After Denver City Council members added a period of stoppage time to get more financial details regarding the women’s soccer stadium, committee members pushed forward a $70 million agreement one step closer toward the goal line. 

The South Platte River Committee — the group of City Council members who review new measures affecting development near the banks of Denver’s primary waterway — approved a package on Wednesday that would allow the city to buy the land at Santa Fe Yards and finance infrastructure improvements.

The monthlong delay in approving the agreements sparked Denver Summit FC to start looking for other locations for its stadium outside of the city, raising the stakes for officials considering the deal.

Denver Summit promised the National Women’s Soccer League in its bid to secure the franchise that it would get a stadium built by the 2028 season.

If the team doesn’t get a stadium built in time, it could face steep fines from the league.

Leaders of the soccer team told councilmembers on Wednesday that it didn’t intend to threaten the city with leaving, but rather had a responsibility to its fans, players and the league to find alternatives to get a stadium built.

Even though the measures passed through this week, the team will keep exploring its options. 

“We need to continue those conversations,” Denver Summit FC President Jen Millet told the press after the meeting. “We need to make sure that we’re meeting our obligations.”

The stadium land deal still has to get final approval from City Council. 

The agreements will be heard at a public hearing on Dec. 22. A measure to rezone the property to allow for a stadium at Santa Fe Yards is scheduled to be voted on Dec. 15. 

“We should know coming out of that what path we are going to take, and we hope it is here in Denver,” Millet said.

MORE DETAILS ON HOW THE MONEY WILL BE SPENT

Denver Summit announced in March it would build a 10,000- to-12,000-seat stadium on the former home of the Gates rubber factory.

The site, off Interstate 25 and Broadway, has long sat empty since Gates stopped manufacturing in 2001 and has been the site of several development proposals that promised to reenergize the neighborhood but never came to fruition.

For businesses and city leaders, the soccer stadium is the best chance to get something off the ground in the blighted area near South Broadway.

“An inactive dirt lot with no lighting or activity adds to the feeling that this stretch isn’t safe or inviting,” said Julia Duncan-Roitman, owner of Joy Hill Pizza Club, at public comment at a City Council meeting on Monday. 

“The customers that the stadium will attract are the types of people who support local, independent and unique businesses,” she added.

While councilmembers have been supportive of the team coming to Denver, many have concerns about the fiscal responsibility of using taxpayer money to pay for the property and its needs.

“It feels like time and time again, we keep trying to fit a square peg into a circle hole with our processes,” said Council President Amanda Sandoval.

The intergovernmental agreement will cap Denver’s spending on the stadium site at $50 million and surrounding upgrades to $20 million.

After delaying the vote a month to get more information, councilmembers on the committee received a more detailed breakdown of how the $70 million will be spent for the second committee meeting on the matter — though some were still frustrated by the pressure the team has put on the city to get the stadium done on time.

Out of the $50 million, the city will buy the land from Broadway Station Partners and a sliver from the Colorado Department of Transportation for about $35.6 million, according to a city presentation. 

The rest of the budget includes site logistics ($1 million), earthwork and excavation ($7 million), erosion control ($1 million), survey ($650,000), utilities ($3.75 million) and site work and safety ($6.75 million).

The total of nearly $56 million will exceed the city’s contributions. Denver Summit will be responsible for covering cost overruns. 

FRUSTRATIONS ON BOTH SIDES OVER THE FAST PROCESS

Councilmember Sarah Parady said she was concerned the city was overpaying for the site, saying earlier estimates had the site cost closer to $45 million with the left over funds to go toward the stadium.

“It feels like we’re paying $50 million for a $35 million lot,” Parady said.

Sandoval then expressed she was frustrated as a woman leader that she met the team’s female president at a committee meeting instead of through an introductory meeting, wishing the team’s leaders pulled together the nine women on City Council to work together to push the project through.

Last month, Sandoval spearheaded the push to get the team and the mayor’s office to provide more detailed breakdowns of how the money would be spent, saying she couldn’t approve an agreement forward after getting blank pages in her document packet.

“​​It’s not easy being a woman surrounded at a table with all men asking questions,” Sandoval said. 

Millet apologized to the council president for the lack of outreach and said she could have done more, adding the team was compressed on time and she had to “divide and conquer” responsibilities.

“Our action coming out of this last session was about securing what we felt was necessary for these players, for the fan base and our commitment to the NWSL,” Millet said, which was to build a stadium.

“​​None of us are happy about how the process evolved,” added team owner Rob Cohen, who phoned into the meeting remotely.

DENVER CITY COUNCIL STILL WAITING FOR COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT

The last piece of the puzzle is the community benefits agreement (CBA), a binding legal document which the team and several registered neighborhood organizations have worked months on behind closed doors. 

City Council has encouraged and even required large developments such as the Cherry Creek Shopping Center project and Ball Arena to have CBAs to offset any development impacts a project may have on surrounding neighborhoods.

The team and CBA steering committee said it finalized the agreement and aims to release the document before the rezoning hearing next week.

While some community members and team leaders said the CBA brought about many wins for the community, one community leader told councilmembers the possibility of the team looking outside of Denver put pressure on finalizing the agreement.

Tim Lopez, a steering committee member representing the Baker neighborhood, said the group felt it had to concede on some items since Denver Summit said it would consider going elsewhere.

“To be a part of that, we have to negotiate in good faith. It’s concerning when the team has come about and said we may be moving,” Lopez said. “Because that’s really not good faith.”

“We made some settlements that maybe we felt a little threatened,” he added.

Councilman Paul Kashmann was frustrated the community benefits agreement hadn’t been presented to City Council with less than a week before the rezoning vote. 

“That ain’t good,” he said. 

Several councilmembers said they wanted to see the CBA by Friday if they’re going to vote on the rezoning.

“There is no way that there is a vote on this on Monday without us receiving a CBA,” said Councilmember Darrell Watson.

Councilmember Chris Hines, who was the only councilmember to vote to push through the agreement last month, said it was important to move the deal forward so other council members can vote on it. 

While he wanted to push the stadium forward, he added the CBA would be important to secure the land deal.

“Community benefits agreement, or not, that might affect people’s votes,” Hines said.