More deals have been made recently around Burnham Yard, a former Union Pacific railyard and the Denver Broncos’ preferred site for a new stadium and entertainment district, that include two smaller land acquisitions by entities tied to the team and larger moves by state and city agencies.
Last week, Sterling Acquisition LLC entered into an agreement with Colorado corporation Rio Grande Co. to buy 500 N. Osage St., just south of the Burnham Yard site.
Lea Ann Fowler, a real estate attorney at Hogan Lovells, signed the agreement on behalf of Sterling Acquisition, records show. Fowler previously worked with Broncos general counsel Tim Aragon at the same firm, where he was the managing partner of its Denver office before leaving in 2022 to work for the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group.
In addition, Colorado-based law firm Mulliken Weiner Berg and Jolivet P.C. also appeared on the agreement. Representatives from Rio Grande and Mulliken Law did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
So far, entities that appeared to be tied to the Denver Broncos have purchased nearly 20 parcels of land over the past few years, often through random LLCs, including a recent transaction at 2214 W. 8th Ave.
The property sold for $400,000 to Stringfellow LLC, according to city property records filed in February. Property records show the total appraised value of the site is $303,300.
Stringfellow appears to be connected to the law firms Robinson Waters & O’Dorisio and the Denver office of Spencer Fane. O’Dorisio, Spencer and Fowler have all represented the team in several acquisitions within the stadium’s development plan.
EVERYDAY ACCESS: A map included in the Denver Broncos’ large development review pre-application filed with Denver’s planning department in November 2025 shows a conceptual plan for transportation access to the Burnham Yard stadium neighborhood. Orange lines identify planned vehicle routes. Dotted orange lines are shared streets and dashed blue lines show existing freight and light rail lines. (Courtesy Denver Department of Community Planning and Development)
The parcel is next to 781 N. Vallejo St., which was acquired by SNCC LLC for $2.2 million in January. SNCC is another LLC tied to Robinson Waters & O’Dorisio.
Like other related deals, the purchases involved an LLC formed in late 2023.
Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Transportation and Denver Water have made moves in the area of the preferred stadium site.
Colorado transportation officials say they’ve negotiated a deal to sell the 58-acre Burnham Yard property south of downtown to the Denver Broncos for $45.8 million.
The deal, scheduled to be finalized on May 15, would give CDOT the funds needed to pay off a bank loan that state officials used five years ago to buy the property for $50 million. That’s a loss of $4.2 million.
An RTD light rail train crosses under the Eighth Avenue viaduct with the south end of Burnham Yard visible to the right on Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
The deal will preserve public access needed to improve transit on the east side of the property along the Regional Transportation District light rail tracks. It means funds will flow to spur development around a new Broncos stadium, CDOT spokesman Matt Inzeo said.
“We are thrilled with the sale agreement with the Denver Broncos, where the Broncos have agreed to pay off our loan in its entirety,” Inzeo said.
“The sale price fully repays the debt that the Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CDOT’s business enterprise arm) took on to purchase Burnham Yard in 2021, and the state will no longer have to bear any maintenance costs for the property. This arrangement minimizes risk to the state and unlocks billions of dollars in private investment in this long-blighted, underutilized property.”
Union Pacific closed Burnham Yard in 2016. CDOT bought it for $50 million because state officials anticipated using 17 acres to relocate train tracks and make room for widening Interstate 25 through central Denver, while also ensuring access for Front Range Passenger Rail and expansion of RTD light rail. CDOT and the state’s economic development office each kicked in $7.5 million for that sale. The bank loan covered the rest.
Over the next four years, state officials decided all they needed was right-of-way access stretching along tracks south of Metropolitan State University of Denver sports fields. They purchased that access last year from Union Pacific.
When the sale is completed, CDOT will remove three rail crossings at 13th Avenue, Rio Court, and Shoshone Street, Inzeo said. That will improve safety, he said.
Nearby, Denver Water plans to build a new operations campus in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood, which will replace the 25 acres that the utility has agreed to provide to the Broncos from its campus at 1600 W. 12th Ave., near Burnham Yard.
Records filed this month show Denver Water paid $13.5 million for an industrial property, west of a former AT&T facility at 2577 E. 40th Ave., from Claudrey LLC.
Additionally, in December, Denver Water submitted a concept plan to the city’s Department of Community Planning and Development for a new building on Lot M at Empower Field at Mile High. The 5.49-acre development proposes construction of “one two-story office and storage facility, associated parking, and exterior storage for fleet vehicles and materials.”
A large crowd gathers in a gymnasium for a community meeting hosted by the Denver Broncos at the La Alma Recreation Center to share preliminary concepts for the proposed new stadium and mixed-use community at Burnham Yard in Denver on Feb. 12, 2026. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Broncos officials have discussed plans with residents of La Alma Lincoln Park near the property for a project spanning 150 acres on the east side of the South Platte River, including a stadium, at least 15 acres of “park-like” open space, and an entertainment district with parking.
“Burnham Yard remains the preferred site” for the project, Broncos spokesman Patrick Smyth said in a statement. “We’re continuing to work closely with community members and partners to advance the process in a thoughtful and collaborative way.”
The Broncos hope a new stadium is ready to open in 2031, along with commercial and housing development on Burnham Yard, a train depot dating to 1871. The land is east of Interstate 25, between West Sixth and West Eighth avenues, stretching about a mile from 13th Avenue to Fourth Avenue. A couple of dozen buildings remain on the site, zoned for industrial use.
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