I was reading an article in the Star this morning about the small business and others who are being affected by all of this and it made me feel really awful about the Royals shouldering their way into an area where a lot of people had built lives and communities and are going to have all that erased, not to mention some people losing their small business that they dreamed about.
I honestly think if they spent another 12-18 months on planning, this area could be workable.
But they have no answers on small business for the simple reason that the economics do not work unless they attract national tenants to their own retail dev space at rates that do not work for incumbents. It's a feature of their plan, not a bug.
Your comment about an offramp stuck with me, and I think there is one. It goes something like this:
"Upon further reflection, it's clear that Kansas City has much more important matters than sports to address over the next several months, and that a vote on stadium funding should not detract from that. Both the Royals and Chiefs are fortunate to have flexibility under the existing sales tax that allows us runway to continue refining our plans and to revisit a ballot measure in early 2025."
If they think clearly about how the rest of the year is going to go once the debate over local control of the police department heats up again, I think they'd conclude that was a more prudent path. But they won't.
Mr. B, 34,000 is just about right for the regular season, but a lot of people will get screwed out of seeing any postseason action. BTW, have you heard anything about the outfield dimensions? I certainly hope they don't turn this park into a bandbox. That would be a shame given the team's historic emphasis on speed and defense.
The dimensions will come later. I'm sure they'll do something unique in the outfield because that's just what teams seem to do these days. Sherman touched on it a bit. He feels it's easier to sign pitchers in free agency because of how The K plays. But at this point, nobody really has a solid idea of what the dimensions will look like or how the yard will play.
A capacity of around 34,000 is going to create a demand and really inflate prices. At least for the first couple of years. If the team somehow lucks into the Cleveland plan where they open a new stadium just as the team opens a run on contending years, demand will be stratospheric.
While I am a tailgate before the game and short walk from parking lot J person, I will adapt. I hope the walk is reasonable. My biggest fear is as a quarter season ticket holder, I will lose the seats I have had for 20 years. I currently sit in 106 row P. I'm 12 rows up at the Royals on deck circle. I guarantee I will get priced out and not have an option to keep my quarter season package. I'm spoiled by the quite of my seats. I imagine I will not be able to renew and thus will not get to go to anywhere near the same number of games I have for years. That is the main reason I have been against a downtown stadium.
I have never been a fan of downtown. I'm a suburbs guy. I like easy. In my opinion, access to the Stadium will not be near as easy as to the Truman Sports complex. I'm probably the old man screaming at clouds but that is how this impacts my ability to continue support the Royals.
There are going to be a lot of fans who are going to get left out. Will they even offer a quarter season package? Twelve rows up will cost, what, double what it is at The K? That's one reason I've never really been in favor of leaving The K. The fans are going to pay a price. Literally.
I do think that if you wind up going to games downtown that the parking and travel situation won't be that bad. It will take some getting used to, but I don't think it's going to be a nightmare scenario I've seen some people predict.
We are all adults here, we don't have to buy the narrative they are so desperate to get over in 2024.
There was no investor appetite for the East Village mixed-use development, or they'd be building in the East Village. Like, it got zero traction, I am told, with anyone who could credibly front such a project. Total waste of effort.
NKC was such a charade one of the elected went so far as to spill the tea on the inside deal with Parson, and slam the door shut on even remaining a break glass emergency option.
The Star site was all they had left.
Conveniently, it lets certain stakeholders in P&L mess restart the clock / save face with their investors.
I just want to know if they will squeeze the Privateta clan as tightly as the other business/property owners. They do not deserve to be bailed out of the moronic decision to buy that white elephant.
The CBA had better provide a sustainable bridge for small businesses, and guarantees on access and affordability. KC has never been better organized to vote this down.
All interesting points and nothing surprises me. Especially the way the East Village was seemingly the front-running site until it wasn’t. The Crossroads site seems like a win for the P&L and something of a loss for the Royals group. They don’t get their dream “ballpark village” because P&L is right there. Funny how all that works.
I hear you on the organization, but I really think the Chiefs help seal the deal.
