By Deborah Grigsby | Denver Gazette
As Denver’s elected officials weigh a push for $70 million in spending along Interstate 25 and Broadway Avenue, economists and business leaders hope the buzz around the city’s new National Women’s Soccer League team rubs off on councilmembers who have pushed back on the project’s price tag.
Supporters argued that the proposed stadium would serve as a major economic “jolt” to South Broadway, while councilmembers are worried about shrinking revenues and redirecting interest money originally slated for a slew of projects funded by a bond voters approved a few years ago.
City economists published a 19-page economic impact study last week, projecting that a 14,500-seat stadium and entertainment district could generate $2.2 billion in economic output over a 30-year timeframe.
The Santa Fe Yards, as the stadium project is known, has the potential to jump-start development across the 41-acre former Gates manufacturing site, according to the study, driving construction and infrastructure development in the Broadway Station area, creating more than 1,000 jobs and delivering an estimated $82 million annually in direct, indirect and induced economic activity.
The report was produced by Denver Chief Economist and Data Scientist Lisa-Martinez Templeton to help the city calculate the worth and cost of the proposed investment, said Jon Ewing, spokesperson for Mayor Mike Johnston’s office.
Under a proposal presented to the South Platte River Committee, the city and the Broadway Station Metropolitan District would enter an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) that would provide as much as $70 million to acquire land for the stadium, connect adjacent neighborhoods and make public improvements to the bike, pedestrian and park infrastructure.
Of that amount, $50 million would be earmarked for land acquisition and $20 million for off-site stadium improvements.