The Ball Arena Community Benefits Agreement Committee (BACBAC) and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) have signed an ambitious Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that will transform the area surrounding Ball Arena into a thriving community hub with affordable housing, office spaces, retail spaces, local art, a living land acknowledgment, and expanded green spaces, all designed to foster connectivity and inclusivity. This agreement is the result of an 18-month-long collaboration facilitated by community leaders who engaged CU Denver’s Community Collaborative Research Center (CCRC), nonprofits, registered neighborhood organizations, Indigenous and Native leaders, other Auraria institutions, and others to insert community voices and needs into the development process for a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood that offers opportunities for youth, families, small businesses, artists, and people with lower incomes.
Following the signed CBA between the BACBAC nonprofit and KSE, the Denver City Council approved KSE’s zoning change request and view plane removal so that the development, including the elements in the CBA, can proceed.
Some of the key components included in the agreement guarantee 18% of the housing units will be affordable (beyond the city’s 15% requirement), first-hire opportunities for Denver residents in the construction phase, support for small and minority-owned businesses, an early learning and childcare center, a community arts center, 50% of the public art commissions granted to local artists in Denver and Colorado, youth programming, free concerts, contributions to the Displaced Aurarians Historical Advocacy Council’s peace garden, a donation to the 5280 trail, pedestrian connections between neighborhoods, and scholarships for students who are native, indigenous, or descendants of displaced Aurarians. Through the BACBAC’s negotiations with the development team, the collaborative approach aims not only to transform the area but also to create lasting economic and social benefits for the city and surrounding neighborhoods.
Collaboration With Broad Impact
The effort brought together a wide array of organizations, reflecting the depth and diversity of Denver’s community. In addition to CU Denver’s CCRC, key collaborators joined the committee from the Auraria/Central Platte Valley Registered Neighborhood Organization (RNO), the Auraria High Education Campus (AHEC), Community College of Denver, Denver American Indian Commission, Denver Housing Authority, Denver Streets Partnership, Downtown Denver Partnership, Fresh Start, Inc., La Alma/Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association, Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association, Sun Valley Community Coalition, and WORKNOW.
“The number of people involved in the BACBAC was amazing. Nearly every week since April 2023, we met internally as a committee, and separately for negotiations with KSE’s development team. Additionally, a significant amount of work went on between the meetings,” said Associate Professor and Chair of the Urban and Regional Planning Department, Carrie Makarewicz. “This is when members of the BACBAC reached out to their memberships and other groups we identified through the process, researched other CBAs, crunched data, or gathered other evidence to justify the nexus between our asks in the CBA and the projected impacts, or potential benefits, from the new development.”
“While it was difficult to make every meeting over the 18 months, everyone remained committed to the BACBAC’s vision for a new downtown neighborhood that would be welcoming to all Denver residents–whether as current or future residents or visitors– and enhance, not harm, the surrounding neighborhoods,” she continued. “In my role as the chair of the Family, Arts, and Culture sub-committee, it was essential that the neighborhood provide family supports that are missing in too many neighborhoods, including childcare, affordable youth activities, an accessible community center, free cultural events, and an active and safe park. These are the types of community assets that allow children, their parents, and other community members of all ages to thrive.”
Knowing the Stakeholders
Together, these organizations addressed various aspects of city planning, such as housing, transportation, community development, economic opportunity, and public health.
For instance, the agreement emphasizes improved connectivity and safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. Jill Locantore, executive director of the Denver Streets Partnership and chair of the Infrastructure and Connectivity Subcommittee, highlighted a critical issue:
“One of the main transportation concerns from the community related to pedestrian and bicycle connectivity not just within the new development, but to the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Jill Locantore, executive director of the Denver Streets Partnership and chair of the Infrastructure and Connectivity Subcommittee. “Right now, most of the Ball Arena site is a gigantic surface parking lot surrounded by dangerous, highway-style streets like Speer Boulevard and Auraria Parkway, which creates a huge barrier for anyone trying to connect from downtown into surrounding neighborhoods without driving.
“As the crow flies, downtown is really close to neighborhoods like Sun Valley and La Alma-Lincoln Park, but given how dangerous, disconnected, and unpleasant the bicycle and pedestrian routes are, those neighborhoods feel like they are impossible to get to,” she continued. “The 5280 Trail is envisioned as a loop of streets that help connect these neighborhoods by prioritizing people on foot, as well as art, greenery, and other forms of placemaking. We are hopeful that the Ball Arena development will help catalyze turning this vision into reality.”
The process of creating the agreement required balancing the needs and priorities of multiple stakeholders.
“Balancing the needs and priorities of diverse stakeholders was a central focus of my work with the BACBAC. At the outset, we spent significant time discussing the goals of each subcommittee—affordable housing, economic opportunity, infrastructure and connectivity, and family, arts, and culture. Together, we explored what success would look like at different levels: the ideal outcome, an acceptable outcome, and the bare minimum. These early conversations were crucial for aligning the group and clarifying shared definitions and priorities,” shared Mary Coddington, MURP alum and partner at Cappelli Consulting.
Leadership and Student Involvement
CU Denver faculty and students played an important role in this initiative. Makarewicz served as chair of the Family, Arts and Culture Subcommittee, and MURP alum Aislinn Droski contributed research and outreach, ensuring the project reflected the needs of the community.
“My role in the CCRC, as it related to the BACBAC project, was to aid Carrie in researching elements we would negotiate as the Family, Arts, and Culture committee,” said recent MURP alum Aislinn Droski. “We approached this by first wanting to understand the needs of the surrounding communities, including childcare, artists spaces, scholarship needs, family-size housing, and any existing initiatives in the arts/culture space that could be supported by this CBA.”
“As someone interested in the intersection between housing, community development, transportation, and the arts, being in the room with people with intimate knowledge of these fields, through professional and/or lived expertise, was deeply valuable,” she continued. “They were able to leverage their knowledge to negotiate an agreement that understood how these elements must overlap to create a development that can hopefully integrate into the community that surrounds it and be welcoming to a wide variety of folks.”
This work does not stop at involving students in the process and teaching these invaluable principles, which are also pillars of the CU Denver Urban and Regional Planning program — healthy communities, equitable urbanism, and regional sustainability. This extends even further by creating financial opportunities, $1.1 million specifically, through scholarships and emergency assistance for students who are Indigenous, native, or descendants of Displaced Aurarians, a direct result of the BACBAC committee’s commitment to ensuring the Ball Arena redevelopment project contributes positively to the surrounding neighborhood, including the Auraria campus, and recognizes the former residents and uses of its land.
Next Steps
The BACBAC nonprofit organization is part of the new board overseeing a Community Investment Fund, created through the agreement, which will remain active until the new buildings are constructed and community members in new residential units are in place. Soon, a website dashboard will be available to track the progress of the agreement, and BACBAC members will be watching this dashboard to verify that information is posted and accurate.
Progress for the CBA will be documented via an academic journal article, which will help expand on the growing literature and will share this as a case study that will be globally accessible. A guidebook will also be made available for the Denver City Council and community organizations, providing a step-by-step guide to the complex and time-consuming process to design, negotiate, complete, finalize, and implement a successful CBA.