Ball Arena

About This Project

The Ball Arena redevelopment is a long-term, multi-phase plan led by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment to transform the extensive surface parking lots surrounding Ball Arena into a dense, mixed-use urban neighborhood. The 55- to 64-acre project would turn what is now mostly pavement into a new downtown district with residential, hospitality, entertainment, retail, public spaces and infrastructure rather than vast lots of car parking. The vision for the site is to create a new downtown-like neighborhood anchored by Ball Arena (home of the Nuggets and Avalanche) that integrates with nearby areas like LoDo, Auraria Campus, Sun Valley and the River Mile development. The master plan calls for thousands of new housing units (approximately 6,000 over full build-out), including affordable housing components, office space, retail and entertainment uses. Initial concept plans focus on converting a 3.7-acre lot into a mixed-use cluster with four vertical buildings over an underground garage that would include a hotel, a performance venue, residential buildings with hundreds of units, retail/restaurant space and public plazas. A pedestrian bridge over Speer Boulevard is planned to better connect the new district with Lower Downtown. Public benefits tied to the redevelopment include community agreements to provide affordable housing (minimum percentage required), prioritization of local and small businesses, and job opportunities for lower-income residents. The full project is expected to unfold over decades, with Phase 1 entertainment-oriented development potentially completed by the early 2030s and the entire build-out possibly stretching toward 2050 as new neighborhoods rise. In short, this redevelopment will replace miles of surface parking with a dense, walkable district featuring housing, hospitality, culture, and public space that extends Denver’s urban core around one of its major sports and entertainment anchors.