Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche will remain at Ball Arena for the next 26 years, until 2050. This announcement was part of the subsequent Tuesday morning update the approval of the development environment the event center.

“In addition to what you see as the vision for this neighborhood for the next 25 years, today we will also finalize the commitment that the Nuggets and Avs will call Denver home by 2050,” Johnston said.

The news coincided with Ball Arena’s 25th anniversary celebrations when it opened in 1999. Johnston said the arena is one of the city’s key economic drivers and that in the future the area will transform from a sports district to a neighborhood and a business district.

“This will now be a fully activated neighborhood for people to live in. You can come and play in the park. “You can come to see concerts and yes, you can come in and out of three of the best sports franchises in the country in the same place,” Johnston said.

On Monday night, the Denver City Council voted to approve a plan to rezone the area around Ball Arena for a development proposal

The proposed project will help redevelop 70 acres of land surrounding the arena where the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Mammoth play. A residential district would be created with parks, paths, retail space and around 6,000 residential units. A portion of that — about 1,000 units — would be affordable housing units along Auraria Parkway and Speer Boulevard.

“This amazing venue, which brings our community together to create memories that last a lifetime, will be here for a long time to come and will be the heart of an entirely new neighborhood built on what is now acres of parking lots. said Kroenke Sports Vice Chairman Josh Kroenke.

In the public comment section of Monday’s City Council meeting, there were comments supporting and opposing the proposal. Some thought it would be nice to eliminate all paved parking, while others were concerned about the walkability of the area being so close to major roads with six lanes of traffic.

“This development will create thousands of new jobs and opportunities for many Coloradans and will be a vibrant part of a transformation we are seeing throughout downtown Denver today,” Kroenke said.

It could be before 2026 before any of the Ball Arena projects break ground.