The Kansas City Council voted 11-2 last week to approve $600 million in funding for a new Royals ballpark at Crown Center.
Economists have argued that investing that much public money in the new Royals stadium is unwise because the economic benefits from the deal are “limited at best.”
But Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who led the charge to approve the financing package, disagrees with that.
“(Economists) make this suggestion that there's no new money because it's just taking money from some other activity within the same city. Thus, if you didn't watch or go to a Chiefs game on Sunday, everybody would be at the movies on Sunday afternoons in November instead,” he said. “I don't think that's true. For my Sundays in the fall, I'm not actually thinking if I'll go to the Dollar Theater somewhere in the city, if those still exist, right? Instead, I'm actually kind of into sports.”
Under the deal, Kansas City would cover 60% of the stadium project costs. The deal also leaves the city to cover any funding shortfalls.
In all, more than $1 billion dollars from the city and state of Missouri are expected to go to the development.
Low-wage worker groups and some community leaders have repeatedly called for a public vote on the financing, calling it a bad deal for the city.
“I still believe that is incredibly additive,” Lucas said. “This is a positive for Kansas City, it's a positive economically. If you're into vibes, it's a positive in that way too.”
@kcur893 Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas says he believes the public will likely still get their chance to weigh in on the council’s recently-passed deal that gives $600 million of city funds to a new Royals stadium. Lucas joined KCUR’s Up To Date in our brand new studios to discuss the Crown Center stadium and defend the city’s incentive package for the team. Low-wage worker groups and some community leaders have called for a public vote on the financing, calling it a bad deal for the city. “I still believe that is incredibly additive,” Lucas said. “This is a positive for Kansas City, it's a positive economically. If you're into vibes, it's a positive in that way too.” You can hear Lucas discuss the Royals, Kansas City’s search for a new police chief, and the future of the Country Club Plaza in the full hour long conversation at KCUR.org/uptodate or wherever you get podcasts. 🎤 Interview of Mayor Quinton Lucas from KCUR’s Up To Date 🎬 Filmed and produced by Zach Perez 💻 Edited by Gabe Rosenberg #kansascity #mayor #kcroyals ♬ original sound KCUR - Kansas City
The mayor said he believes the stadium deal is a “core investment in civic infrastructure” that will draw people to the Crossroads neighborhood and midtown Kansas City all season, generating meaningful economic activity.
“You have those sorts of things so you can attract far more things from not just the sports activities, conferences, events and the jobs that come with it," Lucas said. "I continue to believe that it is additive to a community to have professional sports, to have professional venues.”
Lucas also dismissed complaints that the quick process of approving the deal was intended to circumvent a public vote.
"It's still my view that, actually, there is a vote at some point," Lucas said, adding that council still has numerous details left to approve before the stadium gets built.
Lucas also told Up To Date that the redevelopment of the Country Club Plaza is headed in a positive direction.
The project hit a milestone this week when the economic development agency Port KC approved $1.5 billion in bonds and significant tax breaks for the Plaza owners. The redevelopment would include taller buildings and hundreds of new hotel rooms and apartments over the next 15 years.
Lucas said that making the Plaza more resident- and pedestrian-friendly would be a good thing.
“I want it to be a place that's dynamic, that's growing for Kansas City, that's diverse, and that's bringing more people to the Plaza than perhaps we've ever had," Lucas said.
The Port KC deal grants developers a property tax exemption that gradually decreases over the next 30 years. It could also include payments to public schools and libraries.
