Denver Water’s headquarters at 1600 W. 12th Ave. in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on June 14, 2025. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
In May 2024, the top attorney at Denver Water was introduced by email to Tim Aragon, the top attorney for the Denver Broncos.
“I understand you may be coming by for a tour and that you met Alan (Salazar), our new CEO. I want to introduce you to Jessica Brody who is our General Counsel,” Denver Water Chief Financial Officer Angela Bricmont emailed Aragon on May 2 that year.
Thirteen months later, Aragon and Brody know each other well.
Public records obtained by BusinessDen show that top executives at Colorado’s largest and oldest water utility have met regularly over the past year with the NFL team’s top executives, with top Denver officials sometimes in tow.
Brody, for instance, visited with Aragon in early August at the team’s Dove Valley headquarters and training facility, records show. Salazar, CEO of the municipal agency, was there for lunch with Broncos President Damani Leech mid-last month.
Many of the discussions take place by conference call or video, which makes it easy to bring in additional participants. Mayor Mike Johnston’s chief of staff, Jenn Ridder, has been invited, as has Bill Mosher, a former Trammell Crow executive who was named Denver’s chief projects officer late last year.
So what have the parties been talking about?
“We can confirm that we have had discussions with the Broncos as part of their exploration of potential future stadium sites,” Denver Water spokesman Travis Thompson said in an email. “In these discussions, we’ve tried to make sure they fully understand any potential implications for Denver Water facilities and operations.”
The documents provided to BusinessDen cover all written communications between Denver Water and the Broncos from May 2024 to mid-May 2025, and in some cases were partially redacted by Denver Water. The records show that the Broncos have expressed interest in Denver Water’s land in the Lincoln Park neighborhood near the former Burnham Yard railyard, a possible stadium site.
On May 3, 2024, one day after she was introduced to Aragon by email, Brody sent him documents related to the outstanding bonds used to finance Denver Water’s redevelopment of its site along 12th Avenue, just west of Burnham Yard. She also sent him a couple documents about environmental conditions at the site.
“We also have a geotechnical survey of our property, as well as limited records regarding environmental conditions at nearby properties,” Brody wrote. “I do not know if those have already been shared with you, but I am happy to provide them if you would like.”
The southern end of Denver Water’s site in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on June 14, 2025. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Denver Water is headquartered in a sleek, modern office building at 1600 W. 12th Ave. that is just five years old. The agency owns about 35 acres in the immediate area, extending south to Eighth Avenue. The “operations complex,” as Denver Water calls it, is dotted with numerous industrial buildings, as well as parking lots and storage.
Denver Water has long had a presence at the site, and spent approximately $200 million last decade redeveloping it, including constructing the main office building.
“Denver Water has efficiently operated from this location for more than 130 years, and we’ve known that Burnham Yard was going to be redeveloped into something different for decades,” Thompson said.
“To ensure we maintain our critical operations as the region’s clean water provider, we’ve been in conversation with those developing possible plans for this area to better understand how any potential development would impact us, including operational challenges, swift emergency response, and keeping faith with legal and financial responsibilities to our customers,” he added.
Denver Water’s holdings are adjacent to the widest part of Burnham Yard. BusinessDen broke the news last week that the Broncos had already bought private property around the former railyard, which is owned by the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Specifically, BusinessDen noted that 10 property purchases totaling nearly $150 million were made by LLCs with a clear link to Lea Ann Fowler, a local real estate attorney with Hogan Lovells.
The Denver Water communications, which BusinessDen received on Friday following a public records request, show the Broncos’ Aragon had two Hogan Lovells attorneys join him on a call with Brody last August.
The Broncos’ interest in granular details about Denver Water’s land holdings further suggest that the team has zeroed in on Burnham Yard as a site for a new stadium.
MAP: In this interactive map, the large property in blue is Burnham Yard, a state-owned former railyard in central Denver. The large property in purple is owned by Denver Water. Properties in yellow were recently purchased by LLCs formed in late 2023 by a Hogan Lovells attorney. Properties in red were recently purchased by LLCs formed in late 2023, but don’t have a link to Hogan Lovells. Boundaries are approximate.
The team’s lease of the publicly owned Empower Field at Mile High runs through 2031. It has been an open question since 2022, when members of Walmart’s billionaire Walton family bought the Broncos for $4.65 billion, whether the new ownership group would stay at Mile High or build a stadium elsewhere.
The former railyard is shaped like a crescent and seems too small to host both a stadium and additional development, which new sports venues in recent years generally include. But a Broncos deal for even some of the water agency’s adjacent property would give the team much more room to work with.
Denver Water’s headquarters building on June 14, 2025. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Records show discussions have been described in invites as a “touch base” or “weekly meeting.” Others that have received a meeting invite include a Denver assistant city attorney, a Turner Construction executive and Martin and Eric Roth, brothers and real estate brokers with CBRE who specialize in land deals.
A spokesman for the Broncos declined to comment Friday on discussions with Denver Water. Earlier in the week, the team told BusinessDen that “no determinations have been made as we continue to evaluate several options in and around the Denver metro area.”
Correction: A previous version of this story gave an incorrect job title for Bill Mosher.
