With land in hand, American Royal plans to start building $220M site in KCK next year
The American Royal says it will begin construction next year on a new agriculture complex near Village West in Kansas City, Kansas
The organization in 2016 announced it planned to leave the West Bottoms, its home since 1899. But officials say the acquisition of 115 acres in Wyandotte County and a preliminary development plan show that the massive project is moving forward.
Local leaders planned to highlight the momentum with a celebration Tuesday morning at the new site, near the intersection of State Avenue and North 118th Street, just northwest of the Kansas Speedway.
The news “is a key sign we wanted to share with folks that this project is real and moving forward,” said Jackie McClaskey, president of new campus development for the American Royal.
While the organization previously announced it would spend some $160 million for the new facility, the all-in price tag is now expected to range between $220 million and $250 million, McClaskey said. The organization will receive $80 million in Kansas sales tax revenue, or STAR, bonds, an incentive that redirects local and state sales taxes generated by a project to pay for development costs.
It will rely on private fundraising for the remaining $140 million to $170 million, she said. The Royal has already received commitments for about 25% of the money it needs to raise, McClaskey said, though she did not want to share exact figures. She said acquiring the land for the site will help with fundraising going forward.
“We imagine the first six months of 2020 to be very focused on our private fundraising,” she said.
The Royal has so far spent about $3 million on design work and its purchase of 47 acres at the site earlier this year. The remaining land for the new complex was purchased by the Patterson Family Foundation, named in honor of Cerner co-founder Neal Patterson, who served on the American Royal’s board of directors before his death in 2017. The foundation has signed a 99-year lease with the Royal for 68 acres at the site.
Patterson’s daughter, Lindsey Patterson Smith, a member of the Royal’s board, said her father believed in the power of the organization.
“While we wish he were here to see this progress, my family and I are proud to be involved in this important initiative and are excited to see what the future holds,” she said in a news release. “This is about more than just building a state-of-the-art complex; it is about creating a place where relevant conversations and events around food, fiber and fuel happen.”
McClaskey, a former Kansas secretary of agriculture, said the Royal envisions more than just relocating across the state line. It hopes the new complex can host events year-round and become the nation’s “epicenter of agriculture.”
The Royal in January hired Glen Alan Phillips as its new chief executive officer. He brought 18 years of experience working for a stock show in San Antonio, Texas.
The Royal’s current lease with Kansas City for its West Bottoms complex limits it to a 14-week event season, McClaskey said. But the new complex will open up new possibilities. The organization’s roots are in its rodeos, livestock and equine events, though it’s probably best known now for the annual American Royal World Series of Barbecue, which in 2016 moved to the Kansas Speedway. The organization says it’s the world’s largest barbecue competition.
The new development plan includes more than 800,000 square feet of indoor event space, including barn and exposition areas, three performance arenas, one warm-up arena and more than 50,000 square feet of exhibit space. McClaskey said the group plans for a private developer to build a hotel and conference center on land adjoining the complex.
It will also include 2,400 parking spots and outdoor space that can host festivals or other events — an architectural rendering shows a Ferris wheel in the front parking lot to demonstrate that point.
McClaskey said construction should begin next summer with significant work completed by December 2021.
“The excitement that we have been hearing about the new American Royal complex is impressive,” she said. “It happens all over the country. People are very excited about having a new facility that can host these kinds of events in the center of the country.”
