Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is asking the city to invest up to $70 million for land acquisition and improvements for a women’s soccer stadium.

Under a proposal presented Wednesday to the South Platte River Committee, the city and the Broadway Station Metropolitan District would enter an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) that would acquire land for the stadium, connect adjacent neighborhoods and make public improvements to the bike, pedestrian and park infrastructure.

In March, the National Women’s Soccer League team ownership group announced plans to build a 14,500-seat stadium and entertainment district that is expected to open in the spring of 2028.

The stadium would be built at the Santa Fe Rail Yard in the Baker neighborhood.

The ownership group, led by IMA Financial Group CEO Robert Cohen, would pay up to $200 million for the construction of the stadium, which is still in the design phase.

The proposal was originally up for a vote in the South Platte River Committee, but shortly before the meeting, it was changed to only be a presentation to give council members more time to look over the material.

However, council members pushed back on the price tag, citing concerns over current economic conditions and the deferral of other city projects.

According to city officials, the IGA would be split into two buckets, with land acquisition costs capped at $50 million and capping off-site stadium improvements, including adding a fifth lane to Santa Fe Avenue, at $20 million.

Denver Capital Planning and Programming Director Laura Wachter said money for the project would come through the city’s Capital Improvement Program and capitalize on the “positive interest performance” from the existing Elevate Denver general obligation, passed in 2017.

District 5 Councilmember Amanda Sawyer pushed back on team ownership and the city’s chief strategy officer Jeff Dolan, noting that some Elevate Denver bond projects were reduced in scope because of the economic concerns during the pandemic years.

“To say now that we have $50 million in interest that we could put towards something else, when the voters who voted for that are not getting the full scope of their original project that they voted on because of economic uncertainty, is not fair to them,” Sawyer said. “What do you expect us to say to our residents?”

Next year, the city is projecting the smallest general fund growth in more than 10 years, other than during the pandemic, according to At-large Councilmember Sarah Parady.

“We are facing the collapse of global financial markets,” Parady said. “I have to say I don’t believe this stadium will ever be built.”

Cohen disputed that, saying he was confident the stadium would get built.

“We’ve already dipped in the general fund reserves to balance last year’s budget, our reserves are below our 15% target, we’re under a city-wide hiring freeze that is impacting things like our response to overdose deaths, and we had 16,000 evictions last year,” Parody added. “So we really have to be careful about dollars.”

Dolan defended the project as necessary to develop the land and assured councilmembers of its completion.

“I would say there’s a huge risk for the city if we don’t move forward with this particular project, with the private investment that has been committed, that this land will sit vacant for another several decades,” Dolan said.

“We’re being asked to invest $70 million in a time of economic hardship,” City Council President Amanda Sandoval said.

Under the agreement, if the stadium does not get built, the city would still own the land.

Other council members suggested getting the money in other ways such as a voter-approved sales tax.

The proposal will return to the committee for consideration in two weeks.

Denver Gazette news partner 9NEWS contributed to this story.