Royals owner reveals stadium site and $1B pit for someone to shovel money into

Kansas City Royals execs yesterday announced where they want to build their new stadium, and it’s right where everyone’s been saying it would be for the last six weeks: the Crossroads arts district in downtown Kansas City, adjacent to the city’s indoor arena. And what did team officials say about how the $2 billion project would be paid for? Funny thing about that:

Who would pay for [a three-block] extension of the highway lid park? The Royals aren’t sure.

How much will the team be investing in the ballpark? About $1 billion of a $2 billion project that includes that private development.

Where the rest of the funding is coming from beyond the potential county sales tax that hinges on that April election went unexplained at an afternoon news conference at Kauffman Stadium.

Yeeeeah, so that’s not entirely helpful. It seems like Royals owner John Sherman is attempting to do the old “get people excited about the site and pretty pictures first and then let them know the price tag later” trick, which would have worked to perfection had the Kansas City Star decided not to report on this with the headline “Royals reveal site of proposed downtown ballpark — but few details on paying for it.”

As for the pretty pictures, there were a handful of new renderings, but they don’t show much in the way of detail, except for way more vertically stacked upper decks than any fan could ever want:

Also not pictured in the above renderings: the several blocks of businesses that would be demolished to make way for the stadium. The owner of at least one business located on the site says he hasn’t been contacted by anyone about selling, and there is concern the city could try to seize properties by eminent domain; the owner of a bar and liquor store that would be displaced says he hopes voters consider him and his neighbors into account when casting ballots in the April tax referendum.

Lots of unknown unknowns still, then, but some of Sherman’s intent is starting to come into focus. In terms of that $1 billion budget hole, the plan is presumably to get voters excited enough to approve about $500-700 million worth of sales tax surcharges in April, which would be split between the Royals and Chiefs owners, and then come back for more public money after that. A spokesperson for Gov. Mike Parson reissued last month’s statement about state funding yesterday, saying Parson would “do what he can to support” the team’s stadium plans but “the unknowns of the Jackson County sales tax situation need to be resolved” first, which is pretty clearly “reply hazy, ask again in April after the vote.” State legislators have similarly hedged, with state senate budget committee chair Lincoln Hough telling the Star, “Let’s see what happens there [with the sales tax vote], let’s see what they’re asking for and see if we can partner with them and figure out a way to make it work.” Twas always thus: Give them a dog, they want an elephant.