Rezoned for redevelopment: Denver City Council approves plan to transform area around Ball Arena
Denver 7 News
DENVER The Denver City Council on Monday approved a handful of key elements needed for Kroenke Sports and Entertainment (KSE) to advance its redevelopment plans for Ball Arena.
In total, Denver City Council voted on five different agenda items related to the redevelopment.
KSE plans to transform roughly 70 acres surrounding Ball Arena into a mixed-use development, complete with apartments, retail and office space. In order to do so, the land first needed to be rezoned.
Specifically, KSE was seeking an exemption from the view plane in that area, which dictates how high buildings can be. The goal is to protect mountain views.
In the only vote that was not unanimous, the Denver City Council exempted KSE, allowing them to build higher than the view plane.
Officials with KSE told Denver7 that without this approval vote on the view plane, they would have withdrawn their plans.
The only 'no' vote from the council regarding the view planes came from Councilmember Amanda Sawyer, who represents District 5.
So the question is, are we setting a precedent here? I understand that this specific view plane is defunct, then we should have repealed the whole thing. But allowing for a precedent where we are piercing a view plane where in fact you do have a right to that view, its in our zoning code," Sawyer said before voting.
Other councilors considered the increase in affordable housing units that comes with constructing higher buildings. KSE has pledged to allot 18% of its units as affordable housing.
The basic idea is the more they can build, the more affordable [housing] that they can build," said Councilmember Chris Hinds before the public hearings. If they get the height extension, they can build 6,000 units. Eighteen percent of that is 1,080 units. And so, having 1,080 units is pretty substantial when we're in an affordable housing crisis.
More than two dozen people signed up to express their opinions to council members on Monday evening.
The unique beauty of Denver will be compromised forever with the addition of approximately 40 high-rise buildings blocking the view of the mountains," said Casey Pitinga.
Other members of the public in support of the plan said it would ease the affordable housing issues in the city while creating a place designed for people, not cars.
Matt Mahoney, a representative of KSE, spoke with Denver7 about the concerns regarding parking in the area since the redevelopment will essentially transform the large parking lots surrounding Ball Arena into a community. He said there will still be parking available for people who drive to games at Ball Arena. There are also plans for parking garages above ground and underground.
Most of the parking will be shared, according to Mahoney.
He said the transformation could increase the number of parking spots in the area since it will utilize more space. However, KSE hopes the trend it has seen where people choose other methods of transportation to commute to Ball Arena continues to grow in the next few years.
Mahoney said they hope to break ground on the project in either 2026 or 2027. He did not provide an exact dollar amount for the project as of Monday evening.