Denver City Council members delayed a key vote to release $50 million in city funds for construction at the site of the future professional women’s soccer stadium in Baker, citing a lack of key information.
Council members were asked to consider five separate measures related to the stadium at Wednesday’s South Platte River Committee. The first was a request to rezone the property to allow for the construction of the future Denver Summit FC stadium, which was moved forward by the committee without conflict.
The other four, however, have had their votes delayed by over a month, as council members expressed frustration with being asked to vote on a measure while missing details.
Meanwhile, the team faces a key deadline to get construction rolling on the stadium by the beginning of 2026, a promise it made to the National Women’s Soccer League when the team’s bid was accepted earlier this year.
City officials also revealed they hope to pay for a new pedestrian bridge to serve the stadium, which could be covered by state grants and other sources.
Documents missing key information came to the council’s desks.
The four delayed measures involved a plan to spend $50 million in public funds to purchase and improve the land the stadium will sit on. The city also could spend another $20 million on offsite improvements, like parks, trails and other local improvements near the stadium.
The mayor and council have already promised the funding, but council members say they still don’t have a specific breakdown of how the money will be spent.
Council President Amanda Sandoval had to ask several times why the documents they were being asked to approve lacked that information.
City officials argued that the documents provided the big picture, which didn’t satisfy Sandoval and others.
“We are capping the city's exposure. We are very clear on the categories of what the money can be spent on that has been shared with council extensively,” said Jeff Dolan, the Mayor’s chief strategy officer.
“You're not picking up what I'm throwing down. I'm just saying that when I approve something, I want to see the whole entire package,” Sandoval said. “I just want to see, even, estimates on there because they're not on there currently what I'm looking at.”
Sandoval pointed to a distrust created after the city quietly altered the deal to swap land with a developer to obtain Park Hill Park.
“City Council approved a deal with Westside and we found out after that 20 acres were given after we approved it,” she said. “I want to make sure that what I'm approving on the night of the 15th is what is happening. It's my job.”
The delay puts more pressure on the team to hit its 2026 deadline for construction. By the time the measures return to committee on Dec. 10, there will just be a few more opportunities for council members to vote on the full package before the new year.
“We don't have very many more council meetings,” Sandoval said. “We don't have very many committee meetings.”
Councilmember Sarah Parady said she was frustrated by the city rushing to accommodate the team’s deadlines.
“We should not be rushing a spending decision of this level because of agreements between private parties,” she told Denverite.
The team did not comment on possible penalties or fines it would face if the stadium falls behind schedule.
“Denver Summit FC remains coordinated with NWSL on the stadium and other infrastructure projects,” a team spokesperson said. “Denver was awarded an expansion team, in part, due to the club’s commitment to build a purpose-built soccer specific stadium.”
Several more details emerged about the construction and financing of the stadium.
The proposed agreements shed light on several details about the city’s plan to help fund stadium construction.
The proposals reintroduced the possibility of the city paying for a pedestrian bridge that would connect the stadium site to the RTD station to the north. The city said it would apply for a state grant and use existing regional property tax mills to pay for the bridge. They did not name a potential price tag.
Separately, city leaders are considering using tax-increment financing (TIF) to subsidize the project. TIF diverts new tax revenue generated by the project to pay for project-related costs. Under the proposed TIF agreement, 90 percent of future tax revenue generated within the stadium site would help the developer pay for infrastructure and other related costs. (It’s not clear which tax streams will be affected.)
The remainder would go to the city’s coffers to pay for public infrastructure costs around the stadium.
The Denver Urban Renewal Authority estimates TIF could provide around $158 million in total through 2042.
The city council approved an initial agreement earlier this year, but questions about TIF and the bridge were removed while specifics were nailed down.
Wednesday’s discussion didn’t touch on the remaining $20 million the city has committed to offsite improvements around the stadium. Officials said that will happen later.
Summit FC plans to start playing in its new stadium in 2028. Until then, the team will play most of its upcoming inaugural season at a temporary stadium in Centennial. The team’s first competitive game will be played at the Denver Broncos’ Empower Field at Mile High.
The 2026 season is just three months away. The team confirmed construction on its temporary stadium in Centennial is underway, but could not commit to a concrete timeline.
“We’ll know more on timing when the NWSL schedule is released in January,” the team said. “The plan is for the Centennial Stadium to be ready."
