Royals’ plans for former Sprint site remain up in the air: ‘There is no deal’
The future of the former Sprint campus that is among those the Kansas City Royals are reportedly eyeing for a future stadium remains unclear, despite talk of potential financial dealmaking in recent days.
Questions have been swirling about the site on West 119th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park, now called Aspiria, after the campus’s current owner reportedly faced a deadline to pay back a huge amount of debt to an affiliate of the Royals, who purchased the site’s mortgage earlier this year.
An affiliate of the team, operating under the name 119 Real Estate Holdings LLC, bought Aspiria’s $232.5 million mortgage for a reported $183.5 million in the spring. By purchasing the debt, the baseball team has the opportunity to make roughly $66 million while gaining more leverage over the site’s future.
Current campus owners Occidental Management Inc. had an Aug. 9 due date to pay its loan back to the team’s affiliate, according to reporting from the Kansas City Business Journal, or the Royals could have a lot more say over what happens there going forward.
Johnson County Property Records show no change in ownership as of July 13.
Recent Fox 4 reporting states that Aspiria’s owners, Occidental Management LLC, and the Royals affiliate reached an agreement to give the Royals ownership of the site, but both parties said otherwise on Wednesday afternoon.
“Contrary to a recent report of a deal between Aspiria and the Royals Affiliate who holds the mortgage on the Aspiria campus, there is no deal,” Royals spokesperson Sam Mellinger said. “We continue to work together constructively toward a positive solution.”
What about Fiserv and other tenants?
Just before the Royals announced its purchase, Gov. Laura Kelly unveiled a major business project slated for the same site.
In April, Kelly’s office announced a historic incentive agreement with Milwaukee-based financial technology services company Fiserv Inc. The $175 million project is expected to bring in 2,000 high-paying jobs to the Overland Park site.
As Occidental and the Royals work out the terms of whatever kind of agreement they’re coming to about the site’s future, “the tenants are the primary shared concern of both organizations,” Mellinger said, including Fiserv.
“Together, we will ensure they continue to receive the best in class service they receive today,” he said in the statement.
The state gave an extension
While the Royals have an opportunity to gain a significant amount of land under its belt, the team will need support from the state to make that happen.
Kansas lawmakers passed a supercharged bonding plan, with a June 30 deadline attached, as an attempt to lure both the Royals and the Chiefs across the state line.
In early July, the Kansas Legislative Coordinative Council unanimously approved giving both the teams until Dec. 31, 2025, to lock in a deal with Kansas that would fund up to 70% of new stadium costs with public money.
The move came less than a month after Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed his state’s incentive package, cranking up the intensity of the border war over both teams’ futures in the region.
The decision followed a June 26 letter from Chiefs team president Mark Donavon, which requested an extension of the incentive package.
Which potential stadium site the Royals will choose — in either state — is still up in the air, despite team leadership saying they hoped to reach a decision earlier this summer.
“When we determine we have something to report, whether about this site or any site under consideration for a new stadium, rest assured you will hear it directly from us,” Mellinger said.