South of Denver, nestled in front of a mountain backdrop, sits a rapidly growing Sterling Ranch, whose owners have partnered with Douglas County officials to build a 500-acre sports complex.

The price tag for Zebulon’s first phase — the name came from Colorado Springs’ founding father, Zebulon Pike — could go up to $85 million, according to some estimates. 

Supporters said it would provide the growing region with a much-needed recreational complex, which many say is sorely lacking in Douglas County. Critics, meanwhile, wondered if the area could absorb what often comes with any major development — traffic and the need for more water, to name just a few.

Plans include preserving at least 400 acres of open space and building a large, indoor-outdoor sports facility, with the potential for commercial offerings.

The county’s commissioners envision drawing large tournaments and major recreational events to the facility.

Zebulon, said Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon, “opens opportunities to have truly best-in-class recreational amenities.”

Sterling Ranch: Build it here

Looking west of U.S. 85 at Titan Road, there’s a skyline of a large residential development decades in the making.

In the last 10 years, Sterling Ranch, located in northwest unincorporated Douglas County, has grown to become one of Colorado’s largest master-planned communities.  

With more than 2,500 homes already built, the community plans to grow to 12,050 homes over the next two decades, with more than 33,000 residents on its 3,500 acres. That would surpass the number of residents today in Lone Tree and Castle Pines combined.

The master-planned community is split into seven metro districts, each one represented by a board of five residents. Board members help decide mill levies. The community is also made up by three sub-communities, each offering different housing styles and types.

The unincorporated community operates differently than a municipality.

“We’ve been doing well in a challenging real estate environment,” Sterling Ranch Development Co. CEO Brock Smethills told The Denver Gazette. 

That growth also comes with increasing needs. 

In 2024, Douglas County voters approved a $490 million school district bond package that includes opening a Sterling Ranch public elementary school in 2027.

The plans for Zebulon require up to $85 million for the first phase to construct the 46-acre facility. It envisions three hockey rinks, including spaces for basketball, baseball and softball, volleyball, football and soccer.

Smethills, of Sterling Ranch, said the plan is to first build and open the three hockey rinks to generate revenue.

The facility would include a 239,000 square-foot indoor sports complex, a 160,000-square-foot sports dome with a removable roof, four baseball fields and a parking garage. Additional plans include 17,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, plus a botanic garden.

Sterling Ranch bought land to expand and build Zebulon’s first phase at Waterton and Moore roads, an area formerly occupied by the DuPont Chemical dynamite plant that ceased operation in 1971 and became open space.

In December 2022, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment determined the site doesn’t pose any environmental risks.

The Sterling Ranch Development Co. already contributed the 46 acres of land that it paid for in 2023, which would be used for the first phase of Zebulon’s development “at effectively zero cost to the taxpayers,” Smethills previously said.

Officials plan to break ground on the complex in the fall.

The estimated cost range is $65 million to $85 million, depending on how much private investors would contribute, according to Smethills.

Under the plan, Zebulon would be partly funded by Douglas County’s Parks, Trails, Historic Resources and Open Space Fund, a 0.17% sales tax voters approved in 2022 to generate $330 million over 15 years for preserving and creating outdoor amenities.

In turn, supporters expect tax revenue from Zebulon to help pay for Douglas County’s trails, historic resources and open space fund.

In its Zebulon economic impact report filed in May, the Douglas County Economic Development Corp. estimated the sports complex will generate $1.3 billion in tax revenue and create almost 1,800 jobs between 2026 and 2036.

Future expansion may require tax incremental financing funding and the creation of more metro districts, according to Smethills.

Douglas County and Sterling Ranch also partnered with KT Development, which most recently developed the Blue Sport Stable in Superior, to “deliver this project to Douglas County taxpayers in the most cost-efficient way possible,” Douglas County officials previously said in a news release.

In search for more sports fields

A 2024 survey conducted by Hill Research Consultants explored which recreation improvements Douglas County residents want paid with taxpayer money.

All told, 22% of some 4,000 residents surveyed said they’d prioritize building sports fields over trails, other open space or wildlife corridors.

In northwest Douglas County, 15% said they’d prioritize building a sports facility.

The Zebulon project isn’t the first to be proposed in the region — the lack of sports facilities for children has long been a lingering woe in the county. The county initially explored building sports fields at a 202-acre, undeveloped open space in the southern portion of Highlands Ranch. That idea was ultimately shelved. 

While residents’ preference for a sports complex is driving Zebulon, not everybody is sold on the idea. 

Former Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas, who represented northwest Douglas County, has argued the Zebulon site isn’t properly zoned for a mega sports complex, isn’t water sustainable and poses environmental risks.

Zebulon, Thomas also claimed, “is being rushed without proper processes to include public comment.”

“Sterling Ranch is the only developer I experienced constantly coming to staff and commissioners asking for special treatment,” Thomas said.

In response, Smethills said, “It’s not our intent to use any open space funds for the sports component of this project.”

Directly east of Sterling Ranch is Cherokee Ridge Estates, a small neighborhood next to U.S. 85.

Amy Turell said she chose to move there for the mountain views and to be close to open space.

She also has a perfect view of where Zebulon’s site is.

Turell said she opposes the Zebulon development because of worries over traffic, water sustainability, wildlife and fire risks.

“There’s no infrastructure in Sterling Ranch to handle the large number of people that they’re hoping to attract,” she said. “This was a concept last fall, and now they want to break ground this fall. It’s not well thought out and is rushed without community support.”

Turell blamed the Highlands Ranch Community Association for building other facilities on open space land behind Cherokee Ridge Estates on Ron King Trail. She said Wildcat’s failure led to those decisions and, ultimately, Zebulon.

Others support the project.

Lynn Moffett, a Sterling Ranch resident and metro district board member, lives just blocks away from Zebulon’s site, a project she insists will benefit the entire community and Douglas County.

“Do you think I want something to go within earshot of me that wasn’t going to be beneficial to me? Absolutely not,” said Moffett, who played professional soccer and was the goalkeeper for the U.S. Woman’s National Team in the 1970s. “I spent big money to get here. I want it to be lovely, and I think we have an opportunity to do that.”

“We are underserved in this part of the county. We just don’t have enough facilities,” she said. “Parks and facilities like Zebulon not only teach sports skills, give you health benefits, but they also teach you life skills.”

For metro board representative Joey Halligan, it’s about building that sense of community that often comes with sports.

“We’re always talking about wine nights and park meetups — and who wants to play volleyball and the new pickleball court,” he said.