Denver Water’s headquarters at 1600 W. 12th Ave. in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on June 14, 2025. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
In May 2024, the top attorney at Denver Water was introduced by email to Tim Aragon, the top attorney for the Denver Broncos.
“I understand you may be coming by for a tour and that you met Alan (Salazar), our new CEO. I want to introduce you to Jessica Brody who is our General Counsel,” Denver Water Chief Financial Officer Angela Bricmont emailed Aragon on May 2 that year.
Thirteen months later, Aragon and Brody know each other well.
Public records obtained by BusinessDen show that top executives at Colorado’s largest and oldest water utility have met regularly over the past year with the NFL team’s top executives, with top Denver officials sometimes in tow.
Brody, for instance, visited with Aragon in early August at the team’s Dove Valley headquarters and training facility, records show. Salazar, CEO of the municipal agency, was there for lunch with Broncos President Damani Leech mid-last month.
Many of the discussions take place by conference call or video, which makes it easy to bring in additional participants. Mayor Mike Johnston’s chief of staff, Jenn Ridder, has been invited, as has Bill Mosher, a former Trammell Crow executive who was named Denver’s chief projects officer late last year.
So what have the parties been talking about?
“We can confirm that we have had discussions with the Broncos as part of their exploration of potential future stadium sites,” Denver Water spokesman Travis Thompson said in an email. “In these discussions, we’ve tried to make sure they fully understand any potential implications for Denver Water facilities and operations.”
The documents provided to BusinessDen cover all written communications between Denver Water and the Broncos from May 2024 to mid-May 2025, and in some cases were partially redacted by Denver Water. The records show that the Broncos have expressed interest in Denver Water’s land in the Lincoln Park neighborhood near the former Burnham Yard railyard, a possible stadium site.
On May 3, 2024, one day after she was introduced to Aragon by email, Brody sent him documents related to the outstanding bonds used to finance Denver Water’s redevelopment of its site along 12th Avenue, just west of Burnham Yard. She also sent him a couple documents about environmental conditions at the site.
“We also have a geotechnical survey of our property, as well as limited records regarding environmental conditions at nearby properties,” Brody wrote. “I do not know if those have already been shared with you, but I am happy to provide them if you would like.”
The southern end of Denver Water’s site in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on June 14, 2025. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Denver Water is headquartered in a sleek, modern office building at 1600 W. 12th Ave. that is just five years old. The agency owns about 35 acres in the immediate area, extending south to Eighth Avenue. The “operations complex,” as Denver Water calls it, is dotted with numerous industrial buildings, as well as parking lots and storage.
Denver Water has long had a presence at the site, and spent approximately $200 million last decade redeveloping it, including constructing the main office building.
“Denver Water has efficiently operated from this location for more than 130 years, and we’ve known that Burnham Yard was going to be redeveloped into something different for decades,” Thompson said.
“To ensure we maintain our critical operations as the region’s clean water provider, we’ve been in conversation with those developing possible plans for this area to better understand how any potential development would impact us, including operational challenges, swift emergency response, and keeping faith with legal and financial responsibilities to our customers,” he added.
Denver Water’s holdings are adjacent to the widest part of Burnham Yard. BusinessDen broke the news last week that the Broncos had already bought private property around the former railyard, which is owned by the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Specifically, BusinessDen noted that 10 property purchases totaling nearly $150 million were made by LLCs with a clear link to Lea Ann Fowler, a local real estate attorney with Hogan Lovells.
The Denver Water communications, which BusinessDen received on Friday following a public records request, show the Broncos’ Aragon had two Hogan Lovells attorneys join him on a call with Brody last August.
The Broncos’ interest in granular details about Denver Water’s land holdings further suggest that the team has zeroed in on Burnham Yard as a site for a new stadium.
MAP: In this interactive map, the large property in blue is Burnham Yard, a state-owned former railyard in central Denver. The large property in purple is owned by Denver Water. Properties in yellow were recently purchased by LLCs formed in late 2023 by a Hogan Lovells attorney. Properties in red were recently purchased by LLCs formed in late 2023, but don’t have a link to Hogan Lovells. Boundaries are approximate.
The team’s lease of the publicly owned Empower Field at Mile High runs through 2031. It has been an open question since 2022, when members of Walmart’s billionaire Walton family bought the Broncos for $4.65 billion, whether the new ownership group would stay at Mile High or build a stadium elsewhere.
The former railyard is shaped like a crescent and seems too small to host both a stadium and additional development, which new sports venues in recent years generally include. But a Broncos deal for even some of the water agency’s adjacent property would give the team much more room to work with.
Denver Water’s headquarters building on June 14, 2025. (Thomas Gounley/BusinessDen)
Records show discussions have been described in invites as a “touch base” or “weekly meeting.” Others that have received a meeting invite include a Denver assistant city attorney, a Turner Construction executive and Martin and Eric Roth, brothers and real estate brokers with CBRE who specialize in land deals.
A spokesman for the Broncos declined to comment Friday on discussions with Denver Water. Earlier in the week, the team told BusinessDen that “no determinations have been made as we continue to evaluate several options in and around the Denver metro area.”
Correction: A previous version of this story gave an incorrect job title for Bill Mosher.
