A women’s soccer stadium is officially coming to Denver after the City Council voted Monday to spend an initial $50 million on the land for the site.
A majority of the council members, some of whom had previously been skeptical of the plan, ultimately voiced support for the project.
“I know there are valid concerns on both sides, but I believe that the majority of Denver voters would think that this is a worthwhile project,” said Councilman Paul Kashmann. “And I’ll be a ‘yes’ because I think Denver will be a better city if we build it than if we don’t.”
The 14,500-seat stadium is planned for Santa Fe Yards, the former site of the Gates Rubber Co. at Broadway and Interstate 25 in the Baker neighborhood in south Denver. The long-term plan for the site includes a neighboring mixed-use development with housing, restaurants and a hotel. The team’s ownership estimates the stadium will host 40 to 50 ticketed events and up to 250 less-formal events per year.
Designed by Populous, it will be the state’s first stadium and entertainment district built specifically for women’s professional sports, and one of the first of its kind in the country.
The council approved four items related to the deal Monday in a block with a 10-3 vote.
Councilwomen Stacie Gilmore, Shontel Lewis and Sarah Parady voted no.
“There is no way that I can trust what this administration is trying to do,” Gilmore said about Mayor Mike Johnston’s office in explaining her vote.
Other council members said they didn’t support the way the city planned to pay for the project and that they wanted to see city officials prioritize helping vulnerable residents instead. That reflects an ongoing sentiment among council members throughout the year as the city has struggled with a budget shortfall, layoffs, and growing tension between the mayor and the council.
On Monday night, Johnston celebrated the vote.
“This is a monumental day for South Broadway, for women’s soccer and for women’s sports, and for Denver as a whole,” he said in a statement.
The vote comes about a month after the owners of the Denver Summit FC threatened to abandon the team’s plans to make Denver its home if the full council didn’t give final approval soon to the initial $50 million public investment. Under the franchise agreement with the National Women’s Soccer League, the team owners must build a stadium ready for play by March 2028.
“Our heart is here. We feel really embedded in the community, having worked with them for the last six months, and we know they are in support of the project,” said Jennifer Millet, the president of the Denver Summit FC, during a news conference Monday afternoon ahead of the vote.
Rob Cohen, the majority owner of the club, also spoke at the event, saying he felt optimistic about the vote but still had some nerves.
“We’ve done our work, and I feel like we’ve done everything we can to get to this place today. We’ve answered every question that they want,” he said. “But I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say … there’s a little pit in my stomach. It’s like before a game … standing on the pitch wondering what’s going to happen in this match.”
About 75 people gathered in Civic Center Park, in front of the City and County Building, to urge the council to cast a “yes” vote. Many wore Denver Summit T-shirts. The mood was cheerful as temperatures climbed past the 70-degree mark under bright blue skies.
Kathryn White of North Denver, who attended the pre-vote gathering, said she had already bought season tickets to Summit games.
“We love soccer,” she said of her family. “We’re excited to see a pro women’s team in Denver.”
Under an agreement between the city and the team, Denver will invest up to $70 million in the project, including the initial $50 million for the land acquisition and site preparations, including pedestrian access improvements.
The financing will come from interest money that’s accrued from the city’s 2017 Elevate Denver bond program. That money would be used indirectly, with the city putting it toward other city projects that are being paid for through its capital projects fund; the money saved would then be used for the stadium site.
The team has agreed to spend about $200 million on building the stadium itself. City officials also hope to secure $25 million in federal grant dollars to build a pedestrian bridge from the nearby I-25 and Broadway light rail station to the stadium site, which sits across freight rail tracks.
In the spring, the council approved the general framework for the deal, but it wasn’t final until the vote Monday.
The Summit FC announced in November that it had already sold 25,000 tickets for its inaugural home match on March 28 at Empower Field. After that match, the club will play its home games for the next two years at a temporary stadium in Centennial.
A few weeks before the council’s vote, the team reached terms for a community-benefits agreement with neighbors of the project. The agreement is set to bring about $7 million in investment to the area over the next 10 years through things like a community investment fund and a project to plant trees in the area.
Under the agreement, the team will provide an initial $400,000 investment that can go toward a variety of community priorities like youth scholarships, housing stability programs, environmental projects, and local art and cultural preservation. The team will donate another $300,000 each year, in perpetuity, as an investment in those priorities.
Cohen said the club has already chosen a project contractor and will begin work right away.
“Once the vote is behind us, everything will accelerate and start to move at a much quicker rate,” he said. “So lots of work to do between here and … March of 2028. But we’ll begin that right after the first of the year.”
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