An existing building at 1530 W. 13th Ave. in Denver. The city gave a developer millions in federal funds to demolish it and build income-restricted housing. Then the Broncos bought the property. (Hayden Kim/BusinessDen)
Taxpayer funds that were supposed to help build income-restricted housing at one of the properties purchased by the Denver Broncos for a possible stadium project are slated to be shifted to another site.
The Denver City Council on Monday will decide whether to move $5.6 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars that had been intended to help build affordable housing at 1530 W. 13th Ave. in Denver’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
The proposed change would apply the dollars to a forthcoming project at 155 W. Fifth Ave., a site 1.5 miles away in the Baker neighborhood.
Jeff Shanahan
The city originally gave the millions to local developer Jeff Shanahan of Shanahan Development. He bought the 1.4-acre 1530 W. 13th property in March 2023 for $5.75 million and told BusinessDen he planned to build about 190 units.
This past January, however, Shanahan sold the property to an obscure LLC, later telling BusinessDen he signed a nondisclosure agreement in connection with the deal.
In June, BusinessDen revealed the true buyer of Shanahan’s property: the Denver Broncos. The team has purchased at least $140 million of private property around Burnham Yard, a state-owned shuttered railyard. Broncos executives have also been talking to Denver Water about that organization’s 35 acres adjacent to the railyard.
The moves indicate that the Broncos want to build a new stadium at Burnham Yard. The team’s lease at Mile High runs through 2031. The Broncos have neither confirmed nor denied that they’re behind the property buys made through various LLCs and the team maintains that no final decision has been made on whether to build a new stadium.
The measure being considered by the council Monday would amend the city’s original $5.6 million agreement with Shanahan to transfer the money to a different entity he controls.
That entity, according to city documents, would buy and build housing at the 155 W. Fifth site.
The 1.1-acre property is currently a parking lot owned by Denver Health. The health system did not respond to a request for comment. Shanahan also did not respond to a voicemail from BusinessDen.
City documents related to the measure don’t reference the Broncos, but refer to a “unique opportunity.”
“As the site was being prepared for redevelopment, a unique opportunity arose to leverage the
existing investment to purchase a second site for affordable housing development through the proceeds from the sale of 1530 W 13th to a third-party,” the documents state.
The new owner of 1530 W. 13th Ave. will still be required to build income-restricted housing there, per city documents. A different property a short distance away that the Broncos purchased from the Denver Housing Authority also includes a requirement to build affordable housing.
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