Sturm College of Law Students Play Key Role in Denver Summit FC Community Benefits Agreement
Natalie Afshar, Robert "Hobie" Malik, and Mitchell Ukropina participated in the development of a Community Benefits Agreement as part of the plans for a new soccer stadium in Denver.
Three University of Denver Sturm College of Law students provided crucial research and support for a highly sought-after $7 million Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) related to the new Denver Summit FC soccer stadium, ensuring the major development project addresses the needs of surrounding neighborhoods. This included achieving a precedent setting silver level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) commitment for the project. LEED is the world's most widely used green building rating system, and provides a framework for healthy, efficient, and sustainable building design and construction.
The students—Robert “Hobie” Malik, Natalie Afshar, and Mitchell Ukropina—were brought into the process in early August by Keith Meyer, president of Denver Interneighborhood Cooperation (INC). Their involvement continued through the completion of the agreement, which was a key step to get city leaders’ support for the new stadium.
“This opportunity was an excellent way to support local neighborhoods in a really cool project,” said Malik. “Welcoming the Denver Summit to Denver is very exciting for thousands of fans, but the endeavor becomes tainted if the stadium construction negatively impacts local communities. To be involved in the facilitation of a CBA that aims to protect surrounding neighborhoods was a wholesome and invaluable experience.”
Guided by Meyer, the students undertook comparative legal research, analyzing CBAs from across the United States. Their work focused on understanding how these agreements operate and identifying enforcement mechanisms that could be used to strengthen such agreements.
Denver INC and students who were involved in the Denver Summit CBA will also be presenting at the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute’s 2026 Western Places | Western Spaces Conference in March, in a session called "Designing for Complete Neighborhoods: Municipal Roles in Community Benefit Agreements."
Denver INC partners with DU's Center for Community Engagement (CCESL), which provided funding for the three students to complete their work. The growing partnership, called the Denver Civic COLab, is matching DU students with neighborhood-identified projects and priorities through Denver INC, with faculty mentorship provided by Stefan Chavez-Norgaard, a teaching assistant professor of public policy in the Korbel School’s Douglas and Mary Scrivner Institute of Public Policy.
