Kansas City approved a plan to finance a new Royals stadium at Washington Square Park. The Kansas City Council approved the $600 million plan at its meeting Thursday, which was packed with community members who opposed the deal and others who supported it.
When the council approved the plan, both cheers and jeers erupted from the crowd. Members of the building trades unions, who would likely gain work from constructing the stadium, thanked the city council. Members of Stand Up KC and the Missouri Workers Center, low-wage worker advocacy groups, told the council that they wouldn’t forget this at the ballot box.
The ballpark is expected to cost $1.9 billion. The rest of the price tag could come from the Royals and other public entities like the state of Missouri. Even though the city council passed the plan, it did not make any final decisions on what the final stadium subsidy will look like.
Council member Eric Bunch, one of the 10 sponsors of the ordinance, said institutions like Union Station, the Chamber of Commerce and the Crossroads Community Association supported the plan. The CCA opposed the potential park on the old Kansas City Star printing press site in 2024.
“This is a process that didn't go very well a while back, and a big part of that was the location,” Bunch said. “I think that it is a win-win to see reactivation of a park, and honestly, a surface parking lot that's subterranean, that is providing minimal value to the 4th District. We have a location that I think is a good one, that a lot of people have gotten behind. We did not see that support two years ago.”
The ordinance passed by the council does not finalize the stadium deal with the Royals. It directs City Manager Mario Vasquez to negotiate a terms sheet, lease and development agreement with the Royals.
It also directs Vasquez to apply for a tax-increment financing deal that would use new sales and earnings tax revenue in a yet-to-be-determined stadium district to pay off the $600 million city-backed bond to pay for the project.
The Royals have yet to publicly endorse the Washington Square Park location or the city’s financing plan. In a statement, the team said it’s grateful for the city’s work on the plan.
“We respect the process, which includes the City Council and Parks Board consideration, and the City Manager’s presentation of a term sheet for review and negotiation, with a long-term vision that we expect to include one of the largest private investments in Kansas City history,” the team said in a statement. “As always, our motivation is to find the best solution for our team, our fans, and our community. We’re excited by the possibilities this opportunity presents for our hometown.”
Dozens of residents packed city hall chambers Thursday to watch the vote and encourage city council members to vote for or against the proposal. Many of those in attendance were with advocacy groups Stand Up KC and the Missouri Workers Center, and the city’s tenants’ union, KC Tenants.
Others representing area businesses and building trade unions came out in support of the plan. The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas City Sports Commission, Visit KC, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City and the Kansas City Area Development Council said in a statement Thursday that they are encouraged by the city's funding proposal.
“With momentum building, this is an opportunity to move forward, preserving Kansas City’s legacy as a major league region and world-class sports destination," they said in the statement.
But at a committee meeting on the ordinance earlier this week, some residents expressed frustration that they had already voted down public funding for the Royals when they defeated the 3/8th-cent sales tax extension for the Royals and Chiefs in 2024.
Those opposed to the plan poured into the hallway after the vote, promising to keep fighting the deal. Terrance Wise, an organizer with Stand Up KC, said the city should respect the will of the people. The group is planning an action at Washington Square Park on May 1, May Day.
“We knew coming into this room and into this space that injustice would prevail today, Wise said. “If that tax passed to fund the Royals stadium when we all went to the ballot box, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. They would not be inventing a way to circumvent the will of the people back then. Why are they doing it now?"
Council member Nathan Willett, who is running for Congress, was the only one to vote against the proposal, and council member Crispin Rea abstained from the vote. Council member Johnathan Duncan, who was vocally against the proposal, voted in favor of it after amending the plan to ensure that any development agreements made with the Royals regarding the stadium will go to city council for approval.
Though it’s yet to be finalized, the taxing district will likely include Washington Square Park, the proposed new stadium location, as well as Crown Center and part of the Crossroads. The city will borrow the $600 million to help finance the stadium and ballpark district. Its contribution would be paid off using revenue from the TIF district. Once a plan goes before the Tax Increment Financing Commission, it must provide notice 45 days before anything can be approved.
But unlike a traditional TIF deal, the city, not the Royals, will ultimately be on the hook for the debt it incurs to build the stadium. If the stadium and surrounding district don’t generate enough money to pay down the debt, the city will need to use its own funds that would otherwise be spent on city services to cover the shortfall.
This situation has happened before with the Power & Light district. The city has had to pay tens of millions to cover the shortfall on the 2006 deal. As of 2023, the city paid about $167 million over 16 years, more than $10 million per year.
While the city waits to finalize the TIF plan, the rest of the financing for the stadium has yet to be determined. Under a plan passed last year, the state of Missouri would help pay up to half of the cost of a new stadium for the Royals. The team would also be eligible for up to $50 million in tax credits for investing in their stadiums.
But on Mundo in the Morning, Mayor Quinton Lucas said the state “is not kicking in 50%” to the Royals.
In a statement after the plan passed, Lucas said the vote officially sets a downtown Royals stadium in motion.
"Today's legislation is a historic day for Kansas City, the state of Missouri, and our entire region,” he said. “Our transformational new stadium and baseball district will bring more jobs to thousands of Kansas Citians, will bring professional sports and millions of visitors downtown, and will ensure the development of Kansas City’s core is second to no other city in our country.”
