We already knew that any downtown Kansas City Royals stadium was going to have to involve the Crown Center, the collection of shopping centers and retail, hotels, residences, office buildings, and an aquarium that sits adjacent to the proposed Washington Square Park stadium site — if only as the site of a tax increment financing district that Mayor Quinton Lucas has floated as a way to raise the city’s $600 million share of a $1.9 billion stadium construction cost.
But a press conference scheduled this morning with Royals owner John Sherman, Lucas, and Gov. Mike Kehoe is reportedly set to announce an even bigger role for Crown Center:
Sources told KMBC 9 that the new Royals ballpark site will move from Washington Square Park across the street to the Crown Center area.
The site will now offer the Royals 80 acres of land versus the anticipated 12 acres in the Washington Square Park location.
Buildings will be torn down, but the Crown Center retail space and hotels will remain with improvements planned.
That would indeed be a huge shift, and not just because Crown Center doesn’t have any obvious spaces big enough to fit a ballpark, so “buildings will be torn down” may be an understatement. Unlike the Washington Square Park property, the Crown Center is privately owned, by the Hall family of Hallmark fame — the “crown” in the name is the one in the Hallmark logo — so does that mean the Royals would lease it and it would continue to pay property tax? Or would the Royals or a government body buy the stadium land, and if so who would pay for it? And what of Sherman’s desire for a team-controlled ballpark district around the new stadium?
We will hopefully find out more at 10 a.m. Central. Tune back in to this post for further updates.
UPDATE 10:53 am ET: Still waiting for the press conference, but we have a press statement, which includes a smidge more detail:
A world-class ballpark, surrounding mixed-use development and reimagined headquarters for both iconic institutions at Crown Center would create more than 20,000 jobs in the construction phase alone. The 85-acre development surrounding a park-like central square with fountains…
The total project would be funded primarily by the Royals and other private investors and supplemented by public funding from the City of Kansas City and Missouri’s Show-Me Sports Investment Act.
“Total project” funded “primarily” by the Royals “and other private investors” likely means that there will be a lot of private development tacked on in the surrounding area, but the stadium itself will still mostly be paid for by taxpayers. Still nothing yet on how all the other moving parts, land costs, property taxes, etc., would work.
UPDATE 11:01 ET: Live broadcast of the press conference coming up here.
UPDATE 11:05 ET: “No new tax increases,” says Lucas, which is what elected officials say when they want to distract you from how it will siphon off existing tax money. (When they want to distract you from how it will increase taxes, they say “no impact to existing public funding.”)
UPDATE 11:18 ET: Sherman says “total investment of more than $3 billion,” no specifics on from who for what. Washington Square Park will be “part of” the “expanded” ballpark district, so sounds like the park will still be turned over to private development. Also says two-thirds private, one-third public, so that would make the total public cost either $1 billion or $1.5 billion depending on whether the $3 billion is the total cost or just the private cost. And, of course, this is before any land or tax breaks, which are still TBD.
UPDATE 11:35 ET: Hallmark chair Don Hall Jr. mostly said nothing at great length, though he did mention several times his grandfather jumping off a train. He also revealed that the Hallmark headquarters will be relocated to elsewhere in Crown Center to make way for the stadium, which would presumably put the stadium site south of E. 25th St.
UPDATE 11:39 ET: Ah, we have a map now. Looks like the stadium proper would take the place of the Hallmark HQ and the parking lot behind it, butting right up against Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church:
UPDATE 11:52 ET: Gov. Mike Kehoe: “If the Royals were not here, we’d have zero. So these tools are about keeping those income flows here. So that makes it a net positive to the state.” (That sound you just heard was a hundred economists banging their heads against their keyboards.)
UPDATE 12:06 ET: Mayor Lucas has finished his glurging without adding any actual information. Time for questions — nope, first time for a promotional video about the Royals’ inspirational history and future, skipping over their miserable present.
UPDATE 12:09 ET: Time for questions! No, wait, no time for questions, everyone’s leaving for refreshments! Who will pay what for construction, land, property taxes? Tune in next time to find out, or not!
Very exciting development that will likely save the city from having to bail out Crown Center in a few years. Win-win for the team and the city.
But which would cost more – bailing out Crown Center or building this Royals “crown jewel”? Would/should the Hall family “contribute” towards any needed/potential bailout of the location of their own headquarters or any other costs? Seems like taxpayers are getting “crowned”/clunked upside the head for this one. For the taxpayers, financially: that doesn’t seem very exciting and seems like a lose-lose.
I am here strictly for these updates!!!
It looks like they’re done providing, let’s call it “information,” for the day, so don’t expect further updates on this post. (Well, maybe here in comments.) Check back tomorrow morning to see if anyone has been able to extract any actual details from the mayor, governor, and Royals and Hallmark owners.
IIRC, Kehoe is the only sitting governor who lacks a college education, so his commentary is completely on brand. Not that a college degree confers economic literacy, but I would guess he’s somewhat less inquisitive and/or more easily fleeced than most elected officials.
Lucas just said the same thing, and he has a law degree from Cornell.
They are not *incapable* of critical thought. Being stupid is so much more remunerative.
Economics is for suckers, apparently.
The Country Club Plaza another nearby shopping and entertainment district that was always much more popular than Crown Center sold for less than half the loan it defaulted on. I would guess Crown Center is becoming less valuable every year although I doubt they have a big loan against it. So now KCMO is baling out Sherman and the Halls at the same time.
Was the city council completely blindsided by this?
I learned today that Hallmark is a family company named after the Halls.
That adds a new dimension to this story. It makes it feel like an 80’ primetime soap opera.
“Buildings will be torn down, but the Crown Center retail space and hotels will remain ”
Oh man, that is looking on the bright side.
“Mr. Johnson, I am sorry to tell you that your home has burnt down, taking with it your entire family, your car collection, several priceless works of art and two dogs. However, it is important that you remember that the space you lived in remains available”.
let’s vote. keep our city chill. no more entertain districts. no more tribals sports. read the 2022 study (https://joeornstein.github.io/pols-4641/readings/Bradbury%20et%20al.%20-%202022%20-%20The%20impact%20of%20professional%20sports%20franchises%20and%20v.pdf) – “recent analyses continue to confirm the decades-old consensus of very limited economic impacts of professional sports teams and stadiums. Even with added nonpecuniary (non-money) social benefits from quality-of-life externalities and civic pride, welfare improvements from hosting teams tend to fall well short of covering public outlays. Thus, the large subsidies commonly devoted to constructing professional sports venues are not justified as worthwhile public investments”
I would like more information regarding who receives the income from the surrounding shops that Mr, Sherman has eluded to several times. I presume no public vote is required because of the donation of land by the Hall family,Will Jackson County be a participant in paying off the bonds?
Thank you.
None of that has been publicly revealed yet.
I would like more information regarding who receives the income from the surrounding shops that Mr, Sherman has eluded to several times. I presume no public vote is required because of the donation of land by the Hall family,Will Jackson County be a participant in paying off the bonds?
Thank you. Has Mr, Sherman given a reason why he prefers to begin playing at the stadium in 2030 rather than waiting to begin in 2031 when the lease expires.
Nope. Also, the Royals lease expires *after* 2031, so would normally be for the 2032 season. But no reason he can’t start earlier, or later for that matter.