The Broncos shared their vision Tuesday for a mixed-use neighborhood and entertainment district at Burnham Yard, where the team plans to build its next stadium.

The team released updated renderings of four proposed districts and landmarks surrounding a retractable-roof stadium anticipated to open in 2031.

Renderings of the stadium itself are not yet available, with the design process ongoing.

The updated Burnham Yard master plan, led by Denver-based Tryba Architects, features four neighborhood districts: North End, Village Center, Turntable and South End.

The master plan update also includes details on several proposed landmarks.

“We’re thrilled to see the Denver Broncos’ updated master plan for Burnham Yard,” J.J. Ament, president and CEO of the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. “As chamber members since 1968, the team has been a valued partner and we’ve been proud to work alongside them and the community on this transformative site.”

Ament added: “We’re proud of the Broncos’ commitment to Metro Denver and for the investments they’re making that will create a space second-to-none in the NFL. The follow-on investment and benefit to our entire region by having the Broncos develop this abandoned rail site will pay dividends to our community for literally a generation.”

The office of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston called the renderings “incredibly promising.”

“These renderings demonstrate exactly what this development will bring to Denver,” said Jon Ewing, a spokesman for Johnston. “Not just a best-in-class stadium, but world-class improvements to connectivity in existing neighborhoods and transforming abandoned rail yards into new community and family-friendly spaces. These renderings are incredibly promising, and we’re excited to continue working together with the Broncos and community for the betterment of Denver.”

Mile High Line

Plans include a Mile High Line trail that would repurpose abandoned rail tracks running along the eastern edge of the site into a tree-lined trail for running, biking and walking.

The city has long expressed an interest in extending the trail north and south to connect the stadium with Santa Fe Yards to the south and the attractions arriving northwest at Ball Arena and the River Mile project.

The team’s news release also envisions converting the site of the historic railroad turntable that had been a central operation at the rail yard into green and open space.

There will be “at least 11-12 football fields of open public space” at Burnham Yards, according to the news release.

Historic Denver praised the effort to preserve the Locomotive Shop and asked the team to blend the history of the neighborhood with the new developments.

“Historic Denver is encouraged by the continued commitment to preserve the historic Locomotive Shop and incorporate the turntable pit into the future development,” said President and CEO John Deffenbaugh in a statement. “But history goes beyond the tangible.”

On site visits to other new stadium districts, officials found that “the most enduring projects weave historic places into new development, strengthen the neighborhoods around them and ensure that the benefits of redevelopment extend well beyond the stadium itself.”

“The best stadium districts do not turn their backs on the communities around them,” Deffenbaugh added. “They become part of them.”

On the east side of the stadium site near the current light rail station at West 10th Avenue and Osage Street, Osage Station Park would be a centerpiece feature of what planners are calling Village Center. Its green courtyard would be wrapped in surrounding homes, shops and workplaces.

Extending north and south to the east of the stadium, where the half-mile-long site adjoins Denver’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, Village Center would wrap an entertainment district. Plans for that would preserve and incorporate the historic locomotive shop that would become part of a mixed-use area of restaurants, bars and homes with an “urban Main Street feel.”

The updated master plan for Burnham Yard also eliminates the 11th Avenue crossing through the site, intending to slow vehicles to improve pedestrian and bike safety. According to the release, additional crossings will be closed for events, distributing event traffic north and south away from residential areas.

Plans are already creating anticipation among the few entertainment-oriented businesses adjoining the site, according to Jud Davis, president of the historic Buckhorn Exchange steakhouse, with Denver’s first liquor license, at the corner of 10th and Osage.

Neighbors optimistic

Davis told The Gazette that local owners are looking to learn more at a community open house, when the Burnham Yard Small Area Plan will be presented from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at the La Alma Recreation Center, 1325 W. 11th Ave.

“I’m pretty optimistic,” Davis told The Gazette, noting that although business owners are focused on parking, construction and other issues, they see little downside for the area after a stadium arrives.

“I’m fully aware they plan an entertainment district,” he quipped, “but I’m guessing it won’t have another first steakhouse in Denver as part of that. We’re counting on our uniqueness to get us through.”

The renderings release is the latest step in a process that gathered speed when the Broncos finalized an agreement in May to acquire the 58.5-acre Burnham Yard for a reported $45.8 million.

The rail site has been owned by the Colorado Department of Transportation after it had purchased the ground from Union Pacific in 2021.

During the interim, the team had gone on a spending spree, acquiring smaller properties adjoining the site, including a large parcel directly adjacent to the light rail station that had been owned by the Denver Housing Authority, for $7 million.

In its release with the renderings, the Broncos noted that community feedback provided during public meetings on the stadium move had played a large role in forming the new visual concepts.

The team said the Burnham Yard master plan renderings are not final and will evolve as the planning process continues with RTD, Denver Water, the city and other stakeholders.

“We’re anxious for final approvals and for construction to begin as soon as possible,” the chamber’s Ament added. “To be competitive in football and in stadium development, our community needs to make quick completions, break through barriers and get to the end zone.”