Royals downtown KC stadium project takes two big steps. Here’s what’s left
Kansas City’s path to downtown baseball took two more steps Tuesday in a long, turbulent journey with an endpoint finally coming into view.
Next up: the full City Council for final approval.
The city’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee first Tuesday gave initial approval to the stadium funding plan, authorizing City Manager Mario Vasquez to negotiate with the Kansas City Royals up to $600 million towards a $1.9 billion stadium project at Washington Square Park.
Hours later, the city’s Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners — a five-member board appointed by Mayor Quinton Lucas — unanimously approved a resolution authorizing Vasquez to execute a lease agreement with the Royals to use the park, which is owned by the city.
Together, the two votes laid the groundwork for Kansas City to solidify its offer to the Royals, potentially securing the team’s home for the next three decades.
While the Royals have still not announced a move, a top team official voiced support for the ordinance and Lucas characterized Thursday’s City Council meeting as the last step preceding “a big, fancy announcement” that would include the team.
“It was a long, winding road to getting this here,” Lucas said. “But you know what? It’s all great when you get there in the end.”
High-ranking Royals representatives were in the audience during both meetings on Tuesday. After the morning finance committee meeting, Brooks Sherman, the team’s president of real estate and development, briefly addressed reporters, saying they will “continue our work with Mario and his staff toward an agreement as was put forth in the ordinance.”
“We think we have a great project that will ultimately come to pass,” Sherman told reporters. “... We are very appreciative of this process, and we will maintain our work in it.”
The city is one piece of the team’s preferred financial pie. The stadium portion of the project is projected to be 60% publicly funded and 40% privately funded, according to preliminary documents obtained by The Star, which is separate from the Royals’ funding of a surrounding district.
It remains unclear how much money state officials will contribute to the project and whether Jackson County will partner with the city at all. The city’s proposal would authorize Vasquez to apply for state funding from a sweeping stadium financing package signed into law last summer that required a local funding source.
While the City Council is likely to approve the proposal on Thursday, that vote would not officially solidify the team’s move near downtown. The funding deal itself would have to go back before the council at a future date once the proposal is fleshed out, city staff told council members on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s finance committee meeting offered members of the public their first chance to weigh in on the stadium proposal. One by one, opponents and supporters stepped up to a microphone to address the deal in front of council members.
Local business advocates and organized labor groups touted the potential stadium as a major boost to the city’s downtown landscape and construction jobs. Meanwhile, members of some progressive groups framed the proposal as corporate welfare for rich team owners. More than one speaker referenced economic studies that have shown stadiums are not major engines for economic development.
Numerous opponents referenced the 2024 vote in which Jackson County residents soundly rejected a stadium tax that would have funded a new stadium in the Crossroads District, a vote that has long plagued city and team officials.
Despite that opposition, the committee advanced the proposal to the full council.
Just minutes later and roughly eight miles south of City Hall, the city’s parks board began its own discussion about a resolution allowing Vasquez to strike a lease agreement with the team.
The majority of that discussion happened behind closed doors after the board voted to vet the proposal in a closed session across the hall from the board’s chambers. Lucas, whose staff presented the resolution to the board, met with board members during the closed session for roughly an hour.
When the board returned Tuesday afternoon, its members unanimously voted to approve the resolution — with several tweaks. For example, the new resolution allows the board to strike its approval if portions of the deal are not honored and gives a representative of the parks board a spot on a negotiation team to discuss a community benefits agreement with the city and the Royals.
“What an important moment it is for our city and for this new era that we’re about to usher in,” said Pat Contreras, a parks board commissioner, after the vote.
