Denver should be partner, not obstacle for Burnham Yard

Published by the Denver Gazette in August 2026.

Denver has an opportunity to build a model for future major developments that add housing, green space, and economic opportunity.

The Denver Broncos' latest plans for Burnham Yard offer something much more significant than a new football stadium. They offer Denver an opportunity to build an entirely new urban neighborhood and the opportunity to demonstrate how our city can successfully partner with private investment to build an opportunity city. 

The updated concept envisions more than 100 acres surrounding a privately funded stadium, with housing, restaurants, retail, workplaces, entertainment and public spaces integrated into a mixed-use district. The latest plans divide the area into four distinct neighborhoods and envision an expanded light-rail station, pedestrian-oriented streets, new parks, and a tree-lined walking and biking trail. The Broncos say the current plan includes public open space equivalent to roughly 11 football fields.

Burnham Yard currently sits in Denver’s urban core, as an abandoned industrial railyard. Now we have an opportunity to turn largely inaccessible and unusable land into a dense, connected neighborhood where people can live, work, eat, shop, and attend events. 

Done correctly, Burnham Yard can add neighborhood density where it makes the most sense. It puts new residents within walking distance to transit. It creates jobs and expands Denver’s economic base. A new stadium creates opportunity, but the neighborhood centers it around city-living and place-making. 

The City of Denver should play a role in this development as a partner and collaborator, not as an obstacle the developer must overcome. This means, the city should take this moment to examine the bureaucratic approval process that results in unnecessarily slow, repetitive steps and project delays. 

Major developments already require extraordinary amounts of engineering, capital, planning and project coordination. The proposed Burnham Yard project shouldn’t have to also spend considerable time and attention navigating a burdensome process. In fact, the city’s role should be value-add, helping coordinate multiple agencies and outside entities, including RTD and Denver Water, as a partner to the developer. 

For a project of this scale, Denver should establish clear decision-makers, predictable timelines, and coordinated approvals. The city should also clearly articulate the standards for development across all neighborhoods and streamline the process with a centralized, efficient process. 

Denver should also think bigger about public infrastructure surrounding Burnham Yard. A new neighborhood of this scale will require infrastructure supporting thousands of residents, businesses, visitors, and workers. Roads, transit, water, wastewater, electrical infrastructure, stormwater systems, communications, and other utilities will all need to support substantially greater activity. 

As this new public infrastructure is developed in tandem with the private redevelopment, Denver should be planning ahead for the needs of the neighborhood in the next 50 years. When water infrastructure has to be replaced or expanded, we should look for opportunities to improve efficiency, durability, and capacity. When streets are rebuilt, we should design them for pedestrians, transit, bicycles, vehicles, and a robust tree canopy. When electrical infrastructure is upgraded, we should be thinking about demand growth, electrification, and resilience. 

A major redevelopment gives us a chance to do things in an efficient, coordinated, and high-quality way that should become a model for the rest of the city. 

The Broncos have committed to privately funding the stadium and surrounding mixed-use development, while the City of Denver and State of Colorado should be expected to support public improvements that benefit the broader community. That presents an opportunity for Denver to leverage substantial private investment while making strategic public improvements that add value well beyond a football stadium. 

Denver has additional major sites that will change dramatically over the coming decades, so let’s make Burnham Yard a model for doing things the right way, so that we can efficiently and effectively invest in mixed-use neighborhoods, housing, parks, public spaces, modernized infrastructure, and make city government an active, trusted partner in getting things done. 

Let’s get this one right, learn the lessons, improve, and then do it again for the next big project. 

Erik Clarke is a business executive and chief financial officer from Denver, Colorado. His experience includes running billion-dollar companies. He’s also served in management roles at large consulting firms, Deloitte and Crowe as well as board leadership roles for nonprofits in Colorado.

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