The wheels are officially turning on the Denver Broncos’ new stadium at Burnham Yard after the team and the city hosted the first community input meeting this week for a process that will help shape what gets built in the expansive abandoned railyard.
Jessica Proctor, left, asks questions to Denver Broncos general counsel Tim Aragon during a community meeting about the Burnham Yard Small Area Plan at La Alma Recreation Center in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Jessica Proctor, left, asks questions to Denver Broncos general counsel Tim Aragon during a community meeting about the Burnham Yard Small Area Plan at La Alma Recreation Center in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Wednesday evening’s event, at the La Alma Recreation Center just southwest of downtown, brought residents out to offer up ideas on what they want to see at the sprawling stadium site and surrounding mixed-use development that would be built just over the railroad tracks to the west.
“The concern that we have is the current residents who are here now — keeping it affordable for (them),” resident Misty Lubin-Salazar told Denver Mayor Mike Johnston during the event. Lubin-Salazar said she wanted some reassurance that she and her daughter, who slept soundly in her stroller nearby, would still be able to live in their neighborhood once the stadium development is complete.
Lubin-Salazar was among dozens of people who voiced their concerns and hopes for the project at the Wednesday evening event. Several people interviewed by The Denver Post, including Lubin-Salazar, seemed curious and open to hearing about how negative impacts could be mitigated — rather than firmly opposed to the project altogether.
Informational and interactive boards lined the gym walls in the rec center. Officials from the team and city stood at each one, giving brief presentations and answering questions. Attendees were given sticky notes to write out their ideas.
One station gave residents colorful stickers to place underneath a list of values — things like year-round community focus and celebrating history and culture — to indicate which ones they thought were most important.
After hearing representatives discussing issues like equity, transportation and affordability, Athmar Park resident Colleen Wallace said it seemed that the team was well aware of the potential concerns residents would have.
“I came out because I really wanted to see how the city and Broncos are engaging the community on this huge project,” she said. “I’m very impressed, honestly.”
The meeting was the first step in developing a “small area plan” for the site, which will outline how the community wants to see the neighborhood grow and develop.
Burnham Yard is a long, narrow 58-acre site, and the team is also acquiring 25 acres from Denver Water’s campus and more private parcels that will bring the total footprint to more than 100 acres. Most of that is in La Alma Lincoln Park.
The first step in the process comes two and a half months after the team announced that Burnham Yard was its preferred location for the next stadium. The team’s lease at Empower Field at Mile High expires in early 2031.
Some used the event to offer their concerns about how the project could impact the surrounding area’s affordability, ease of transportation and community feel.
Bonnie and Douglas Marts, residents of the Golden Triangle neighborhood, said that even though they live a couple neighborhoods away from the site, they’re worried about the lack of planned parking.
“We live there and will have to monitor when events are happening, because you won’t be able to park on the street,” Bonnie said.
Team leaders have said there will be some on-site parking at the stadium, along with integrated parking options in the residential and commercial parts of the district.
The Broncos and Denver officials have said they plan to shift away from the model at Empower Field, which is surrounded by a massive parking lot, to instead create a mixed-use district with housing, shopping and restaurants. There is a light rail stop next to the site, and state officials also hope to someday have a Front Range Rail station nearby to bring in fans from other cities like Fort Collins and Pueblo.
A map of the Burnham Yard area that the Broncos submitted as part of their large-area plan for the new stadium site and entertainment district. (Image courtesy of Denver Broncos)
A map of the Burnham Yard area that the Broncos submitted as part of their large-area plan for the new stadium site and entertainment district. (Image courtesy of Denver Broncos)
The lack of major surface parking is exactly what other residents are excited about. Jared Morgan, 30, bought a home next to the site four years ago and said he’s looking forward to the stadium activating more of the neighborhood.
“What I was mainly concerned about is it just turning into a huge parking lot,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Broncos submitted a large-area redevelopment plan to the city, which included preliminary details about where the team’s future stadium and surrounding entertainment district will go. The plan included a map outlining the general locations for various parts of the development, along with potential new roadways.
The preliminary plan suggests the stadium will be directly east of a BNSF Railway freight line running through Burnham Yard, on the western portion of the railyard, and directly south of an extended West 11th Avenue and Denver Water’s headquarters.
Alex Parks, a Villa Park resident, said he hopes the project might offer a new way for bikers and pedestrians to safely cross I-25 into the central part of downtown.
Tsinni Russell, 31, said he hopes the project can be a boon for neighboring communities like Sun Valley across the river.
“It sucks that you need a white pony to get people to care about a part of the city that’s full of brown people,” Russell said, referring to the Broncos mascot.
Denver Broncos president Damani Leech, left, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston attend a community meeting about the Burnham Yard Small Area Plan at La Alma Recreation Center in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Denver Broncos president Damani Leech, left, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston attend a community meeting about the Burnham Yard Small Area Plan at La Alma Recreation Center in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
The mayor and Broncos president Damani Leech both attended the event and spoke with attendees.
“I love seeing the sticky notes on all the boards,” Leech told a Post reporter. “Some of the things, people are being really candid and honest about what they’re excited about, what they’re concerned about. That’s what we’re hoping to get out of this.”
Johnston said he hopes the extended timeframe will allow people to get their questions answered and provide what they want to see happen in their community.
“What would be a win for us is people who have been here 80 years still feeling home here — and folks that just moved to Denver a year from now would also want to buy their first apartment here,” he said.
Two more community meetings are planned for the first half of 2026, according to a timeline posted at the event.
Other key steps, including an urban renewal plan, a development agreement, the large development review and a mobility study, will also begin this year. Negotiations over a community-benefits agreement also will begin soon.
The rezoning process for land in the area is set to begin next year, and construction is slated to begin in late 2027 and last through 2030.
Staff writer Parker Gabriel contributed to this story.
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