Colorado's beloved NFL franchise will have a new home in the Mile High City by 2031.
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The Denver Broncos, along with the city of Denver and the state of Colorado, announced that Burnham Yard, a former railyard that's located less than a mile southeast of the Broncos' current home of Empower Field at Mile High, was chosen as the preferred site for a privately funded retractable roof stadium anchoring a mixed-use district.
Representatives from the Denver Community Planning and Development, the Broncos, including Team President Damani Leech and Mayor Mike Johnston, held a community open house on Wednesday night at the La Alma Recreation Center. The goal was to gain feedback from community members living in the region about the Burnham Yard Small Area Plan while addressing any concerns they may have.
Hundreds of guests made their way past bulletin boards with maps that detailed what the new stadium will look like and the various methods of transportation that fans can use getting to and from the venue. Some of the boards included hand-written sticky notepads placed by those who had suggestions or concerns on the planning process.
Joe Phillipps, a neighborhood resident for 40 years, said he's happy the Broncos didn't look anywhere else in pursuing this project.
"The Broncos are going to pull this off - no matter what, it's inevitable," said Phillips.
He did have a couple of concerns. One of them regarded the structure of the traffic pattern in and around the site.
"Right now, when I'm coming home from work, it's hard to get into the city sometimes and it gets pretty congested," Phillips said. "But it's one of those wait-and-see kind of things and it's going to take some time."
Burnham Yard was once a major economic driver in Denver for nearly 150 years. After it closed in 2016, the site was sold to the state in 2021.
Officials from the Broncos said the team has some preliminary agreements with the state to purchase the 58-acre site. Denver Water is also planning to purchase 25 acres of the land. The plan will make recommendations for new businesses and restaurants, retail and housing.
After addressing the crowd, Johnston said the site will provide an unprecedented economic boost for the neighborhood and the city.
"One of the great benefits of a retractable roof stadium is you can do events all year long," he said. "You can do winter events. You can do Final Fours. You can do Super Bowls. You can do concerts in domed arenas, and that means more and more days of activation and all the restaurant and retail that you add also brings more people here. All of those will be huge benefits for the neighborhood."
Misty Lubin-Salazar said she's lived near the proposed site for 15 years. She met with the mayor briefly to ask what he could do to assure that residents will not be driven from the community.
She said the mayor's response was comforting.
"He had mentioned that it's gonna be about a year long process, so that is reassuring," said Lubin-Salazar. "But we also need to make sure that there are the right people at the table that are gonna raise awareness and have those conversations with whoever needs to have them."
Another community meeting is set for February, while a third will take place in May. Both plan to provide updates and highlight more alternatives for the project.
Read more about the project here.