Yeah, they did what they could to appeal to partners/investors who want to see municipalities bidding against each other, but the pretense was far too thin, especially when FW decided to play hardball. Politics aside, the economic demand just isn't there, or P&L wouldn't need an eight-figure annual subsidy.
As of Sunday night, I think you're correct: it was highly likely to pass. Now, there are conversations going on as I write about the pros/cons of bringing the Hunt family's politics into the campaign against the stadium tax. Not sure how that plays out, or whether it moves the needle, but at the very least it has potential to make this even more unpleasant.
And for all the "State of Missouri" messaging at the parade, I am skeptical the deal with Parson survives what's ahead. He had scant room to maneuver to begin with on the stadium deal, and unless he changes his tune on KCPD governance I am not sure he'll invest the political capital to reconcile the two, if his hand is forced.
Sorry to get to this late but great article CB. Their moving at some point, even if the tax doesn't pass - which I believe it probably will. So for me, a nostalgist I generally don't like it.
What sogs my wheaties is one thing you mentioned; the whole ASR dialogue with the Concrete and the old Stadium not being viable. Once people feed me dog shit and tell me it's chocolate pudding, I'm done with them. It's unfortunate that running false narratives is how things get done these days and what really stinks is it's hard to do anything and somehow not be a 'knowing' or 'unknowing' party to it.
That's my rant on the ballpark. Thanks for all the breakdown CB!
Despite what you wrote, I will complain a bit about parking downtown, mostly because I haven't seen anything about how people with limited mobility will be able to access the stadium. At least at the K you can hitch a ride on a golf cart. Are they going to be running those from all over? Am I supposed to drop off my wife at the door and go find a parking spot blocks away? And I'm not sure people from out of town (the Royals always have been and will always need to be a regional draw) are going to be wild about trying to navigate downtown. Despite that, the proposal is growing on me since, as you said, this iteration seems to be a little better planned. But I think they still have some questions to answer.
I was reading an article in the Star this morning about the small business and others who are being affected by all of this and it made me feel really awful about the Royals shouldering their way into an area where a lot of people had built lives and communities and are going to have all that erased, not to mention some people losing their small business that they dreamed about.
Yeah. It's going to get ugly. And I don't see an off ramp for the Royals in this situation.
I honestly think if they spent another 12-18 months on planning, this area could be workable.
But they have no answers on small business for the simple reason that the economics do not work unless they attract national tenants to their own retail dev space at rates that do not work for incumbents. It's a feature of their plan, not a bug.
Your comment about an offramp stuck with me, and I think there is one. It goes something like this:
"Upon further reflection, it's clear that Kansas City has much more important matters than sports to address over the next several months, and that a vote on stadium funding should not detract from that. Both the Royals and Chiefs are fortunate to have flexibility under the existing sales tax that allows us runway to continue refining our plans and to revisit a ballot measure in early 2025."
If they think clearly about how the rest of the year is going to go once the debate over local control of the police department heats up again, I think they'd conclude that was a more prudent path. But they won't.
What you wrote makes sense, which means it will never happen.
Mr. B, 34,000 is just about right for the regular season, but a lot of people will get screwed out of seeing any postseason action. BTW, have you heard anything about the outfield dimensions? I certainly hope they don't turn this park into a bandbox. That would be a shame given the team's historic emphasis on speed and defense.
The dimensions will come later. I'm sure they'll do something unique in the outfield because that's just what teams seem to do these days. Sherman touched on it a bit. He feels it's easier to sign pitchers in free agency because of how The K plays. But at this point, nobody really has a solid idea of what the dimensions will look like or how the yard will play.
A capacity of around 34,000 is going to create a demand and really inflate prices. At least for the first couple of years. If the team somehow lucks into the Cleveland plan where they open a new stadium just as the team opens a run on contending years, demand will be stratospheric.
While I am a tailgate before the game and short walk from parking lot J person, I will adapt. I hope the walk is reasonable. My biggest fear is as a quarter season ticket holder, I will lose the seats I have had for 20 years. I currently sit in 106 row P. I'm 12 rows up at the Royals on deck circle. I guarantee I will get priced out and not have an option to keep my quarter season package. I'm spoiled by the quite of my seats. I imagine I will not be able to renew and thus will not get to go to anywhere near the same number of games I have for years. That is the main reason I have been against a downtown stadium.
