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Council approves ground leases for Potomac Park: pro soccer performance center and Cherry Creek School District fields
Summary
Centennial approved two 50-year ground leases at Potomac Park: one with a Colorado NWSL ownership affiliate for a performance center and temporary stadium use, and one with Cherry Creek School District for multi-field development; leases carry nominal $10 annual rents and require the tenants to build and maintain improvements.
The City Council approved two related ground leases on July 15 to advance development of a soccer-focused sports complex at Potomac Park. Resolution 2025-R-25 authorizes a 50-year ground lease to Centennial Real Estate Ventures LLC (an affiliate of the Colorado Women's Soccer Coalition / NWSL ownership group) for the northeast portion of the 43.5-acre site; Resolution 2025-R-26 authorizes a separate ground lease of the larger site portion to Cherry Creek School District No. 5. Both leases were approved by 7-0 votes.
Matt Sturgeon, who led the staff presentation, described the partnership: the NWSL-affiliated group will construct a performance center on roughly the northeast corner of the site and will locate a temporary stadium in the northwest corner for team home matches during early seasons; the Cherry Creek School District will develop the remainder of the site for school athletics and public-access fields. The leases carry nominal rent ($10 per year) and require tenants to design, build, insure and maintain improvements. Maureen Duran, with the city attorney's office, summarized lease structure: "A ground lease is just what it sounds like. We lease the ground to them. And in this case... we're giving it to both the district and to the team at the rate of just $10 a year," she said.
The team lease contains staged purchase options allowing the team to acquire the land under narrowly defined conditions and pricing that change over time. Duran said the first 20 years would require a market-rate purchase; between years 21 and 30 a preferred price of $1.84 per square foot would apply if the team has used the stadium as its primary home venue; after year 30 a nominal $10 purchase would apply in theory. The city attorney noted the purchase options are constrained so a future sale cannot occur if parts of the site remain under the school district's lease.
Council also discussed associated funding agreements and next steps. Staff said negotiations remain ongoing for a tax-and-fee reimbursement agreement to reimburse use tax and building-fee costs; staff also said the city will seek to provide up to $2 million in open-space funding toward pedestrian connections and public amenities adjacent to the site and that certain school-dedication funds collected by the city would be transferred to the district to support the project. All agreements described by staff were presented as items that will be returned to council for formal approval; the two ground-lease resolutions before council were approved at the meeting.
