Denver Water and the Broncos have been engaged in discussions for at least 13 months about the water utility’s 36-acre campus, which is located next to a potential stadium site.
The utility confirmed the talks Monday after documents revealed regular meetings between team executives and Denver Water officials, with Denver city officials also taking part.
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Denver Water’s campus is located in a spot of acute interest to the Broncos in the city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood as the team’s owners eye a potential new stadium. The utility campus has undergone extensive redevelopment, including nearly $200 million in investment and a new headquarters that opened in 2019.
The campus is next to Burnham Yard, a former railroad yard that’s one of the sites the club appears to be considering as it moves toward a decision about whether to build a new stadium.
The sides have communicated regularly going back to May 2024, emails and documents obtained by The Denver Post show. The most recent meeting mentioned in the documents was scheduled for last month at the Broncos’ Dove Valley facility. That lunch meeting invite included team president Damani Leech and Denver Water CEO Alan Salazar and board chair Stephanie Donner.
The exact substance of those conversations is not clear from the records, including how much of the campus might be needed if Burnham Yard is chosen as a stadium site. Some meeting specifics in the documents are redacted. BusinessDen first reported on the records on Monday.
The Broncos declined to comment about the nature of the conversations between club officials and Denver Water, referring to a statement provided to The Post last week for a story about the team’s possible connection to a spate of property purchases near Burnham Yard. That statement said, in part, that “no determinations have been made as we continue to evaluate several options in and around the Denver metro area.”
The Broncos have also had conversations with officials in Lone Tree and Aurora, CEO and owner Greg Penner said earlier this spring, and could also renovate or build new on the current site of Empower Field at Mile High, which opened in 2001.
“We have had discussions with the Broncos as part of their exploration of potential future stadium sites, but it is premature to draw any firm conclusions,” Denver Water spokesman Jimmy Luthye said in a statement to The Post. “In these discussions, we’ve tried to make sure they fully understand any potential implications for Denver Water facilities and operations.”
The statement notes that the utility “has efficiently operated from this location for more than 130 years, and we’ve known that Burnham Yard was going to be redeveloped into something different for decades.” Denver Water kept its headquarters there in part because officials see it “as an anchor institution that’s part of this growing and vibrant community,” Luthye wrote.
Asked about city officials’ efforts to keep the Broncos in Denver, city spokesman Jon Ewing said Monday: “The city has been working closely with key stakeholders and is committed to ensuring that the Broncos remain in Denver, where they have long been a cornerstone of civic pride and community spirit. We have not been made aware of any final decisions made by the organization.”
Throughout their meetings, the Broncos and Denver Water have also brought in city officials, lawyers, developers, construction executives and others.
The Broncos and Denver Water had regular meetings scheduled throughout the winter and spring this year, with documents showing weekly touch-base and update meetings and one meeting notice saying it was scheduled weekly between early March and late May.
Those meetings have regularly included Leech and Broncos general counsel Tim Aragon, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s chief projects officer, Bill Mosher, and several leaders at Denver Water. They’ve also occasionally included Broncos deputy general counsel Bill Nunn and senior vice president of construction Amy Dee, who was hired in April 2024, and officials at the commercial real estate firm CBRE, Turner Construction, the Hogan Lovells law firm and Sewald Hanfling Public Affairs.
Many of the meetings appear to have been conducted virtually, though Denver Water leaders have visited the Broncos’ facility multiple times between August 2024 and last month, according to the records.
Aragon appears to have first been introduced to Salazar, Denver Water’s CEO since August 2023, last spring. Salazar previously was chief of staff to former Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.
“I understand you may be coming by for a tour and that you met Alan, our new CEO,” Denver Water finance chief Angela Bricmont wrote to Aragon on May 2, 2024, while introducing him to Denver Water general counsel Jessica Brody.
After that early meeting, Denver Water sent the Broncos hundreds of pages of details about how the utility financed its major redevelopment project and also about the environmental testing that had been done in and around the utility’s campus.
“I understand that during Tuesday’s meeting, we offered to provide documents related to the outstanding bonds used to finance Denver Water’s Operations Complex Redevelopment project as well as information on the environmental conditions of the site,” Brody wrote to Aragon on May 3, 2024.
Along with the documents, Brody also offered “a geotechnical survey of our property as well as limited records regarding environmental conditions at neighboring properties. I do not know if those have already been shared with you, but I am happy to provide them if you would like.”
One of the neighboring properties, of course, is Burnham Yard.
The yard itself is 58 acres and fits many of the qualities professional sports teams tend to look for when considering major construction projects. Not only that, but the Colorado Department of Transportation is selling the yard and expects to have the sale completed by next spring.
Experts have told The Post over the past several months, however, that the long, skinny Burnham Yard alone is likely too small to be home to an entire stadium and development project.
Last week, news emerged that a series of nondescript LLCs have recently purchased at least 13 parcels at prices totaling more than $150 million in the areas directly adjacent to Burnham Yard and the Denver Water campus. BusinessDen reported that those purchases are connected to the Broncos.
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