Mayor Mike Johnston says he's going to do everything he can to keep the Denver Summit FC stadium in the city.
"Over my dead body will I let the Broncos stadium leave Denver. Over my dead body am I going to let the Summit stadium leave Denver. We want that site to be here," Denver's mayor said on Wednesday night at a community meeting to discuss the new Broncos stadium plan at Burnham Yard. "We want to see both of these be successful. We think the city is hungry for both and we think we can deliver both."
Plans for a permanent stadium for the new National Women's Soccer League team continue moving through Denver City Council, but lingering questions over transparency, financing and community impact could have the team looking elsewhere. The plan is to build the stadium near Interstate 25 and South Broadway at Santa Fe Yards.
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A rendering of how the Denver Summit FC stadium would look in Denver. NWSL
Last week, the city's South Platte River Committee voted to advance a rezoning proposal to the full Denver City Council, a step that lays out the groundwork for the new stadium project.
Tony Lechuga, Senior City Planner, said the Santa Fe Yards site presents a rare opportunity to build in an area that has been vacant for years.
"This represents an exciting opportunity to do something with parts of this land," Lechuga said.
City staff explained that the zoning change would allow the stadium to be built with more flexibility.
However, while the rezoning cleared the committee, councilmembers postponed four major bills tied to financing and infrastructure -- including the stadium property agreement and multiple intergovernmental agreements. All are connected to how the city stalled on a vote regarding the release of public funds for the project.
The city will invest about $70 million in the project.
Council President Amanda Sandoval said she wants a fuller picture before approving anything.
"When I approve of something, I want to see the entire package. I want to see estimates because they're not there," she said.
Other members echoed concerns about cost clarity, timelines and community impact.
Councilmember Flor Alvidrez, who represents District 7 where the stadium would be located, said fiscal responsibility is a priority.
"Our job as councilmembers is to be fiscally responsible during a time when we don't have a lot of money. This is also my district," Alvidrez said. "We've had some bad real estate deals recently, and that makes everyone more sensitive to these topics."
That is in reference to Johnston facing scrutiny over a land swap deal involving the Park Hill Golf Course, where an extra 20 acres of land near Denver International Airport was added for a developer without prior knowledge to City Council.
Community advocates are also pushing for more transparency.
Anita Banuelos, part of the West East Neighbors United coalition negotiating a community benefits agreement with the ownership group, said residents deserve accountability.
"At the national level and even locally, there is a lot of taxpayer spending that we are not seeing come back to the community. It's important to understand where those taxpayer dollars are going."
Team ownership expressed surprise at the council's request for additional oversight on finances.
Robert Cohen, with IMA Financial Group, representing Denver Summit FC, said:
"We had not heard that before today. As a team, we crossed our T's and did exactly what the city asked us to do. I'm not going to speak or get in the middle of the politics."
The next day the club released a statement saying, "Denver Summit FC ownership is committed to fulfilling our obligations to the league, our fans, our athletes and the community. That means we need to deliver a purpose-built stadium for women's professional soccer -- on time, ready for play in March of 2028. We have been planning for a permanent stadium at Santa Fe Yards in Denver's urban core. Given the challenges we have faced in the Denver City Council process, we are currently pursuing a parallel path regarding the stadium site and engaging with other jurisdictions outside Denver. We will continue to engage in an open and honest dialogue with the Mayor, City Council and Community in Denver. We are grateful for the steadfast support that we have received from fans, the community, the Mayor, the business community and small businesses throughout Denver."
The recent announcement comes after the City Council committee meeting last Wednesday to stall on the vote of the agreement for the city to purchase the Santa Fe Yards site for the stadium. Questions began to circle over how the money will be allocated to fund the infrastructure of the future site.
"I'm very confident we're going to work with the city council to get the questions they have answered, and we'll move the stadium forward. But we are 100% committed in making sure that stays," Johnston said. "And what you'll see is these fit as part of a connected whole. They're all on light rail. Easy access to public transit. They activate other major corridors of the city like Broadway and Santa Fe where we want more foot traffic to support these great small businesses, small art galleries that have been around for 10,20,30,40 years. To now have Santa Fe art galleries who will have 70,000 people walk out of a stadium into their gallery will be an incredible opportunity."
City Council and team representatives will meet again on Dec. 10.
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