Downtown Denver’s sports-and-entertainment landscape is being redrawn. On Sept. 18, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) announced an estimated $135 million renovation of Ball Arena, the 27-year-old home of the Avalanche, Nuggets and Mammoth. We’re the CRE intelligence hub, so here’s what’s confirmed, what isn’t, and what it means for the corridor.
The announcement rendering: the renovated arena’s glass-fronted east side and pedestrian plaza. Source: rendering by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, via Bisnow Denver (Sept. 18, 2026).
Ball Arena Renovation: A New Front Door Facing Downtown
The headline move is the expanded East Atrium: a large glass façade, new escalators and a team store about double the size of today’s shop. Outside, a 34K SF pedestrian plaza will face Chopper Circle, per The Denver Post. For CRE, the plaza matters as much as the building. It’s programmable space for game-day activations, pop-ups and food operators, and it turns the arena’s edge into a public-facing frontage. Axios Denver notes the plan suggests the arena will remain the anchor, and increasingly the front door, of the new district.
Plaza and façade at street level: game-day programming with team tents and food trucks in front of the new glass east entrance. Source: rendering by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Colorado Avalanche official release (Sept. 18, 2026).
Inside: wider concourses, more premium space
The interior scope targets the pain points fans know well. KSE plans wider concourses and entry/exit points to ease congestion, faster point-of-sale technology, and three new clubs, one with direct access to reserved 100-level seating. These upgrades come on top of the previously announced luxury suite renovation, which Axios reports began this summer with 24 of the arena’s 89 suites. Premium and hospitality revenue are what justify a $135M Ball Arena renovation, and they set the standard other venues in the market will be measured against. The Hockey News adds that the work will be phased to limit disruption for fans and neighbors.
The East Atrium: escalators, wood-clad concourse levels and floor-to-ceiling glass. Source: rendering by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Colorado Avalanche official release (Sept. 18, 2026).
Timeline
Construction is expected to begin next summer and finish in fall 2028, per The Denver Post. KSE says the work will be phased and complete before the 2028-29 seasons, and that the teams will keep playing at Ball Arena throughout.
The bigger picture: the arena anchors a 55-acre district
Stan Kroenke said the renovated arena and the redevelopment of the surrounding land let KSE keep doing both for another 25 years and beyond. That vision covers roughly 55 acres of surface parking, which Bisnow first reported when KSE filed its development review plan. When KSE filed its first formal concept plans, they called for a hotel, a performance venue, two multifamily towers and a pedestrian bridge over Speer Boulevard. Add KSE’s full ownership of River Mile (Elitch Gardens and Meow Wolf) since June 2025, and the Central Platte Valley starts to look like one connected, owner-controlled district. SVN is tracking similar large-scale repositioning across Denver, including the Rock Drill RiNo redevelopment.
District-scale view: conceptual massing of the Ball Arena redevelopment site relative to downtown Denver and the Front Range. Massing shown is conceptual, not final design. Source: rendering by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (Axios Denver coverage of the redevelopment, Sept. 18, 2026).
Ball Arena renovation at a glance
How much is the Ball Arena renovation? An estimated $135 million, announced Sept. 18, 2026.
When will it finish? Construction is expected to start next summer and finish in fall 2028, before the 2028-29 seasons.
What’s included? An expanded East Atrium with glass façade and escalators, three new clubs, wider concourses, upgraded point-of-sale tech, a larger team store and a 34K SF plaza.
The competitive set is moving too
Denver Summit FC is building a $225M open-air stadium at Santa Fe Yards, with the opening pushed later in the year. The Broncos are expected to build at Burnham Yards, with a proposed entertainment district around it. Three venue-led districts in one urban core means real choices for retailers, hospitality operators and employers deciding where event-driven foot traffic will concentrate. For a south-metro comparison of anchor-driven retail, see our breakdown of the Mineral Place Littleton redevelopment.
What we’re watching
- Financing. KSE hasn’t said how the Ball Arena renovation will be funded or whether public money is involved (per Axios). With the Fed raising rates, see our latest Denver CRE economic update for the capital-markets backdrop.
- Phase sequencing. How renovation phasing overlaps with early phases of the surrounding site, including concept plans for a hotel, residential and concert venue near Chopper Circle and Speer.
- Retail and F&B demand. A bigger team store, new clubs and a programmable plaza raise questions about operator mix inside the building and in the neighborhood.
- Neighboring land values. Whether committed arena investment shifts underwriting for nearby sites in LoHi, Auraria and the River Mile corridor.
Evaluating a Denver acquisition, lease or disposition near the action?
Talk to the SVN Denver Commercial team at 303.632.8784, and browse more local analysis at svncolo.com/insights.