopment down the line, officials have said.
“I don’t know what the stadium district and the Broncos have in mind, but hopefully it all points to having a very intentional plan to make it a destination not just for during Broncos games but all year round for families and residents of Denver,” said Sun Valley Community Coalition president Jeanne Granville. “We’re all excited and happy to do whatever we can to support their success.”
Team and stadium officials say that while the new district would enhance the game-day experience, it’s intended to draw people at other times, too.
Broncos officials also are mindful that newer stadiums for National Football League teams, including in Los Angeles, have incorporated entertainment districts.
“We’re trying to collect ideas from a lot of great places and come up with a special plan for this,” Freeman said. “Combined with Sun Valley, this is an unbelievable opportunity for the city. You just don’t find 150acre tracts this close to the core of a major U.S. city.”
The Broncos began playing in their stadium when it opened in 2001. The team’s lease lasts through 2030.
Freeman said the south lots’ redevelopment could ensure the stadium stays viable for years beyond that, staving off the need for a new stadium.
For now, another revenue-generating question awaits an answer, as the team seeks a new namingrights partner for the stadium district following the recent demise of Sports Authority. Staff writer Joe Rubino contributed to this story.