Broncos say they won’t meet ‘ambitious’ stadium timeline ‘just by ourselves’

The Broncos need help getting across the stadium finish line.

The team in September announced that Burnham Yard — located south of Colfax Avenue and east of Interstate 25 — is the “preferred site” for a retractable-roof stadium and mixed-use entertainment district.

The Broncos have progressed toward that goal with multiple community meetings and a Colorado Department of Transportation sales agreement to purchase roughly 58 acres in May at Burnham Yard.

However, on Monday at the NFL owners meetings, the Broncos’ front office expressed a need for collaboration to meet a 2031 target date to open a new stadium. Controlling owner Greg Penner told reporters in Arizona that “as of right now, we are on track” to hit that goal — but with a caveat.

“It’s an ambitious timeline that we have, and we won’t be able to accomplish our goals in terms of timing and getting in there just by ourselves,” Penner explained. “So, it’s not just something that the Broncos are driving. We have to have a lot of support from partners and others that are involved with the site.”

Broncos team President Damani Leech added: “These construction projects take multiple years. You have to get prepared with a number of city and community processes that we’re all invested in and engaged in right now. We can’t do it alone. It’s going to take a lot of key partners at the city level (and) at state level. … It’s just important everybody (understands) the timeline is realistic. But it’s also ambitious.”

Here is a breakdown of several next steps (and a backup plan) to make the Broncos’ stadium dreams a reality.

Community Benefits Agreement: A CBA is a legal “agreement between a community organization and a developer” for “neighbors to work together with the development projects to make sure the community’s priorities are reflected,” according to a city document.

The Broncos have not officially started that process with residents of La Alma-Lincoln Park, Leech said, but informal conversations started quickly after the stadium announcement.

“The Community Benefits Agreement is a critical part of this. When we talk about the community and engaging with the community, that happens on multiple levels,” Leech said. “While we’ve appreciated conversations with neighborhood groups … that process has not officially begun.”

Leech added there is no official timeline for completing a CBA.

Denver Water: The Burnham Yard site is home to Denver Water facilities. It must relocate buildings that house the public agency’s operations and maintenance, distribution, trades, fleet, meter shop warehouse and health clinic workers.

Denver Water did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday about that progress.

“Denver Water is going to be an important part of the process,” Penner said. “Obviously, it’s a utility that provides tremendous assets to the community, and we need to make sure that as we move forward that their service isn’t interrupted in any way. We’re cognizant of that. But also coming up with a plan that allows us to get in there on the timeline that we have in mind.”

Leech added: “We have a great relationship with them and (Denver Water CEO/manager) Alan Salazar. We certainly respect and understand their priorities. We have good and open conversations. They want this to happen and so we continue to work with them. I feel like we will be able to solve it.”

Private real estate: The Broncos must complete a series of private land deals in order to secure the entire proposed 150-acre site at Burnham Yard. That includes land occupied by SRM Concrete. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

“There are a number of private transactions that we’re still working on, the concrete company being one of those,” Penner said. “We’re going to try to get that done.”

Backup plan: The Broncos’ current lease to play games at Empower Field ends in 2030. However, if new stadium progress stalls, it’s possible the team could remain at the current Mile High for longer.

“The fallback would be to extend our agreement with the current stadium,” Penner said.

How soon might the Broncos declare Burnham Yard as the approved stadium site?

“We will have all of our ducks lined up and be prepared to say that we are formally moving forward with that site,” Penner said. “I’m not sure exactly when that is going to be, but hopefully, sometime in the coming months.”