The Kansas City Royals say they have purchased the mortgage of the Aspiria development in Overland Park, leaving open the possibility the team could eventually develop a new stadium there.
In a statement late Wednesday afternoon, the Royals confirmed their interest in Aspiria near 119th Street and Nall Avenue — once the Sprint World Headquarters campus — while also emphasizing that no final decision on a new stadium site has been made.
“The Kansas City Royals continue to explore all options throughout our community to develop a new stadium,” the team’s statement said. “We have not yet decided on a site, and any assertion to the contrary is inaccurate.”
The statement continues:
“As part of our ongoing efforts, we have negotiated or made investments in multiple potential sites – both in Missouri and Kansas. One of these investments was the acquisition (by an affiliate of the Royals) of the mortgage on the Aspiria campus through an arms-length bidding process.”
A statement from the Royals: pic.twitter.com/iqZT327nnv
— Sam Mellinger (@mellinger) May 28, 2025
Aspiria owner has extended loan in past
This doesn’t mean the Royals — through its unnamed affiliate — now own Aspiria.
Instead, the team’s affiliate organization controls the loan on the property, similar to when a residential mortgage gets sold to another mortgage company. The homeowner still owns the home, but the mortgage company could take control of the property if the borrower defaults.
Wichita-based Occidental Management purchased the former Sprint campus in 2019, and later secured a $232.5 million loan from JP Morgan Chase to redevelop the site that it had renamed Aspiria.
Occidental has since secured extensions for the loan’s maturity date twice. In 2023, a ratings agency downgraded the Aspiria loan to a “loan of concern,” citing in part Occidental’s moves to work with JP Morgan to extend the loan’s maturity.
The Kansas City Business Journal reported Wednesday that a loan backed by the Aspiria campus was purchased on May 9 for roughly $164 million by an entity that was formed in late April.
The KCBJ report said Occidental CEO Gary Oborny told investors the company was “surprised” their Aspiria loan had been sold. Oborny also reportedly told investors Occidental was working to arrange a meeting with the Royals to determine their intentions.
Occidental officials declined to comment Wednesday.
Brewing border war?
The Royals’ statement comes just days before lawmakers in Missouri are set to convene a special session in Jefferson City on Monday in which they are slated to take up possible tax incentives to entice the Royals and Chiefs to stay in Missouri.
Last year, Kansas lawmakers passed legislation aimed at incentivizing the teams to move across the state line. That bill authorizes Kansas to issue Sales Tax and Revenue, or STAR, bonds that would pay up to 70% of the cost of stadiums for one or both teams, which ultimately could cost billions of dollars.
Ever since Kansas’s move last summer, there has been speculation on sites in Kansas the teams could be eyeing.
In March, a local sports talk radio host suggested on air that the Royals were closing in on a deal for a new stadium at Aspiria, prompting Occidental to issue a quick rebuttal.
“There is a lot of speculation out there. This is just a rumor, and we are not talking with the Royals about moving to the Aspiria campus,” Occidental’s president Chad Stafford said in a news release at that time.
The team says it remains “committed to finding a generational home for the Kansas City Royals that our fans, our team and associates, and our regional community can enjoy for decades to come.”
The team on Wednesday said it is still “evaluating multiple options at the same time.”
“In fact, in the weeks since we purchased the [Aspiria] mortgage, we have continued to work through a strategic, diligent, and focused process in both states to ensure we can reach the best decision,” the team said.
A history of Aspiria
After rumors flew in March, Occidental’s Stafford said the firm was “NOT in discussions with the Royals about being a potential new site for their stadium.”
He said the company is “committed to keeping Aspiria a mixed-use space” that includes entertainment, restaurants and office space.
The Aspiria campus was once envisioned for office development as part of the former Sprint World Headquarters.
In 2020, Occidental had the 200-acre campus rezoned for mixed-use development, effectively paving the way for a variety of uses.
That, so far, has included offices, entertainment venues and other types of operations. After T-Mobile merged with Sprint in 2020, the company took over the western portion of the campus.
Earlier this year, Overland Park green lit a final development plan for some more retail near 115th Street and Nall, and construction on a new indoor go-kart facility and entertainment complex is underway, too.
In April, Wisconsin-based financial technology firm Fiserv announced its intention to lease out some 425,000 square feet of existing office space at Aspiria for a regional office housing roughly 2,000 full-time in-person employees.
Fiserv officials said that office could open as soon as later this year.
This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.