I have never been a fan of downtown. I'm a suburbs guy. I like easy. In my opinion, access to the Stadium will not be near as easy as to the Truman Sports complex. I'm probably the old man screaming at clouds but that is how this impacts my ability to continue support the Royals.
There are going to be a lot of fans who are going to get left out. Will they even offer a quarter season package? Twelve rows up will cost, what, double what it is at The K? That's one reason I've never really been in favor of leaving The K. The fans are going to pay a price. Literally.
I do think that if you wind up going to games downtown that the parking and travel situation won't be that bad. It will take some getting used to, but I don't think it's going to be a nightmare scenario I've seen some people predict.
We are all adults here, we don't have to buy the narrative they are so desperate to get over in 2024.
There was no investor appetite for the East Village mixed-use development, or they'd be building in the East Village. Like, it got zero traction, I am told, with anyone who could credibly front such a project. Total waste of effort.
NKC was such a charade one of the elected went so far as to spill the tea on the inside deal with Parson, and slam the door shut on even remaining a break glass emergency option.
The Star site was all they had left.
Conveniently, it lets certain stakeholders in P&L mess restart the clock / save face with their investors.
I just want to know if they will squeeze the Privateta clan as tightly as the other business/property owners. They do not deserve to be bailed out of the moronic decision to buy that white elephant.
The CBA had better provide a sustainable bridge for small businesses, and guarantees on access and affordability. KC has never been better organized to vote this down.
All interesting points and nothing surprises me. Especially the way the East Village was seemingly the front-running site until it wasn’t. The Crossroads site seems like a win for the P&L and something of a loss for the Royals group. They don’t get their dream “ballpark village” because P&L is right there. Funny how all that works.
I hear you on the organization, but I really think the Chiefs help seal the deal.
Yeah, they did what they could to appeal to partners/investors who want to see municipalities bidding against each other, but the pretense was far too thin, especially when FW decided to play hardball. Politics aside, the economic demand just isn't there, or P&L wouldn't need an eight-figure annual subsidy.
As of Sunday night, I think you're correct: it was highly likely to pass. Now, there are conversations going on as I write about the pros/cons of bringing the Hunt family's politics into the campaign against the stadium tax. Not sure how that plays out, or whether it moves the needle, but at the very least it has potential to make this even more unpleasant.
And for all the "State of Missouri" messaging at the parade, I am skeptical the deal with Parson survives what's ahead. He had scant room to maneuver to begin with on the stadium deal, and unless he changes his tune on KCPD governance I am not sure he'll invest the political capital to reconcile the two, if his hand is forced.
Sorry to get to this late but great article CB. Their moving at some point, even if the tax doesn't pass - which I believe it probably will. So for me, a nostalgist I generally don't like it.
What sogs my wheaties is one thing you mentioned; the whole ASR dialogue with the Concrete and the old Stadium not being viable. Once people feed me dog shit and tell me it's chocolate pudding, I'm done with them. It's unfortunate that running false narratives is how things get done these days and what really stinks is it's hard to do anything and somehow not be a 'knowing' or 'unknowing' party to it.
That's my rant on the ballpark. Thanks for all the breakdown CB!
At least they haven't (yet) gone the Braves route and ban anyone *else* selling paaid parking spots within a certain distance.
But yeah, the days of 4/$100 Family 4-packs, $6 seats on the Gametime app, etc. are sadly gone, and it's gonna be cor-por-ate.
Wait until the stadium opens. No point in banning anyone yet. They need the votes.
Despite what you wrote, I will complain a bit about parking downtown, mostly because I haven't seen anything about how people with limited mobility will be able to access the stadium. At least at the K you can hitch a ride on a golf cart. Are they going to be running those from all over? Am I supposed to drop off my wife at the door and go find a parking spot blocks away? And I'm not sure people from out of town (the Royals always have been and will always need to be a regional draw) are going to be wild about trying to navigate downtown. Despite that, the proposal is growing on me since, as you said, this iteration seems to be a little better planned. But I think they still have some questions to answer.