Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has had a massive breakthrough in his attempts to redevelop the land surrounding Ball Arena, home to his NBA franchise Denver Nuggets. With plans to transform a 70-acre plot of land, largely made up of car parks, he is closing in on yet another major deal.
The real estate and business tycoon, who runs Kroenke Sports and Entertainment (KSE), has been no stranger to similar moves in the past. This one comes with the American aiming to create around 6,000 new housing units, 1,080 of which would be income-restricted.
Like many of his other projects, the downtime Denver expansion also includes a blueprint to build hotels, office space, entertainment, and an all-round live-work-play district. There are also plans to connect the project to the city with five bridges, plus more than 10 miles of bike lanes, a recreation and childcare centre, plus open space.
In a boost to his hopes of getting the Ball Arena development across the line, The Community Planning Board have approved the rezoning of the land and sent it onto the City Council. Kroenke, 76, will first have to negotiate an agreement with the community and surrounding neighbourhood.
It is claimed by board member Simon Tafoya, via the Denverite, that ‘significant progress’ towards the agreement has been made. Luckily for Kroenke it is not the first expansion of this kind he has done.
His NFL franchise, 2021 champions LA Rams, moved to a new home at the much coveted SoFi Stadium, which has state-of-the-art retail and entertainment facilities. Comparatively, Ball Arena cost much less to make.
It is estimated that the 18,000 seater stadium needed around £260million to be built. Certainly of note for Nuggets fans, and supporters of NHL side Denver Avalanche, a promise has been made that no rehoming will be needed.
Kroenke moved the Rams in 2016 from St Louis, causing great controversy. He was not on hand when Premier League outfit Arsenal made the short swap from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium almost 20 years ago though.
Unlike the Nuggets and Avalanche, who have had success recently – as have the Rams – Arsenal have not been able to lift a domestic league title. Manager Mikel Arteta and sporting director (plus former player) Edu Gaspar have made great strides towards changing that though.
They have, under a restructured sporting model taken over by Kroenke’s son, Josh, been involved in a title fight for the past two seasons. With the aid of his riches and their planning, the Kroenke’s have plans for the summer transfer window including buying a new defender – likely to be Riccardo Calafiori – midfielder, and possibly attacker.
So far the Gunners have failed to complete any serious business. They will be hopeful of that changing in the coming weeks before the season gets underway.
