Kroenke Sports and Entertainment has submitted a concept plan for the first phase of a multi-use development around Ball Arena in downtown Denver that includes a 13-story hotel, two 12-story residential buildings and a 5,000-seat performance venue.
Documents submitted to the city Monday by the owner of Ball Arena and the professional sports teams that play there — the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets — are part of a larger plan to turn 56 acres of land that is mostly surface parking lots into commercial and residential properties and open space.
The entire project is expected to include up to 6,000 new housing units, with 18% of those qualifying as affordable housing, as well as a new city recreation center, retail space and a park with walking and biking trails surrounding the sports arena.
The hotel, two residential buildings and concert venue would be bordered by Speer Boulevard on the east, Chopper Circle on the north and west, and Wynkoop Way on the south. The roughly 4-acre site would be just east of Ball Arena.
A two-branched pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Speer would connect the development to Lower Downtown.
The hotel would have 244 guest rooms as well as eating and drinking spots, and retail. One of the residential buildings would have 160 units and the other would have 140.
Matt Mahoney, KSE’s senior vice president of development, told BusinessDen, that the company is “going through this submittal process with Denver, and a lot of the feedback that we’ll be receiving over the next few months will really help determine a final outcome.”
The plan says the performance venue would be 173,595 square feet. Mahoney told BusinessDen it would have about 5,000 seats and complement the 20,000-seat Ball Arena.
The city will have to administratively approve the concept plan before KSE can submit a site development plan, apply for building permits and fulfill other requirements, said Sarah Barwacz, spokeswoman for Denver Community Planning and Development.
The Kroenkes own 80% of the property included in the overall project area. The Auraria Higher Education Center, the Regional Transportation District and Xcel Energy also have interest in the land.
In 2024, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche team president Josh Kroenke signed a deal tying the franchises to Ball Arena and the land around it through 2050. The Denver City Council earlier gave key approvals for a massive redevelopment on the site.
Billionaire Stan Kroenke — Josh’s father — bought the arena, then named Pepsi Center, along with the Avalanche and Nuggets, for a combined $450 million in 2000.
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