With the Denver Broncos reiterating interest in building a new NFL stadium in Denver, Lone Tree officials last week audibled a possible site location in what is already designated to be a large-scale development in RidgeGate East.
Denver Broncos Owner Greg Penner said the NFL team is considering potential stadium sites in Denver, out east in Aurora or down south in Lone Tree.
“We’re really focused on what’s the best option long-term,’’ Penner said. “We’re thinking, and we want to create, what’s the best option for the next 40 or 50 years, not the next 10 or 20 years.”
The team’s lease at its 24-year home Empower Field at Mile High Stadium expires at the end of the 2030 season, meaning ownership could either extend the lease or move on.
Penner named Aurora, Colorado’s third most populous city, as an option but city spokesperson Joe Rubino said last week that “the city cannot speculate on how the Broncos might proceed.”
Lone Tree officials, however, didn’t back down from the prospect of becoming home to a new Broncos stadium, throwing out the possibility of it landing in RidgeGate East, located 25 miles south of Denver.
In a statement, the city pointed to land previously approved in 2018 to support a 440-acre development at the southeast corner of Interstate 25 and Lincoln Avenue — called the Lone Tree City Center Subarea Plan.
“We are always open to ideas that support the vision of the Lone Tree City Center as a destination urban center, first envisioned when voters annexed the area into Lone Tree,” Melissa Gallegos, a city spokesperson, said in the statement when asked to respond to the Broncos' interest in Lone Tree.
“The city and the property owner have worked for decades to ready the site for regional destination development, including transit investments into the heart of the City Center,” Gallegos said, adding there’s yet to be a developer proposal filed for the site.
Coventry Development Corp. owns the RidgeGate land and oversees its plot east of I-25, where the Lone Tree City Center is earmarked. A Coventry spokesperson said the developer can’t initially comment on the idea of a NFL stadium in its community.
There is no timetable for the potential development, despite infrastructure already being put in place, according to the spokesperson.
First annexed into Lone Tree in 2000, community members have since envisioned a dense City Center development plan accompanied by “potential anchor projects,” according to officials on the website outlining plans.
Lone Tree has, so far, invested $350 million in infrastructure investments to support the site, helping build an interchange at RidgeGate Parkway and I-25, plus extending Regional Transportation District light rail into the area.
“The plan is focused on high quality design principles while allowing flexibility to accommodate market demands,” officials said, adding the plan “envisions a 440-acre dense, walkable, and vibrant urban center," creating an "authentic downtown environment."
This includes a new transit system and a network of bikeways and pedestrian walkways leading to shopping centers, restaurants, employment centers and residential areas. City Center’s development is expected to generate approximately 35,000 jobs and 5,000 residential units, according to RidgeGate officials.
The Lone Tree City Center plans to offer mixed use, residential and commercial districts. The area, which feeds into the RidgeGate community west of I-25, is located south of Centennial Airport and east of Sky Ridge Medical Center — offering direct public transportation from the Lone Tree City RTD light rail station.
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Douglas County continues to propose large developments focused on commercial and residential real estate.
Separately, Douglas County commissioners are considering a 500-acre mega sports complex development in Sterling Ranch. There, commissioners emphasized a need to both include commercial and residential amenities.
Reacting to the Broncos' interest in moving to its county, commissioners, in a collective statement, told The Denver Gazette “as Bronco fans, of course the idea of bringing Bronco games to our community is exciting.”
“We’d want to work with our partners at Lone Tree and our entire community to ensure this move would enhance our quality of life,” commissioners said. “Public engagement would be absolutely essential.”
Broncos President Damani Leech said the organization has researched and talked to teams that have recently built new stadiums, or are currently building one.
The Dallas Cowboys, for instance, play in Arlington, Texas, while the Buffalo Bills play in Orchard Park, N.Y. (with a new stadium under construction) and both the Los Angeles Chargers and Rams play in suburban Inglewood, Calif.
A similar situation to the Denver Broncos talk of moving out of Empower Field at Mile High — especially considering Lone Tree possibilities — is playing out in suburban Chicago.
The Chicago Bears, amid its stadium lease expiring, proposed moving to suburban Arlington Heights, located 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. There, the Bears proposed a $5 billion stadium district plan involving residential and commercial real estate at the 326-acre Arlington Park site, formerly a horse racing track.
Property tax and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funding disputes surrounding its proposed entertainment district have stymied plans in Arlington Park. Meanwhile, Chicago's NFL team is considering other spots for a new stadium which, ironically, includes Aurora, Ill., according to Chicago-based news outlets.
Most recently, Denver announced its new National Women's Soccer League team will build a new stadium at Santa Fe Yards, off Interstate 25 and Broadway. The NWSL stadium is to be funded by private investors and team ownership, while infrastructure improvements may require taxpayer assistance.
It is unclear how the Denver Broncos would approach funding for a new stadium, whether it be in Denver, Aurora, Lone Tree — or elsewhere. Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, opened in 2001, was funded mostly through taxpayer assistance (75%) through Referendum 4A, in which six metro area counties agreed to pay a tax for 10 years to build the $400 million stadium, according to news reports. In 2022, the current ownership group took out a $100 million loan from the NFL's G-4 Financing Program and much of it was spent on a huge new LED display screen.
Leech said in a statement at the time: “As we look toward the future with the long-term plans for our stadium, we are equally focused on the present to ensure Empower Field at Mile High remains a premier sports and entertainment venue.”
Penner noted the new stadium will feature a retractable or domed roof.
“We don’t have a set timetable for making a decision,” Penner said. “If we needed to, we could be in our current stadium longer.”
Denver Gazette Broncos beat reporter Chris Tomasson contributed to this report.